John has been instrumental in my personal success, and the success of my firm. He refers clients, and he helps me figure out things like who to use for accounting, where to park downtown, and to try to walk up the stairs (4 Flights) instead of lazing out and taking the elevator to help my back.

He is a great business and political mentor, and I am proud of him for getting this type of recognition. When John talks, candidates and consultants on all sides of every single issue should listen up.

This exchange illustrates the way John thinks, and if a little of that has filtered into the way I can help and advise clients, then I consider myself lucky.

Politics: Are the ethical flaps playing out in Congress a problem for Democrats in 2010, from Eric Massa to Charlie Rangel?

Anzalone: We tend to be myopic about the 24-hour news cycle and insiders think it’s important. But the average Joe and Jane do not dwell on it. They don’t dwell on Eric Massa. They don’t wake up every day and say, “Wow, that guy’s an ass.” What they dwell on everyday are the kitchen table issues. You go into focus groups and you find that out. And so there’s a bubble in D.C. and a 24-hour news cycle that drives things, but that’s not how real voters digest things. It’s one of the reasons I think I’ve become a better consultant since I moved out of D.C. I don’t get caught up in what’s important in D.C. everyday. I focus on what the average voter is dealing with, and at the end of the day that’s what my job is as a pollster. It’s to be the unfiltered viewfinder to voters and to separate the wheat from the chaff. And the reality is that the Eric Massa’s of the world and the Rangel’s are the chaff. You eventually put them in a pile and burn them. We’re interested in the wheat and that is showing voters that we look out for their interests and trying to fix problems.

Now comes news that he has catapulted from 2% to 20% in the polls. The Michigan Primary is in August, so that still leaves plenty of time, but it shows what one well crafted, non-traditional, yet informative ad can do for a campaign.

: Wealthy businessman Rick Snyder has catapulted himself into a three-way tie for first place in advance of the state’s Aug. 3 Michigan Republican gubernatorial primary thanks to a series of innovative — and well-financed — ads.

State Attorney General Mike Cox and Rep. Pete Hoekstra each take 21 percent in an “Inside Michigan Politics”/Marketing Resource Group poll while Snyder clocks in at 20 percent and Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard lags in fourth with 10 percent. (Those numbers are among likely Republican primary voters.)

The poll highlights a marked improvement for Snyder from a similar IMP/MRA survey done last fall that put Snyder at just two percent. Snyder has received considerable positive press for his “one, tough nerd” ad — a pitch-perfect commercial that casts him as an outsider to the political process whose studiousness and success in the private sector are the right fit for the economically-battered state. Expect Snyder’s ad to be copied relentlessly around the country this year as candidates seek to find way to break through the clutter and prove to voters they aren’t just like other politicians.”

The week he hired me, Todd and his wife Linda took me and my wife to dinner for a get-to-know-you session. There were many topics discussed, but Linda had only one request of me: “Don’t Lose.”

Coming off the success of The Bright Campaign, we knew what we needed to do to fulfill that request — and set about executing our plan.

Todd’s brand of inclusive politics allowed him to raise more money, push a better message, and use more media than any of his opponents. He did things right: Todd started early, getting organized almost immediately after the November election. He recruited a strong finance committee, a strong issues advisory committee which consisted of individuals across the demographic spectrum of the city, and brought in John Anzalone – the best pollster in the country, and the guts of what would become The Mowery Consulting Group team.

We started work the day after we sealed the deal, and the day of qualifying announced we had raised $300,000 to our nearest opponent’s $30,000. We opened 3 campaign offices in key parts of the city – Downtown, East Montgomery, and West Montgomery. We brought in a former Montgomery Advertiser reporter Hilary Funk to be communications director, and a former business executive, Chuck Carver to recruit and run our volunteer operation.

We hired Bruce Reid who produced ads about Todd’s economic development bonafides, and our approach to fighting crime, and got them on air quickly. Once the media burned in, we did an extensive Voter ID program – using Brad Chism and the Zata 3 team, and we outlined a mail program with Wooten Johnson of Ourso, Beychok and Johnson that would reinforce our television and radio, driving our voters to the polls.

Patrick Cagle built an electronic communications program, assembling lists of political people to keep informed and voters to be persuaded. We also made the decision to assemble our own voter file. I hired Peter Waldo of River Regions IT/Mac Solutions to help us put the information we had available into a Mac-user friendly format.

It was this decision that allowed us to target voters in our demographic group who were less likely to vote in a municipal election and drive them to the polls. Combined with our media and Voter ID programs, we brought in Ashley Mcghee to oversee our voter outreach and canvass program. By election day we knocked on over 5000 undecided voters’ doors.

Todd never missed an opportunity to talk to voters. We had meet and greet events in every part of town, and there were numerous community forums. We set up Tuesdays With Todd – an opportunity to meet with Todd at our East Montgomery Field Office – that is continued monthly via television on WAKA CBS 8.

A week before the election, the results of our tracking polls showed that there was a chance that we could win without a runoff. In discussion with the team, we decided to go “All In,” instead of laying up and going into a runoff as the leader, but not The Mayor.

One of our key mail pieces had hit the weekend before Election Day- designed by Patrick Cagle, and nominated for a 2009 Pollie Award” – “My Oldest Friend” included pictures of Todd and Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins from as far back as 6th grade and as recently as our announcement speech. We took a list of Troy graduates in Montgomery, matched it to the voter file, and sent the mailer of the popular and well known Hawkins to over 5000 households. He then did a “Mail Chase Robo Call” to all of these households, exhorting them to vote for his Oldest Friend Todd Strange.

Election Day, as always, was a bit of a blur, but we had a strong Election Day plan that included door knocks, “Robo Calls” and target-area canvasses. We were getting information from our poll watchers, and the extrapolation showed we were in range to win without a runoff, with some of our strongest boxes yet to come in. We launched what is known in the industry as an “Oh Sh*t Call” at 6pm, using Todd’s voice to tell voters they had one more hour to vote.

We headed to the Election Night Watch Party knowing we were almost there, but not there yet. On the ride over, I heard on the radio that Todd won. He would be sworn in as Mayor with no runoff, and we delivered on Linda’s one request. And we only had a little debt to retire to show for it.

And in a year, Todd has made us all extremely proud. He has continued the work begun by his predecessor Congressman Bright on downtown redevelopment, and brought a renewed vitality to the city, even amid all of the bad economic data coming out of Washington.

This victory also provided me with the successful track record, contacts, and gumption to “hang out my shingle” and open The Mowery Consulting Group, which currently has clients running for office at all levels of government, and several grassroots and grasstops organizing and advisory projects.

Thank you and Congratulations on a Great First Year in Office, Mayor Todd Strange!

You can watch the ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ro5iGShcV4

Several things jump out to me. First, this is a one minute ad. Many consultants eschew the one minute ad, as it takes more money to get the number of points behind it you need for penetration, and in our increasingly-attention-deficit world, some believe that even a minute is too much for voters to handle.

Counterintuitive to this line of thought, I think the one minute can be an effective game changer. The length lets the ad “breathe” so it does not appear to be crammed with information, and you don’t need The Micro Machine Man announcer running through a list of your life’s accomplishments to “get it all in.”

This ad also exemplifies a classic political play – it hangs a lantern on this guy’s problem. He is a new face, and let’s face it, the guy is a nerd. Who would admit to reading Fortune when they were eight? How many people finish college, a masters and law school in their lifetimes, let alone by the time they are 23? He is a classic over achiever, and that is the type of go-getter voters might want in these desperate economic times.

The ad sets up the reveal of him being “One Tough Nerd” very well with scenes of economic blight, and lays the blame at the type of people he is running against to win his party’s primaries: disgraced and discredited career politicians — and as polling across the country is showing, incumbents everywhere need to beware the wrath of dissatisfied voters on all ends of the spectrum.

The other big deal in this ad is the candidate highlights his bonafides at job creation. As I have said a million times recently to candidates and consultants alike: “If you are not talking about jobs, why are you talking?” This is especially true in a state like Michigan, which is fast becoming the number one example of our country’s job loss and infrastructure problems.

One quibble I have with this ad is his 10 point plan and the fact that “No politician can understand it.” He may be over-exerting his smart guy persona and coming off as a know it all — something voters decidedly do not want. He tempers that by not reeling off each of the ten points, and instead is driving traffic to his website by asking voters to read it for themselves. It will be interesting to see his follow up to these ads and if he enumerates all or some of his plan in a series of ads that have a cohesive narrative.

Last, he sets up voters for the inevitable let down should he become Governor by proclaiming “we just can’t fix it.” This is obviously going to be a tough job, and to portray it as anything less would be intellectually dishonest, and would not serve him well should he win. I think it is an interesting gambit that most would overlook.

I have seen no numbers, or focus group dial testing from this ad, so we don’t know how it worked in terms of creating space for him in the primary. I also have no affiliation with this campaign, or any campaign, in the state of Michigan. Just thought it would be interesting, and look for us to make some of our friends and a lot of people we don’t know angry by critiquing great, good, OK and terrible ads throughout the country while the parties in all 50 states decide whom their standard bearers will be in the November 2010 midterms.

David Mowery

Along with other finance reporting numbers, Doc’s Political Parlor gave good play to our client “Mr. Billy” ‘s hard work to out raise much of the sitting Senate Caucus.

The only two senators to outraise our client, Rep. Billy Beasley (D-Clayton) are the powerful chairmen of the Rules Committee and the Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee.

This is a strong testament to Rep. Beasley’s reputation, hard work, and dedication to becoming the next Senator from Senate District 28. After yesterday’s revelation that he was far outpacing all of his potential opponents for the open seat, the fact that Rep. Beasley has done better than 33 sitting state senators undoubtedly propels him to frontrunner status, and makes him the “smart money” choice to be the next senator!

The end of the year fundraising deadline is a critical measure of a candidates’ support and dedication to the race. Mr. Beasley’s dedication is unsurpassed – he is well known to the people of Clayton and Clio as a their gentleman pharmacist – he has served in the legislature since 1998 and is well respected by his constituents and his peers for his abilities to get the job done, and to listen to the people he represents.

His support is both deep and wide. As we say in Alabama, “Billy is strong as new rope in Barbour and Bullock Counties.” We are proud of our work on his behalf, and proud to be able to represent him as he seeks higher office.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/campaign/issues/1988_retro.html

It’s also funny that some of the players are still around, but on the other side of the argument.

Always great to see a mention of Dale Bumpers, who may have the best-titled autobiography of all time, let alone the Senate: Best Lawyer in a One Lawyer Town

Many people hear about Facebook, decide they want an account, sign up, link to a few friends, and then forget about their account.  Most are wary about privacy concerns, or their posts or pictures being seen as “unprofessional.”

Professionalism is a legitimate concern in any profession. It is why in the political field we tend to dress nice, stay clean cut, and generally comport ourselves like mid-level employees of a bank or Wall Street Concern during work hours.

That same ethos can be applied to your personal or professional Facebook page. If you are smart enough to avoid the pratfalls of unprofessional behavior in the workplace, or in public, you are smart enough to avoid the pratfalls of inappropriate posts or pictures on Facebook.

And if you are not using Facebook to drive a daily message you are missing a chance to speak to a captive audience of people who thought well enough of you or your business to follow what you are doing or thinking.

It’s not about specific status updates, or driving a message, it is about creating the type of informational updates that make people interested in what you are doing, and creating a positive aura, or brand ID, which in turn makes people curious about what you are doing.

I use my personal page to update friends and family in far flung locales about what I am up to – whether it is an update on the baby, or a recipe or drink that I am currently trying – the people who know me well enough to follow along are curious about these things.

Conversely, for the Mowery Consulting Group, LLC Fan Page, I try to link to stories that are interesting to people who monitor our business machinations or the general zeitgeist of national and Alabama politics.  And whether people agree or disagree, they are usually curious.

I recently had a friend tell me: “I’m so over Facebook – I’m going to use Twitter now.” That’s a nice sentiment, but if you don’t link your Twitter feed to your Facebook status updates, you’re basically saying,“I’m happy hosting a show on Channel 8 Pittsburgh. I don’t want to Host The Today Show, thanks but no thanks Matt Lauer. “

You may hate Budweiser, you may never drink a Budweiser again in your entire life – but since Budweiser sells more product than every other beer in the American market place COMBINED, and that includes Bud Light, you might want to follow what it does, its commercials and its best practices. Other companies quake in their boots and then jump on the market space available when Budweiser introduces niche products like American Ale and Bud Light Golden Wheat – because they know that is where the action is.

So what is the upshot of this to you? There is a fine line between to much info, boring status updates, or posting overbearing platitudes and being an information-rich source that people want to follow.

I have had several friends who rarely post approach me in public and tell me that they may not post a lot, but they sure are interested in what I am up to. Some of them I am tangentially associated with professionally, be they judges or legislators, who I have forged a better bond with and a better professional relationship with through our association on Facebook.

And really, if you are a businessman – that is what it is all about – relationship building that leads to more business and a mutually beneficial relationship.

Dave

P.S. here is an article about how Scott Brown used Social Media to harness the anger in the electorate, and about how Martha Coakley went through the motions. Kicker Quote Highlighted/Italicized by Me

The Brown web

A Brown web consultant explains what his campaign did right on the web, including:

They respected the “web guy” and didn’t stick him in the basement.

From the beginning Rob Willington, the campaign’s new media director, was put in a position of leadership. He wasn’t relegated to a stuffy office in the corner of the campaign headquarters. Instead, he was consulted on key campaign decisions and allowed to lead campaign initiatives online.

They understood that social media is called SOCIAL media for a reason.

While the campaign of Attorney General Martha Coakley used Twitter (and actually posted more Tweets), they were far less likely to be interactive. Instead, Twitter was used to promote press releases and media hits. Brown, on the other hand, used replies and other tools to actually engage voters online. It led to far more Twitter followers and far more voters who felt they were being engaged in conversation vs. being talked at. The campaign’s Twitter following was also key to spreading the buzz of the campaign nationally.

Content is King, and they created a lot of it.

In order to keep people engaged, the Brown campaign created regular content- specifically making good use of online video. Over 59 videos were used to supplement the messaging of the campaign. They were often issued quickly after an event or an embarrassing comment by Coakley, including one where AG Coakley said that the extent of her foreign policy experience was that “she had a sister who lives overseas.”

They also had a candidate who caught fire, which always helps.