Better Than a Week in Campaign School.
Candidates around the world should learn some lessons from today’s stunning saga of what started as an unremarkable day on the British general election campaign trail. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has spent his adult life in politics, was caught on a live mic while in the backseat of his Jaguar making denigrating remarks about a Labour voter he’d cheerfully bid farewell to a moment before. The story now includes a video of Brown’s reaction to the audio recording as it was played to him in a radio studio and his trip to the home of the voter he insulted as a “bigoted woman.”
If you are a wizened political veteran, your capacity for surprise will be revived by viewing the video. Experienced candidates can lose their way, and inflict more damage on themselves than any opponent can.
Candidates:
1. If there’s a mic on you, treat it like it’s live. Brown’s kept broadcasting as he drove away from the scene of his campaign stop.
2. It takes work for ambitious politicians to maintain their public facades. Beware of what the voters will see if your mask slips. Gordon Brown’s long had a reputation as a nasty piece of work. He confirmed it in a moment today. No spinning will undo today’s damage.
Campaign aides:
1. Be vigilant about your candidates weaknesses. They don’t often change in the course of an intense campaign. There’s a reason the Labour campaign kept Brown away from spontaneous encounters with voters. They know more than anyone that he’s a bit of jerk.
2. Prepare to be blamed. Overshadowed by Brown’s sneering comments about 66 year old Gillian Duffy was his instinctive reaction to blame others. First a campaign aide who set up the event and then the press for broadcasting the comments. It started to sound like a condensed chapter in Sarah Palin’s autobiography.
Voters:
Hope for more moments, wherever you are, like the ones Gordon Brown provided today. They are more instructive than a year of candidate debates, press releases, and other set piece blathering.
UPDATE: Here is a magnificent piece of writing from The Daily Telegraph’s Neil Tweedie, describing the momentous political events in England today. It’s hilarious.