Let the Real Horse Race Begin

Campaigning is marketing.  It is about focus groups, polls, and creating a brand for a candidate.  If we look at it through the lens of consumer marketing, one goal is to get you to believe that without the acquisition of a certain artifact, your life will simply not be as enjoyable, fulfilling, whole, etc.  Keep an eye on this as Obama and McCain start volleying more directly at each other now.

Both will seek to do one thing – especially to moderate and undecided voters: make their message more vivid, salient, and memorable by the time you get to the polls.  Part of this is to label the other candidate as "Brand "X".

Obama will tie McCain to Bush's sinking political marketability and hope to anchor him as the candidate who will bring the Bush presidency to a largely imagined logical end.  McCain used to be a good product, but is not the same anymore.  So it's time for an upgrade to a better system rather than continue to patch up this old one that is not really working anymore.  Still on Windows XP?  Try this MacBook Air instead.

McCain will follow a lot of Clinton's message of Obama's talk is just talk and he is going to make promises that he can't keep.  Why would he do this?  He does not really know what he is getting into because he has not been on the inside track of Washington long enough.  That flashy new car has not been road tested enough in order for anyone to make a solid judgment on its reliability.  Don't get lulled into buying that flashy Audi S4 when a more reliable Ford Fusion will do just as well, you can actually afford it, and you will support the American economy better.

I think the marketing metaphors work here as well.  Computers have a different kind of marketing attached to them to get you to buy new systems even if you don't need them.  Cars target different kinds of people which is why there are so many models.  McCain is going to go after the person who probably should be driving a reliable Toyota, but would rather go for the domestic equivalent if the option is available, but who sure as hell can't afford an Audi or pay for the insurance even if given one.  The point is that both will be selling their product to initiate a sense of desire in us to buy their product rather than the alternative.

Very little of this marketing will have to do with the issues.  You won't vote for issues, you will vote as a consumer of a product you only think that you need, but are you sure you know why you think you need it?

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