Vic Fingerhut Campaigns

(Updated May 2008) 

Don’t Ignore Democratic strengths, particularly among the swing voters you need to win in 2008.

While so much of the attention of Democrats in Congress (and elsewhere) is focused (rightly or wrongly) on the War in Iraq, the simple fact of the matter is that the critical swing voters we need to win (in both 2007 and 2008) have a considerably more pro-Democratic valence on a variety of other issues!!

While there is a widespread view that the war in Iraq has been a big mistake — among almost all Democrats, many Independents, and some Republicans — there is less clarity, particularly among swing voters, about which party is the most capable of ending the war in the best way possible.

(If there is a moral imperative to do the most effective thing possible to end the war, then there is an associated moral imperative to do the most effective things possible to elect a Democratic President and Congress in 2008.)

And to do this we must avoid the mistake (that is in the process of being made) of overlooking the issues that have the most pro-Democratic valence among the critical swing voters in almost every constituency throughout the country, including urban, suburban and rural; blue collar industrial and service…and white collar professional, and so on.

And the data is remarkably consistent (and clear) here about what those issue complexes are.

They include (but are not limited to):

– dealing with health care issues in a way that helps regular working and middle-income families — and not the giant drug companies,

– protecting social security and Medicare for our parents and grandparents,

– standing up for American jobs against the big multi-national corporations who want to outsource our jobs to low wage workers overseas and then bring in those products from abroad — and take more jobs from American working families,

– standing up for us — and our loved ones — at the workplace.

 You should make sure to include the words: “working people or working families” in almost everything you say, every press release, every TV or radio spot.

 Failing to do that gives away 25-30  points (unnecessarily) in believability to your Republican opponent.

 For example, when asked “which party is best for handling the economy?”, swing voters say the “Democrats” — but by only a modest 3-5 point margin.

 When you ask the same voters, “which  party is best for handling the economy in a way that helps ordinary working families?” the Democratic margin jumps to 30 points — a gain of 25 points.

 Think about that when you design your radio or TV spots….

 You can also call Vic for a free half hour consultation when thinking about your media campaign and how you are going to frame your overall campaign message(s).

 Vic can be reached at 202 276 0858, or leave a note on the website.

 Good luck!!