Interesting article in last week’s New York Times, by Adam Nagourney, on the challenges faced by Obama and McCain in connecting with the US electorate. He talks about how “the day’s crush of blog postings, cable television headlines, television ads” etc. etc – what he describes as “a daily campaign fog” – is preventing the two candidates communicating their finely-honed political messages.
Nagourney quotes one political expert as saying that “the ability to drive a message narrative is all but impossible.” It is a sentiment shared by many communications professionals beyond the world of politics, trying to engage increasingly disengaged and distracted audiences.
The solution for Obama and McCain appears to be to forget about the glossy ads and the highly stage-managed press conferences and instead focus on genuine political debate. It is an important lesson for any wannabe crowd surfer – if you want to connect with the crowd, you need to spend less time carefully crafting corporate messages (that will struggle to get through the media ‘fog’) and instead create opportunities or platforms for a genuine dialogue.