Political Advice for John McCain. How to cut into Obama’s vote!

[ytowner]

It's June. Let's see what other controversies Obama will be involved with before we give Obama the White House. After the GOP Convention in early September, it will be very interesting to see if the final 'convention' bounce will push McCain out in front or in a statistical tie which we are o so close to right now. Gallup has Obama up 2, Rasmussen up 5. It's probably around 3-4 points right now, so I am far from worried.

[Frank Bellamy, MAP Masters of Applied Politics]

July 2, 2008
Amid concern, shakeup at McCain campaign
Posted: 02:02 PM ET

From CNN's Dana Bash


Schmidt is taking over day-to-day operations in the McCain campaign.
(CNN) â€" John McCain’s campaign announced a shakeup at the top Wednesday, in the wake of growing Republican concern about its ability to compete against Barack Obama.

Campaign Manager Rick Davis said Tuesday morning that senior adviser Steve Schmidt would take over day-to-day operations of the campaign. The Bush campaign veteran will report to Davis, but the rest of the campaign will report to Schmidt, who will be in charge of everything from message and communications, to the political structure and organization to scheduling.

Davis will shift into what is being described as a more “natural role” for him â€" the kind of duties he handled before last summer’s mass firings, working on the vice presidential search, and other long term planning including the Republican convention.

Schmidt’s top priority, according to a senior aide, will be to stop “unforced errors in the campaign.” He is also expected to shore up what some believe is a misguided political operation put in place by Davis â€" a decentralized system of regional campaign managers who are not given clear instructions from the central campaign.


After Davis announced Schmidt’s new role at the headquarters, they got on a call with the 11 regional directors to let them know they would be reporting to Schmidt. They did not discuss changes to that structure on the call, but CNN has been told it will almost certainly be altered.

Schmidt will be assisted by Mike McDonald, a fellow veteran of the Bush-Cheney and Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigns, who recently joined him on the McCain team.

Former Giuliani campaign manager Mike DuHaime, another longtime associate of Schmidt’s who has been working for both the McCain team and the RNC, will also be taking on more responsibility.

McCain advisers privately admit to CNN the moves are a direct result of missteps in messaging, scheduling that didn’t give the candidate a good platform, and a political structure that many thought was misguided.

The Wednesday shakeup comes on the one-year anniversary of what McCain aides call “Black Monday” â€" when much of the campaign’s staff was fired because it ran out of money and began collapsing.

[Frank Bellamy, MAP Masters of Applied Politics]

Political Advice for John McCain. How to cut into Obama’s vote!

The TV and radio political talking heads aren’t saying “Its McCain’s races too lose” anymore, the media has taken on a resolve that the world loves Obama. However, the election has just begun to unfold and McCain can lose this one if he sleeps too long. 

Beginning now and until September 15th, the McCain for President Campaign should concentrate their electioneering efforts directly at the core of the African American communities around the nation using Direct Mail and Literature Door Drops tactics.  This strategy is to create a Foot Print of Exposure in these communities just enough to let them know that you (the McCain for President Campaign) cares about and want their votes.

McCain should make bold fairly short appearances at NOT necessarily Black church activities, gatherings or even the local Black businesses. These appearances should include plenty of hand shaking and literature distribution that suggests more attention to the Black Senior Citizen voters.   This relatively inexpensive political tactic will yield the following results based on the context of this 2008 presidential election.

The expected results will be:   
The McCain for President Campaign-simply directing it’s focused attention on the African American communities for the next two and a half months; by this action alone it will dislodge some Black voters from Obama or at the very least it would pierce the mystic around his campaign. This will also set Obama up for the paid political attacks by the 527 Groups that could begin around September 1st.  Political campaigns should not ignore the fact that African Americans are just normal Americans and they do not all vote in Lock Step and they do not all attend church but they all like political attention.

McCain’s un-bashful campaigning in these communities will be received as somewhat of an oddity but they will be excitingly remembered by these voters. Black voters just like all voters, like to feel a sense of “Familiarity” with their political leaders. Campaigning in these communities now will eliminate the possibility of appearing self serving later. A John McCain visit to a local Black business will have the effect of a $10,000 “Perceived Line of Credit Influence” and great advertising for that business.

By distributing political literature that suggests more attention to the Black Senior Citizen voters, this will create a “Buzz” in that demographic and could bring into question Obama’s attention to the welfare this large, loyal and mostly overlooked consistent voter.  This strategy will also give McCain greater creditably with this group when his campaign has to use negative advertising on Obama. 

After September 15th, McCain should then work to energize and prepare to turn out his Republican Party base by using a central political message based on “Ideology” alone. In addition, his Republican Party voter base will not hold it against McCain for campaigning in the Black community first. They will tend to admire his spunk and of course they know what it takes to win elections.

Frank Bellamy, MAP
Masters of Applied Politics
imailisbest@sbcglobal.net