Some Political Bashing Can Backfire!

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Ah, political strategy. It's a tricky thing. You make your plans based on what you know for sure and what your best guesses might be. And then you execute your plan. Three things can happen. It doesn't move the needle--no affect. It works like a charm and you succeed. Or, it can backfire and blow up in your face doing more harm than good.

You can apply that to last night's first Presidential debate. Could you detect a strategy by either candidate? Did either candidate succeed? Was there a backfire based on strategy that didn't work?

You no doubt have your opinion based on your expectations of the event.

Outside of the debate, there is a bit of a political backfire going on according to The Week on line.

Veteran Democratic communications strategist Jess McIntosh told Vanity Fair that political attack ads against President Trump that tend to go viral are causing more harm than good. She said that what she called "scary, doom-and-gloom, negative spots" in particular that use Trump's voice or even just his face, quote, "not only aren't working with people that we want, they're causing backlash among the people that we need."

She said that ads can target Trump, but shouldn't use his image, voice or even say his name, saying the ads that seem to work to persuade voters are ones that don't "center" him, either visually or with audio.

Jess McIntosh has first hand experience. She was involved in a digital ad aimed against President Trump for the clearing out protesters in Lafayette Square during the George Floyd protests. A follow up on the campaign indicated no minds about Trump or the demonstrations were changed.

Categories: Politics