I’m not sure what to say about the candidates running for school board since they’ve become an afterthought in this election. The main player in this election is Voices 4 Delaware. Not because of the money, but because of the tone and their failure to understand school board elections. They have cast themselves as Citizens United while employing Mitt Romney’s Republican Primary strategy – Flood the market with money and employ negative ads.
I can’t help but believe that those running Voices 4 Delaware never even studied past school board elections, because if they had they would have seen the formula. First, not many people vote in school board elections, and, while I’d love to see more involvement, had I been running the show I would have used this lack of participation as a major advantage. I’d have looked at the breakdown from previous elections, quietly courted those voters (since the odds are these people will vote again), and have added a couple hundred new voters as a cushion.
In last year’s race, approximately 2,500 people voted in a two way race in Red Clay, only 1,369 voted in a four way Christina race. The winner in Red Clay won by 295 votes, the winner in Christina 75 votes. There’s your number, and up until this year, it was the only number that counted. Basically, all you needed to do was quietly add 300-400 new voters to your side, just to be safe, and glide to victory. This really is politics 101.
The last thing you wanted to do is to draw the attention of people who normally don’t vote in a school board election, but that is what has happened this year. Suddenly, school board elections are front and center. Suddenly, those past school board voting numbers can’t be used as a base figure on which to build a strategy. Suddenly, people you counted on not voting are tuned into what’s going on. Suddenly… it’s anybody’s race.
Another lessen lost on Voices 4 Delaware is how to employ negative ads. Negative ads/mailers have never really played a role in school board elections. Normally, the public receives positive pieces about all the wonderful, dare I say… miraculous, things the school board candidate will accomplish all by themselves. Attack ads haven’t played a role, probably because the real political game has always been played out quietly behind the scenes… you know, with that small group that actually votes.
So what did these attack ads accomplish? Guess we’ll have to wait and see, but if my email inbox is any indicator then one thing they’ve accomplished is catching the attention of people who, in the past, didn’t pay attention to school board elections.
Please notice how I keep using the word quietly. For the politically savvy, quietly is the key. I’m sensing a lot of ego in the people calling the shots for Voices 4 Delaware, which is a dangerous trait for those whose role exists behind the political scene. Ego and credit due are best left until after the votes are counted.
But these ads also accomplished another thing. They’ve painted the candidate as negative, rather than positive. Oh, you can say that many voters agree with the attacks, but I’d simply remind you that those voters were already in your flippin’ camp. You can argue that it isn’t the candidate’s ads – it’s the PACs, but if you think 99% of the public grasps that difference then you’re politically naive. Most people won’t separate the two, and if you find yourself explaining the difference then you’ve already lost the battle. Yet again, this is Politics 101.
And here’s the main thing Voices 4 Delaware accomplished through their politically clumsy campaign… they have managed to lump all their candidates together.
In essence, Voices 4 Delaware has become the candidate.
In the past, I have voted “for” and “against” candidates. This year my choice appears to be vote “for” or “against” Voices 4 Delaware. And that’s a shame.
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School Board Elections
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
10:00am – 8:00 pm
Click here for more info and polling places.