Art of the Political
Biden’s public posture has evolved and this is a good thing. A five step process.
When Ted Levitt was talking about ‘nothing really happens until a sale is made,’ he was talking about managing the results, the “everything” that happens after a sale is made. In 1962 the year Marketing Myopia was published, this notion was quickly adopted by a managerial class waking up to a mature value-seeking consumer.
Sound familiar?
June 23, 2021: Why do Republicans think, once again- their third public attempt- that they dare challenge the Affordable Care Act? Because they can. Because Republican leaders desperately want the results, the “everything” of the ACA, to become a failure in the public’s view. Because if Fox News can’t pull off smearing ACA, then try to use SCOTUS to declare ACA “unconstitutional.”
Seeds of public mistrust were planted in 2008 by the Republican leaders calling the ACA “Obamacare.” Obama publicly declaimed ‘he didn’t care what ACA was called, as long as it was adopted.’
Does anyone see a problem with this posture?
By throwing the ‘management of the results’ (ACA) to the public, Obama-Biden burdened the public and provided tinder for the Republican assault. In the public eyes, Obama-Biden subverted their program.
June 24, 2021: President Joe Biden abandons this posture to announce what America just voted for. Not a mandate but a trust.
The first step in ‘managing the results’ is to acknowledge not what you have done, but what you can and will manage. ‘Achieving the results’ supplants accomplishing the results.
The art of managing the results is also the management of tone: “yes, we can” is burdensome. “Yes, we have” is a hoax. “Yes, we manage” is real.
Democrats don’t need “bi-partisanship” to sell their programs. Democrats don’t need “democracy” to champion their initiatives. Democrats can take a page from Republicans:
manage the results- the ‘everything’ that happens after the vote is cast.
Art of the Political: a five step alternative to political myopia:
Step 1
Sell the managing. No, this is not ‘tax and spend.’ This is ‘tax and invest.’
Step 2
Kill the doubter. There is no alternative to delay.
Step 3
Claim the space. Yes, this is novel; this is new terrain.
Step 4
Mark the progress. Where we are going.
Step 5
Sustain the trust. This is what it will take.
Repeat.
June 26
