A NY Times story highlights the tactics the Obama and McCain campaigns are employing to attract what is emerging as a pivotal audience in the presidential race - women. Some are fairly uninspired - ad spends on Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Lifetime and Dr. Phil - while others seek to make direct connections with influencers - tomorrow Joe Biden will conduct a conference call with 20,000 women in leadership positions nationwide (it would be nice to know how leadership is defined here). Interestingly,the Times reports that women have voted in higher numbers than men for the last three decades, hardly a new phenomenon, but one that could make all the difference this go round.
According to the article it is working class white women who are most in play. McCain's team feels they can appeal to these "Wal-Mart women" by leveraging perceived sexism toward Sarah Palin and pushing McCain's "maverick image" (although the primary concern reported by members of this group is the economy). At the same time Obama's events this week are themed "Women for the Change We Need" and Hillary Clinton is doing her part to rally her formidable base to cast their votes for her former opponent.
More than traditional political marketing is going to be needed to make a difference here. It is not just about getting women's attention (yes, sexism is annoying and demeaning but calling that out doesn't fix the financial markets). This is about gaining trust by addressing the issues and providing the tools for women to share those solutions within their own networks. The closer we get to election day, the more emails I receive telling me why the opposing party would be the worst thing to ever happen to this country. Inevitably someone hits "reply all" and voices their outrage as a staunch supporter of the other candidate. Mayhem ensues and my inbox fills with several messages from people I don't know trading jabs. Not the most productive way to spend a morning - and not wanting to potentially subject others in my email address book to the same experience I more often hit delete than forward. Those whose political views I share already feel the same way anyway, and are likely on the verge of sending me the same email within hours. But what about the contacts I have that I'm not certain about?
What would be refreshing, and motivate me to press the forward button more often, is a subject line that reads something to the effect of: "5 Concrete Ways Administration X Will Address The Economy On Day One." This is a pivotal topic that concerns 90% of the U.S. population and one I would at least stop and read, even if it didn't come from my candidate of choice. Think of all the undecided female voters out there who might actually be swayed by such a message.
Perhaps the key to the forward button, and maybe even ultimately the election, is a series of issues-based messages with substance worth passing on.
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