Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Blocking and Tackling Behind the Perry Campaign

I'll admit it: I'm not a huge Rick Perry fan.  We could go line-by-line, but the short answer is, I don't think he's got what it takes to get elected or, more importantly, to lead the most powerful country in the world.

All that said, Perry's recent campaigns have developed a pretty novel approach.

First, its technique has been unorthodox, drawing upon randomized tests devised by his campaign manager (NYT; Sasha Issenberg's new ebook "Rick Perry and His Eggheads"):

  • He refused to debate opponents when running for governor
  • He avoids "mainstream media" a la Palin, including editorial boards
  • He relies more on public appearances than satellite beam-ins (aka, he hits a place more thoroughly, rather than just getting his name in a local paper) 

Second, it (so far) has been remarkably lean.  Politico reports that, while Perry's $17M of fundraising was impressive, the fact that he had $15M in the bank was even more so.  If this low burn rate continues, he'll be able to continue his run without the deeper-pocketed donors that Romney is tapping (like the commitment of Paul Singer and several big Pawlenty donors in the last two days).

Although the race looks to be closing in around Perry (and, admittedly, Perry may regain his stride), one must wonder if these strategies will form part of the major lessons from the 2012 race.  In 2000, it was W's fantastic fundraising efforts.  In 2004, Howard Dean (or maybe Joe Trippi) used the internet to catalyze supporters and  fundraise online.  In 2008, Obama (and David Plouffe) took Dean's playbook to the next level, utilizing technology, meetups, and social networking heavily to their advantage.

Will 2012 be the year we learn of the "lean" campaign?

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