Communications Tip
Use Symbols, Tell Stories
When giving a speech, writing a press release, creating a campaign ad, or discussing an issue with constituents, use symbols, use examples, use stories, use real people to illustrate your point. Don’t just say, for example, that a particular law will help or hurt and here are the statistics. Tell an anecdote or story about a real person. It is far more effective to persuade people on an emotional, visceral level, instead of with facts, figures and logic alone.
In the 1992 gubernatorial election, candidate Mike Leavitt didn’t have to use a lot of statistics to convince voters that he would be a fiscal conservative and a good steward of public funds. Instead, he told a simple story, in a heavily trafficked TV ad, of learning as a boy from his grandfather down on the farm in Loa that if you do what’s “real and right” you’ll still be farming long after the neighbor down the lane who always seemed to have a brand new John Deere tractor, is gone.
It’s also important to create symbols to illustrate your point-of-view because if you don’t, the news media or your opponent will create their own symbols – and you won’t like them.
Washington Watch
Hatch: No to Steroids
Sen. Orrin Hatch, in an op-ed about the MLB steroids scandal, says: "As a child, I couldn't get away with rule-breaking by saying, 'The devil made me do it!' Yet this is essentially what some Major League Baseball players say when accused of steroid use: 'The supplements made me do it.' ... The real tragedy is that many young American athletes are following the poor example set by elite athletes. The challenge and opportunity of the future is to set the right example by restoring integrity to America's pasttime" (Washington Post).
Bennett Votes for FISA Act
Sen. Bob Bennett joins "his Senate colleagues in an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 68 to 29 to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), our nation's terrorist warning and surveillance system." Says Bennett: "I am glad this issue is finally settled in a way that protects our country's national security while respecting Americans' civil liberties. Many of the amendments we had to defeat were ill-advised and I believe the final outcome is the right one" (see press release).
Today in Political History
Feb. 13, 1635: The first government school was founded in Boston, Mass. It was called the "Boston Public Latin School".
Feb. 13, 1960: France tests its first atomic explosion in the Sahara desert.
Feb. 13, 1974: Alexander Solzhenitsyn is expelled from the Soviet Union. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Taylor (Patriot Post)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Baltimore Sun: "Sen. Barack Obama swept Democratic primary elections in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C, on Tuesday, with a 'Potomac primary' romp that could position the junior senator from Illinois as front-runner for his party's presidential nomination. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona also carried the three contests -- boosting an already substantial advantage in his bid for the GOP's nomination."
-- Financial Times: "The Democratic presidential contest is now between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Hillary Clinton is retrenching behind what her advisers call 'a demographic brick wall' in Ohio and Texas -- believing that Barack Obama's recent momentum will be brought to an abrupt halt next month by the blue-collar and Latino voters who have largely backed her elsewhere."
-- The Politico: "McCain campaign manager Rick Davis reiterated in a memo to his staff [Tuesday night] that there is no path to victory for Mike Huckabee. ... Despite their charitable public rhetoric, McCain aides are increasingly annoyed by Huckabee's insistence upon staying in the race. ... But Huckabee appears to be -- for now, at least -- unswayed by the facts."
-- The Hill: McCain "still has a long way to go to ease the concerns of many House Republicans. Those lawmakers expect the Arizona Republican to answer questions about his positions on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform, and they will have their chance to express their own views on Wednesday when he ventures into the Capitol Hill Club to address them."
SUWA: Valentines for Lawmakers
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is asking its supporters to gather at the State Capitol Thursday morning as the House debates HJR 10, which calls on Congress to vote down the proposed America's Red Rock Wilderness Act. SUWA will pass out Valentine's Day Cards to lawmakers, asking them to "Have a heart & protect Utah's Wild Lands." For more info, click here.
Blog Watch
-- Rep. Chris Cannon notes: "A picture is worth a thousand words. The heroes INSIDE the Marine Office daily guarantee the rights of those outside to be ignorant. The rest of America agrees with the Marines inside." (Click on the link to see the video.)
Lighter Side
“One advantage of marriage is that when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.”
-- Judith Viorst (Reader’s Digest)
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