Canada 2020 Speakers Series: Prof. Drew Westen on Effective Political Communications

Delivered to www.canada2020.ca on April 16, 2009

All in the MessageWinning Hearts and Minds

Drew Westen, Ph.D.

http://www.canada2020.ca/


An experiment

What networks are active at Fox?



Suppose someone knew how to shape and activate networks in voters?

LIBERAL

Elite

Big government

Tax and Spend

Cut and run

Special interests

Sushi-eating

Godless atheists

Volvo-driving

Latte-drinking



How were Democrats so successful at losing for so long?

The conservative catechism The conscience of a liberal progressive Examples from health care S-CHIP People who work for a living ought to be

able to take their kids to the doctor Universal health care A family doctor for every family The uninsured and the underinsured



Three principles of effective messaging

Tell a compelling, memorable story If you don’t feel it, don’t use it Know what networks you’re

activating



Principle 1: Tell a coherent, memorable story

We are a story-telling species Grab-bags of facts, policies, and 12-point plans lack

Emotional resonance Memorability Clear principles (the moral of the story)

Your policies should reflect your values, not the other way around

What happens when you don’t tell a story: you lose Jim Martin’s introduction to the people of Georgia Hillary’s Christmas A tale of tale ads: Obama’s Christmas



The four stories that matter the most in a campaign

What you say about yourself What your opponent says about

him/herself What your opponent says about you What you say about your opponent



Principle 2: If you don’t feel it, don’t use it

Human behavior is motivated by emotion The structure of traditional Democratic arguments Jim Webb’s response to the State of the Union Beyond words: Images, music, and “hooks” to per

sonal experiences generate emotions Positive and negative emotions are not the

opposites of each other You don’t win with half a brain It’s 3am, and don’t believe everything you hear in

focus groups



Why does speaking with emotion matter?

Feelings toward the parties and their principles

Feelings toward the candidates Feelings toward the candidates’

personal attributes Feelings toward the candidates’

policies Facts about the candidate’s policies Trickle Up Politics



Principle 3: Know what networks you’re activating

Do you really want your Secretaries of Defense and Commerce to be Republicans?

A methodology for developing messages that work Study the existing data, particularly polls Develop and focus-group narratives and

taglines Online polling and dial-tests Refine and test again Later, rinse, repeat: An example on immigrati

on A case example: Messaging abortion



Are Georgians pro-life? (Westen Strategies and Lake Research Partners, October, 2007)

I’m not pro life, I’m not pro choice, I’m pro common sense. No one truly knows what’s in the mind of God, and the government shouldn’t be telling a man and a woman when they should and shouldn’t have kids based on somebody else’s interpretation of Scripture. But people shouldn’t be using abortion as birth control, and they shouldn’t be able to get late-term abortions except when the mother’s health or life is in danger.



Vote on Abortion

5751

39 41

Total Independents

Democratic candidate Republican candidate

A Strong Progressive Message on Abortion (Westen Strategies and Greenberg, Quinlan, & Rosner, January, 2009)

Message Rating, 0 - 10

56 67

0 20 40 60 80 100

% Rating 8-10 % Rating 6-10

\

Abortion is a matter between a woman, her doctor, and her God. This is a moral and a personal issue, not a political one, and politicians need to stop using it to try to score political points. But we need to do everything possible to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, teen pregnancies, and abortions. That means teaching our kids not only about abstinence but also about responsible use of birth control, so that all the children born in this country are wanted children.



Vote on Abortion

58 56

39 36

Total Independents

Democratic candidate Republican candidate

Message Rating, 0 - 10

56 64

0 20 40 60 80 100

% Rating 8-10 % Rating 6-10

\

Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. That's why I'm both pro-choice and pro-personal responsibility. Politicians shouldn't intrude on a woman or couple's most personal and painful decisions, and no one has the right to use government to impose their religious beliefs on somebody else. A woman should be able to trust that the advice she gets from her doctor reflects what her doctor really believes, not something the government forced her doctor to say. But that doesn't mean people should engage in unprotected sex and use abortion as a form of birth control. The best way to reduce abortions is to reduce unwanted and teen pregnancies. That means making sure every adult has access to medically accurate information and birth control, and providing honest, age appropriate sex education to our kids.

A Strong Progressive Message on Abortion (Westen Strategies and Greenberg, Quinlan, & Rosner, January, 2009)



Conscious and unconscious responses to racial ads in the 2008 Presidential election

Racial stealth ads: Kwame Kilpatrick Conscious vs. unconscious prejudice We developed and tested two advertising

approaches to reducing the impact of unconscious prejudice Activate voters’ conscious values Address voters’ unconscious concerns and

conflicts directly



15

ALL GOD'S CHILDREN 1*

ALL GOD'S CHILDREN 2*

I'M AN AMERICAN - WOMAN

I'M AN AMERICAN - MAN

RACIST

7.5

7.4

5.5

5.5

3.6

Mean Favorability Ratings for Ads

Favorability Ratings for Five Ads



Subliminal response to Obama

020406080



What applies in elections applies in governing

Lessons from the stimulus package Never let attacks go unanswered Tell the story of how we got in this mess or you’ll

own it Tell a coherent story about deficit spending Don’t count on government to re-brand itself

Lessons for the Obama agenda: Don’t give away the store when you can give away the labels Salazar and expanding offshore drilling The alternative government health care plan



Conclusions A campaign is not “a debate on the issues”

The economy was the deciding issue in the 2008 Presidential election

6 in 10 voters reported having no idea how Obama intended to fix it

An effective campaign is a set of values-based, emotionally compelling narratives

An effective campaign is one that moves voters In the words of that great unsung political strategist, Duke

Ellington…

Contact: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairsbooks-cgi-bin/display?book=9781586484255


The Democratic primary election of 2008

What Went Wrong? Nothing Went Wrong A tale of two ads: Christmas in Iowa Hillary’s Christmas Obama’s Christmas



A tale of two ads

Bill Clinton’s first ad in 1992 John Kerry’s first ad in 2004 Identical surface structure,

divergent emotional structure



The aftermath of Selma The face of a child

Conclusion: Lessons from the past




Countering stealth racial attacks

Distinguishing conscious and unconscious prejudice

Theoretically, two approaches to reducing the impact of unconscious prejudice Activate voters’ conscious values Address voters’ unconscious concerns and

conflicts directly



Race in the race: The 2008 Presidential election

The only way to beat Obama: to make him not “one of us”

Muslim, B. Hussein Obama, Pledge of Allegiance, Fox News: terrorist fist-bump and Barack as Michelle Barack’s “baby mama,” National Review: need to see his birth certificate, John McCain: The American President Americans Have Been Waiting For, John McCain: Country First

Countering racial stealth attacks: Distinguishing conscious and unconscious prejudice

Two approaches to reducing the impact of unconscious prejudice

Activate voters’ conscious values Address voters’ unconscious concerns and conflicts dir

ectly



Racist ad (Kwame-Obama association)

“Obama: I want to first of all acknowledge you’re a great Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. He is a leader, not just in Detroit, not just in Michigan, but all across the country people look to him. We know that he’s going to be doing astounding things for many years to come. I’m grateful to call him a friend and a colleague. I’m looking forward to a lengthy collaboration.”[Text overlay: YOU SHOULD KNOW WHO BARACK OBAMA’S FRIEND ARE]



25

7.4

5.5

5.5

3.6

7.5GOD'S CHILDREN 1*

GOD'S CHILDREN 2*

I'M AN AMERICAN - WOMAN

I'M AN AMERICAN - MAN

RACIST

On a scale from 0 - 10, please say how you feel about this ad overall, with 10 meaning a very WARM, FAVORABLE feeling, 0 meaning a very COLD, UNFAVORABLE feeling, and 5 meaning not particularly warm or cold.

Mean Favorability Ratings for Ads

Favorability Ratings for Five Ads

*Shown to half the sample




Kwame Kilpatrick (racist)

I’m an American (Female)

I’m an American (Male)

All God’s Children (2 families)


-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

Effect size (SD)



What applies in elections applies in governing

Governing requires the same principles of messaging as campaigning

Lessons from the stimulus package Never let attacks go unanswered Tell the story of how we got in this mess or you’ll

own it Tell a coherent story about deficit spending You have to re-brand government

Why a Democrat doesn’t want his Secretaries of Defense and Commerce to be Republicans



Conclusions

A campaign is not “a debate on the issues” The economy was the deciding issue in the 2008 Presidential

election 6 in 10 voters reported having no idea how Obama intended

to fix it An effective campaign is a set of narratives embedded

within a values-based, emotionally compelling master narrative

An effective campaign is one that moves voters

Contact: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]



A tale of two ads

Bill Clinton’s first ad in 1992 John Kerry’s first ad in 2004 Identical surface structure,

divergent emotional structure



The aftermath of Selma The face of a child

Conclusion: Lessons from the past




The Shrinking of the Presidency

How the 2008 Election was Won

Drew Westen, Ph.D.Departments of Psychology and

Psychiatry Emory University




Kwame Kilpatrick (racist)

I’m an American (Female)

I’m an American (Male)



-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

Effect size (SD)




News & Politics

Canada 2020 Speakers Series: Prof. Drew Westen on Effective Political Communications