GSPM History

"The West Point of the Political Wars"

Copyright 1996 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
August 25, 1996, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
By DAVID WALLIS

FROM Churchill to Carville, and from Mao to Matalin, the dividing line between war and politics has always been frazzled. Here are two callings that can learn from each other. And they have, to judge from modern political vernacular: battleground states, attack ads, Republican revolution.

Tomorrow's political operatives will need all the basic training they can get, not in the smoky back rooms of yesterday's party bosses but in the classrooms of George Washington University, the West Point of the political wars.

This week, a new crop of political plebes will fall in at the university's Graduate School of Political Management. The one-year master's program will never be confused with a traditional political science curriculum; courses range from Advanced Lobbying to Political Management and the Media, a.k.a. Spin Doctoring 101. This training for the political arena doesn't come cheap. Tuition is $18,750.

Other universities, including Yale and American University, offer short, intensive seminars for future candidates and their handlers. Political advocacy groups like Gopac and the Christian Coalition offer free campaign training, as do the Republican and Democratic national committees.

Following are excerpts from several campaign text books, manuals and videotapes. DAVID WALLIS

Gopac, the political action committee once led by Speaker Newt Gingrich, offers a video, "Flying Upside Down: What Flies and What Doesn't in a Challenger Campaign," starring Mr. Gingrich. His alphabet does not get past "the five C's":

We've developed a doctrine for campaigning that we believe focuses on low overhead and high impact. We summarize our campaign in five C's.

Confidence: You have to be confident about yourself as a candidate. About your message. About what you're trying to do for your country, your neighbors, for your children.

Contrast: Be prepared to draw a contrast. In all likelihood your opponent will be a welfare state Democrat. You, on the other hand, favor a political revolution. . . . You favor workfare over welfare. You want to lock prisoners up, and you are actually prepared to give up some political pork barrel to build as many prisons as you need. . . . All you have to do is contrast the difference in values, the difference in the allies, the difference in the dreams. That contrast, if you say it with confidence, gives you a tremendous difference.

Creativity: Think creatively. What are you going to do so people notice your message? . . . If you're not creative, you're not going to get there.

Controversy: You've got to be willing with confidence to draw the kind of contrast in a creative way that starts a controversy, so people say, "Hey, this is a real fight about something real."

Capital: Lastly, you have to get capital. We don't say cash. We didn't say money. . . . Volunteers are dramatically better than paying someone to do the work.

Pretend It's a Friend

In a booklet entitled "Making the Dough Rise," Emily's List, a political action committee that helps female Democrats, teaches fund-raising fundamentals:

You should not begin a call by asking for a pledge. Instead, talk to the donor as you would with a good friend. Listen to what they are saying, find out what their needs are and then show them how you meet those needs. . . . Then it's time to close the deal. Ask for the maximum you think the donor can afford, and if the donor balks at the amount you have requested, negotiate downward.

Remember that, while it is easy to lower your request, it is next to impossible to raise it.

The Campaign Encyclopedia, the bulky bible of campaigning put out by the Republican National Committee, recommends several strategies to perfect the door-to-door blitz:

The best time of the day to canvass is when people are at home. Don't be afraid to walk during the dinner hour. . . . Apologize if you interrupt dinner.

Never enter a person's home -- you're not a salesman. When the person comes to the door take a step back so you're less threatening to the voter. Notice children, if they're present -- it makes a great impression and wins votes from parents. . . .

Be friendly -- talk to people you see working in their yards or sitting on their porches. Don't put literature in mailboxes -- it is against the law. You may wish to skip mobile homes and apartments.

Statistics show these residents aren't registered to vote. Skip places that have dogs. (Avoid potential bites!) Stick to sidewalks and driveways rather than cutting across lawns.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee, in its manual Campaign Planning, takes its math seriously:

Party Performance: The average percentage a candidate of your party may get in the jurisdiction you are targeting. You can discern this figure by calculating the average percentage of your party over three typical elections.

Party Performance = (Party vote race 1) + (party vote race 2) + (party vote race 3) / (Total vote 1) + (Total vote 2) + (party vote 3).

To determine how to allocate your resources you should also calculate your Percent of Effort. If you are targeting persuadables take the persuasion index (Persuasion Percent x Registration) for the locations you are targeting and divide them by total persuasion index.

(Persuasion Index) / (Total Persuasion Index) = % of Persuadables.

"The Road to Victory: The Complete Guide To Winning in Politics," a textbook used at George Washington University, lists 50 common mistakes made by candidates and their staffs. Here are a few doozies you won't want to repeat:

Travel with a large entourage -- Even if you are not running as a populist, there is nothing that turns off voters more than a candidate who shows up with an entourage more befitting an oil-rich Arab potentate.

Antagonize the Candidate's Spouse -- Whatever you do, under no circumstances should you irritate a spouse. . . . Regardless of gender, the spouse will almost certainly try to run the campaign. In so doing, he or she will inevitably distract the real campaign manager. If you want to keep your job, grin and bear it. The person sleeping with the candidate is more likely to have the candidate's ear.

Impersonate someone else -- There are many ways you can go about digging up information on your opponent. One way not to is to tell people that you are a reporter, government agent or anything else. If the press finds out, the campaign would suffer a body blow.

Break the law -- At best your candidate is only mildly damaged. At worst, the campaign is completely derailed and you may never work in a campaign again.

GRAPHIC: Photo: In a television interview, Republicans have forgotten how to cross their legs properly. From left, Representative Susan Molinari of New York, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. (ABC)