Marketing 101: Product Differentiation. It’s a basic principle of marketing. You can’t expect to sell a product, and especially compete sucessfully with an established one, if you’re selling the same thing. You need to tell people why yours is different.
Politics 101: How can you expect to win against established forces if you aren’t giving the public any reasons to do so? That campaign theme of, "This is a great community and/or public agency, and it does a great job," is perfect for an incumbent’s effort. For a challenger, it’s a non-starter. The public’s simple assumption will be that if things are so great, the powers-that-be must be doing something right.
Such a failed theme (usually seen in local "non-partisan" campaigns, where challengers are hesitant about saying anything negative about their community) is typically followed by, "…yet, I am the better candidate." Uhh-huh. All you’ve done is educate folks to why you’re qualified, instead of why the person being challenged is not — or no longer — suited for the office.
At the end of the day, when the voters opt for the incumbent, it won’t be a vote against you, it will be due to the fact they had no reason to vote against him.
Yet, at least the voters will still think you’re a nice person.
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All of Barry’s enlightening advice…and other posts.