by Ken Clarke

Election campaigns are essentially sales and marketing programs aimed at selling a political party, its plans and objectives, and its personalities to a voting public. As such, it must contain the same elements and employ many of the same methods as any other sales and marketing campaign.

In The Bahamas, political campaigns have traditionally used a slick phrase as the theme of the campaign with little else to support it. The FNM, in my opinion, has led in the marketing thrust of its campaigns over the last five election cycles with more paraphernalia, media ads and yes campaign themes; beginning with “Victory” which was my favourite because of its powerful simplicity.

I was somewhat surprised to see the PLP emerge with undoubtedly its best campaign ever . Beginning with the very powerful series of ads themed “unbelievable, unthinkable” which were not only powerful because they used Mr. Ingraham’s own words and public video but the superb editing which left those words indelibly in the viewers mind like a song which stays in your head all day. This theme also served to counter the FNM’s multi-year strategy of painting the PLP as no different than the FNM and therefore no alternative.

The real winner for the PLP however was its election theme: We Believe in Bahamians. Selling anything is the process by which you somehow implant an idea in the buyers head. You plant it so that the buyer actually believes it is their idea and not yours. That becomes infinitely more effective if you do not try to create a new idea, but utilize one which is already there. This is what the PLP was able to accomplish with “We Believe in Bahamians”. This theme exploited a fundamental belief among many Bahamians that the FNM would act in the interest of the rich, whites and foreigners and provided a foundation upon which the PLP could build so many other ideas which would paint the FNM in a truly negative and anti Bahamian light. Interestingly, the theme was not a negative one. There was no harsh sentiment expressed but the conclusion : “if we are for you the other guys must be against you”; was as logical as 1,2,3. It simply followed, that anything negative could be applied to that basic belief.

There was therefore no surprise at the reaction to the visit of Haitian President Martelly by the Bahamian public. The seed had been sown and this was the first bud to show its head from the fertile soil. The election was essentially over. This was the absolutely worst thing that Mr. Ingraham could have done but he didn’t stop there. He salted the wound with the stories of giving free land to Haitians in the Mackey Yard controversy and then proceeded to give an unknown number of citizenships to Haitians.

Ironically, this was apparently his key strategy. Mr. Ingraham apparently convinced himself that thousands of Haitian votes could win an election for him and his entire “Papa” theme was to attract them and guarantee that result. He therefore actually made it impossible for the PLP to lose given its theme. There could not possibly be anything more egregious to the average Bahamian than the notion that you would take their country away from them and give it to another. Not just any people but a people they essentially considered inferior interlopers who, in their view, were already getting too much.

Again, the PLP didn’t have to say any of this. It was already in the minds of Bahamians.

This strategy didn’t take into account another social fundamental. Haitians realize they have to work and live with Bahamians. Who was going to give them jobs, teach their children, live as neighbours if they turned against Bahamians and swung an election against their wishes? If there is anything Haitians have learned in their many years of toil it is survival. Again, no one had to sell this idea. It was already in the minds of Haitians.

The way to get the average Bahamian interested in a topic; any topic, is to tell him or her that it’s a secret. Therefore, Mr. Ingraham again fertilized the budding plant of conspiracy by refusing to disclose the number of citizenships being given to Haitians. He thus made it possible for that number to be thousands and even tens of thousands in the minds of Bahamians. Again, the PLP didn’t have to lift a finger or say a word; Just continuously ask the question and the minds of the people would do the rest.

None of this might have been half as effective if the economic situation was not so bad and so broad. Things were as bad in Port New Providence where the worry was about a failing business as it was in Nassau village, Regency Park , Sunset Park and Miller’s Heights where there was worry about a putting food on the table or a delinquent mortgage, but equally so in Westward Villas where University tuition may be a more prominent worry. The same concerns were repeated in every family island.

The election would have been a tough one for the FNM in any event but Mr. Ingraham’s strategy played into the hands of the PLP and ignored every reality on the ground. He may not have had much of a choice under the circumstances.

So all the hoopla of the rallies, T-shirts, Red Splash and Gold Rush was a nice carnival put on by the political parties and the people were invited, so they came. The election was decided as soon as the campaign started based on the seeds that had been sown in the minds of the people. This is borne out by the absence of T-shirt wearers, particularly FNM red shirts, on election day. Where did the tens of thousands from Red Splash disappear to? It appears they too had made up their minds long before election day.

June 22, 2012

The views expressed are those of the author.