Electioneering - advice for the PM

2013 is election year here in Australia.  The past two and a half years have certainly not been easy for our current Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.  After ousting the then PM Kevin Rudd in rather controversial fashion, she has yet to face the voting public.  But this year is decision year. 

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Whether she retains leadership of the country, or is swept from power by Tony Abbott will depend a great deal on her election campaign, and how well she engages with the public.  She would do well to take some tips from the U.S Presidential campaign, and utilise the power of social media and the Internet to garner support from the Australian people.  To this end, I've put together some pointers for the PM.

• Have an active social media profile - make use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to connect with the public and start a conversation with them.  Luckily for her, she already has done this - the Labor Party website has a number of options which allow you to 'Connect with Julia'. 

• Should she wish to take this a step further, a successful tactic used by Barack Obama in his Presidential campaign was to set up his own social networking application - MyBarackObama.com.  This site served a dual purpose: target voters, and organise get-out-the-vote activities.  It enabled the Obama camp to build a database of supporters, and used them to draw in more supporters and encourage people to vote on the day.  According to the site, 2.2 million voters built the re-election campaign in local communities and neighbourhoods across the U.S

• Simply having an Internet presence is not sufficient.  Success lies in connecting with the public on a personal level, interacting with them, responding to their questions and comments.  This is also a good way of engaging with young voters, who are traditionally not as interested in politics as their older, more educated and wealthier counterparts. 

• Liven things up a bit, make politics fun.  More great ideas from the US presidential campaign include running competitions such as choosing a song for Hilary Clinton's campaign, paintings and web videos for Obama, and producing a video ad for Mitt Romney.  Julia could invite people to come up with a catchy campaign slogan - Kevin07 had a nice ring to it.  Unfortunately my creativity doesn't seem to stretch that far - nothing seems to rhyme with '13'!!

• Use YouTube to release video statements about policy, and then watch the TV networks pick it up and spread it like wildfire.  Just make sure that nobody gets a video of you doing or saying something embarassing, as that could really ruin your chances.  Check out this pearler from Mitt Romney talking about his 'binders full of women':

 



• Use a multi-faceted approach. The old tried & true methods of campaigning are tried & true for a reason. Don't neglect them, but integrate them with the use of social media and the Internet to develop a well-rounded approach that engages with as many people from diverse backgrounds, education and employment status and age groups as possible. At the end of the day, it all comes down to numbers. The more people you can connect with, the more likely you are to see a good result on election day.