The question is now upon us: Which Presidential Candidate Is Most Punk?
Even though the omnipresent race for the United States Presidency has hardly begun, the various candidates are already full steam ahead trying out their marketing prowess in a bid to engage potential voters.
But in a world where TV advertising is no longer the only player in town and people are logging onto MySpace, watching short videos on YouTube, and using cell phones as mini-entertainment centers, do the candidates really know how to win loyal fans? Punk Marketing describes the new way of selling to consumers (and voters!) and is based upon a set of simple, yet incredibly powerful principles. How many of the Presidential candidates understand these principles, how many of them pass the all-crucial Punk Marketing test?
Real Punks have something important to say and they say it, loud and clear, and those who have said it without fail (see Richardson, Bill, for more) are getting our vote—not necessarily in 11/08, but here today – and maybe gone tomorrow.
Mark and I have been watching the presidential hopefuls’ efforts over the past month and have given each one of them a “Punk quotient” for their campaigning efforts based upon how well each is doing against the articles of their Punk Marketing Manifesto.
Since Punk Marketing is about engaging in honest conversation—with ourselves, with our consumers and with one another—that truthfully means getting rid of the traditional means of marketing, most of which have made consumers so cynical they can spot a market a mile away and refuse to hear the stories we’re trying to tell. They are cynical and bitter, and it’s our job to lead a revolution and break down the very traditions that have put a wall up between our consumers and us. We’re starting a revolution, dammit. And politicians that are willing to revolt with us, to overthrow the traditions of obscuring the truth – they will be our PC (Punk Candidate) for 2008.
For more on articles of the Revolution, see “articles of the Revolution” here on the site.
Ok. Now the meat. How do they stack up, Punk-wise?
New Mexico Gov, Richardson is a strong proponent of offensive moves in campaigning —and fun to watch. He’s nothing in this campaign, no one is even really paying attention to him, and yet he gets aggressive each chance he gets. Basically, he seems to be all bark and we’re waiting to see if he has any bite. He is really down in the polls, but at a point recently he was quoted as saying that he thought all the other candidates would “serve enormously well in the White House as my Vice President.” Got to love that! That’s purely Article 7: Making Enemies.
This coming from a guy who has 4% in the polls! Ouch, or nothing to lose?
And when talking about how his early fundraising is going, he’s still running his mouth rabidly– saying, Gosh, it is absurd that so much emphasis is placed on this. Nice way to Outthink the Competition (9) and say “Don’t let others set the standards.” He says that standards others set, to predict the nominee based on how much money he/she has raised is like asking “does he have enough support to carry on?” Richardson claims it will not matter in the end and won’t actually determine whom the voters will nominate.
We also give him credit for 12: No More Marketing Bullshit.
One of our favorite Punkers is Mrs. Rodham Clinton, who spends an awful lot of her time making enemies. And we so love that. It is after all Article 7: Make Enemies. She’s the aggressor and ever so quickly became a rival with Barack Obama as she made herself the Anti-Obama. This is good in the modern day of marketing because, after all, what is a candidate these days without somebody who’s controversially riling up and getting everybody jazzed and in the mood!
She also has this Why Not Ask, Why not? tendency. which is a feature of Punk Marketing. Here Hillary she goes out and stops folks in their tracks when people say to her, Why are you using your - why are you using Bill Clinton for fundraising? And she says, Well, my Bill is the man. He’s all about fundraising. I’m going to use him till the cows come home!
Okay, what about Obama? Article 14: Use the tools of the Revolution. He is the most Punk we’ve seen – on his site he tells folks who give money they will be given the chance to communicate (commune?) with someone who gave the same amount. Talk about forcing folks to connect! He seems to constantly stay on message, which is about as Punk as you can get. When he was being accused of the Apple 1984 fiasco, he explained that his campaign wasn’t techno enough. Nice comeback. Even when he’s in trouble he gets us talking, thinking and “part of the process.” Also, 6—Expose Yourself. He is an author AND a Grammy winner. Give it all away, Barack, show us who you are.
Dodd (Christopher J.) also exposes himself while keeping his clothing on, on the Dodd site where he talks about the future President’s picks for college basketball! Go, UCLA…
Let’s talk Republicans. Giuliani and McCain make enemies (7) in ways that just crack us up. McCain picked the day of King Rudy’s first fundraiser–and released a list of 57 prominent donors in the NY tri-state region! Simply classic.
Rudy targets Clinton, naturally. He appeared at to the Governor’s residence in Little Rock and mocked her “non-residency” or carpetbagging in New York to his salivating campaign boosters.
Fun.
Let us move on to former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, the dark horse for Republicans who seems to be able to possess many Punk attributes very subtly:
He outthinks the competition by setting up affiliates of his PAC in multiple states to raise bucks fast with few donors while fostering seriously valuable relationships everywhere. Plus, wow, does he go after EVERYONE. Talks about his age and experience (yuck to Barack!), but ensures we know he’s not too old with too much time on the books (ew, McCain!), and features the one lady in his life –the wife—prominently on page one of his site and that’s surely taking care of family/spouse issues (nudge toward Mrs. Clinton). He answers many questions before they are asked, a Punk trait if ever there was a Punk trait!
One thing Romney points out quietly is: he’s the only Republican Governor running. If you look back, Senators and Mayors do not win the Big Office. Not since 1960. That’s a huge pull to voters. Governors have less baggage, or — fewer bags!
Fair time rules apply in this post: Who’s NOT Punk? Al Gore is hardly our Sid. Unfortunately he has become the Mario Cuomo of the current crop of running mates with his sly and shy “No sorry” technique of quasi-running for the big office. Yes, sure, he’s not really trying to get elected, but he is throwing his weight around…. in ways that do not make me entirely comfortable. It’s one thing to be an elder statesman and make us think adroitly about global warming. It’s another to have big shots like Laurie David hinting at your running, Al G., and not simply nip it in the bud. Al, you lost us at “Turn the lights off.”
Before you ask…Richard, who’s NOT PUNK and running?!
Joseph R. Biden, the man who is the most Eveready Bunny of all of them. He has no real persona at this point and even someone who doesn’t care remembers how he has come in and out of races constantly, been caught in a turmoil-of-the-day (plagiarism, anyone?) and rushed away a few times with head in hands. His current campaign site breaks Article 1: Avoid Risk and Die. His online destination is clean and articulate and yet lacks a single page that screams Here, people, is our agenda. Biden, bitten a few times by the media, has decided to keep his pages Purell Clean. This was his one easy opportunity to give us a view to the guy, circa 2007.
The Joseph Biden window has been shuttered.
For some fun facts on how to elect a Punk for President, watch me on ABC going to town on Hillary and friends:
