Political Marketing:  Tell a Story
Voters Connect with Stories not Policies
But a good story doesn't change bad outcomes

Photo: AP

President Obama came under fire this past week when he identified his inability to "tell a story" as the biggest mistake of his Presidency.  The President said, "When I think about what we’ve done well and what we haven’t done well, the mistake of my first term – couple of years – was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that’s important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times.  It’s funny – when I ran, everybody said, well he can give a good speech but can he actually manage the job? And in my first two years, I think the notion was, ‘Well, he’s been juggling and managing a lot of stuff, but where’s the story that tells us where he’s going?’ And I think that was a legitimate criticism."


The reaction diverged along the partisan divide.   


Mitt Romney reacted, “President Obama believes that millions of Americans have lost their homes, their jobs and their livelihood because he failed to tell a good story. Being president is not about telling stories. Being president is about leading, and President Obama has failed to lead. No wonder Americans are losing faith in his presidency.”


Arianna Huffington defended Obama arguing that "telling stories, casting a narrative, is an essential element in communicating ideas and values, and an integral part of leading -- especially leading from the Oval Office."

Famed litigator Russ Herman teaches trial lawyers that "when you stand before a jury, you will tell a story. Every trial lawyer tells a story — with characters and themes and plots. Whether the story is one of murder and intrigue, of commercial disruption, or of a breach of contract, the elements of the story remain. It is, then, the art of the storyteller that determines if the jury “gets it.”"


The best stories, whether in politics or in the court room is when the listener gets to play a part as the hero.  Here, the Politician says, is the evil in our land, and here is your struggle, and together we can beat it.

Ronald Reagan, quoting from John Winthrop's 1630 Sermon, talked about America being the shining City on the Hill.  When he ran for re-election Reagan's story was that it was Morning Again in America.  Reagan was the Great Communicator simply because he could tell a story.  It helped immensely that by 1984 the economy was doing much better. Reagan wove his story into the fabric of American lore, inviting us not be as we are, but rather as we would like to see ourselves become.

Bill Clinton was a masterful story teller simply because his stories were also about us.  Yes, he was the man from Hope - a wonderful blend upon his personal history and campaign theme.  However Clinton's greatest stories were about average Americans struggling with problems that his policies claimed to help.  While Clinton's detractors mocked his  "I feel your pain," he understood the importance of stories.  He wrote, "Perhaps most important, I learned that everyone has a story – of dreams and nightmares, hope and heartache, love and loss, courage and fear, sacrifice and selfishness. All my life I’ve been interested in other people’s stories. I wanted to know them, understand them, feel them. When I grew up into politics, I always felt the main point of my work was to people a chance to have better stories."


In the end, both Romney and Huffington are correct.  The Presidency and politics is about story telling in order to gain support for policies.  However if the policies get implemented and don't work - don't blame the story.

On Camera Self Criticism
Shamelessly engage in humblebrag

CBS Anchor Charlie Rose set up a predictable Kobayashi Maru, when he asked President Obama what he considered his biggest mistake during the first term.  This is now such a predictable question that politicians should be prepared how to answer this no win question.  Deny there were mistakes and you appear unrealistically unaware.  Admit mistakes and you provide video for your opponent's attack ads.  Worse, admit problems but blame them on others and you give the impression of someone evading accountability.

I believe the first time this question was sprung on a President was during a Presidential News Conference in April 2004 with President George W. Bush.  It was an election year.   Bush clearly did not anticipate the question and for forty-three seconds he appeared honestly at a loss for thoughts and words.  While he admitted - in the abstract - that he was sure he had made mistakes, he declared that he couldn't think of one right at that moment.  It was the fact he couldn't name one specific mistake that created headlines.

Later, President Bush was more prepared when asked this question two years later.  He immediately identified his earlier remark "Bring it on" when publicly talking about the Iraqi terrorist insurgents.  

It should then have come as now surprise to President Obama when Charlie Rose asked this same question.  President Obama seemed better prepared.  

When I think about what we’ve done well and what we haven’t done well,” the president said, “the mistake of my first term – couple of years – was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that’s important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times.

It’s funny – when I ran, everybody said, well he can give a good speech but can he actually manage the job? And in my first two years, I think the notion was, ‘Well, he’s been juggling and managing a lot of stuff, but where’s the story that tells us where he’s going?’ And I think that was a legitimate criticism.'"

Whether it was politically best choice to identify his inability to tell a story as his greatest mistake, the response perfectly fits the art of humblebrag.  Oliver Burkeman explains, a humblebrag is the art of answering in away that makes you look pretty darn fantastic.  "What is my biggest fault," a job seeker says.  "It must be that I work too hard."  Obama declares his policies and their implementation as spot on and flawless, but then places the blame on his inability to "tell a story." The reaction to this searing self-confessional makes clear that the answer needs to be refined to not trivialize the proffered mistake.