They’ve got it all wrong

The fundamental messaging problem of the #Kakampinks

If you are sick and tired of the Twitter threads and op-ed pieces about the flaws of the Robredo campaign, this article is not for you (although I hope we find it in us to realize that criticisms like these keep coming because we don’t see, hear, or feel any results).

Before I begin, this article has nothing to do with the grassroots campaign, her local machineries, and the groups organizing in her name. I’m here to talk about the message problem — something that makes or breaks campaigns. In national elections, as many have already stated, the message is everything. Unlike local elections where allegiances and personal debts of gratitude are factored in, national positions are won not just by telling great stories but great stories that matter to people.

I’ll cut to the chase: Leni Robredo’s campaign has violated what Paul Begala called “Bill Clinton’s first law of politics,” and that is: make everything about the voters.

Let me illustrate: don’t we all hate that friend who keeps finding a way to talk about himself in every conversation? You talk about your breakup with your ex and this friend tells you about his breakup. You talk about how you’re tired with your job and he talks about his job. You tell him what you had for breakfast and he’ll fixate on what he had for breakfast. Annoying, right?

That’s precisely where the Robredo camp is right now. Too fixated on Sino si Leni? disguised as Bakit si Leni? Now these are two different things. Candidates begin by introducing themselves to develop awareness on their character, and then they proceed to giving people compelling reasons to vote for them. For some reason, we’ve been stuck at the first part even if we think we’re already in the second.

Recall the many times we had to answer bakit si Leni? Usually, you would prop up a litany of reasons: she’s always present in typhoons, she listens to science, she has the highest COA audit rating, her office is ISO-certified, she’s principled, she’s honest, she’s not corrupt. All about her, right?

Lately, her FB page has released a series called #GinagawaNaNiLeni. Although these efforts are appreciated, it still lacks that hook. What is it about what Leni has done that it should matter to the ordinary Filipino? At least the OVP does it subtly. Her supporters are more bold (i.e. preachy) when it comes to talking about Leni. You would see a juxtaposition: Candidate A is good, Candidate B is bad. Candidate A has a real degree, Candidate B only has a fake. Tim Cook should donate to Candidate A, not to Candidate B.

Our goal right now is clear: we need to pick up BBM voters who make-up the majority of the electorate. It takes another article to talk about the profile of these voters, but if we focus on those who we can sway, these people simply lack an alternative because all they hear is a battle of personality. Bongbong Marcos to them means a return to a mythical past that is supposedly strong, stable, and progressive. Leni Robredo does not have a mythical past to boast, in fact, she represents the past they hate: the Liberal Party years. Neither does she have a personality that can honestly beat BBM’s — she didn’t have viral vlogs that humanized her story to the people while being Veep, nor can she replicate this underdog narrative BBM built for himself.

We’re all engaging BBM’s sweet spot which is personality politics. Sun Tzu’s Art of War reminds us that there are nine different kinds of situations in battle. The 9th situation is called desperate ground: it is where all is hopeless for your opponent because you have the ground advantage. So it’s all a matter of which ground do we have an advantage on? Definitely not the personality game.

So drop all the CVs and accomplishments. Yes, burn the track record. It doesn’t make sense to voters anyway. They wouldn’t bother to read it or listen. Appealing to their reason requires meeting them where they are, and this is where we’ve lacked the whole time: how do we make this about them?

This is the fundamental difference of Sino and Bakit as messaging categories for Leni Robredo. When you reach bakit, you’re in the process of persuasion, and the main ask in persuading someone is what’s in it for me?

Example 1: if Leni Robredo is always present in typhoons, what’s in it for the voter? Well, if you’re in a typhoon-struck area, you’d expect a faster, hands-on, and on-ground response and prevention to make things better for people who have lost so much due to typhoons.

Example 2: if Leni Robredo has the highest COA audit rating, what’s in it for the voter? Well, if her leadership shows that they have not a single ounce of corruption, then investors can be more confident in our country again. More investors means more jobs and higher wages. Your life fundamentally gets better.

We’re so focused on what Leni is doing but never on why it matters, and that’s why our message is so tone-deaf. That’s why the radical love thing isn’t getting us anywhere. I mean, fine, let’s all radically love each other, but what’s in it for me? Will my hospital bills get paid with radical love? Will I finally own a house with radical love? Will the price of goods be more affordable with radical love?

We have a candidate who can win every single people-oriented issue out there. From inflation, healthcare, housing, corruption, all the way to labor contractualization. She has popular positions on each of these issues as long as they are delivered as stories and not position papers.

So my point is: Bongbong Marcos is the king of personality, Leni is not. But Leni could be the queen of kitchen table issues (i.e. issues close to home), BBM is definitely not. Isko was already taking that path early in his campaign (remember his call for a 50% tax cut on fuel and electricity?) but lost momentum. The mantle is up for grabs. I’m betting that she can do it better.

As for her supporters, I don’t think there’s as much a problem of message discipline as before. Her supporters are slowly consolidating their voices towards a single direction but they’re playing the wrong tune. It’s all a matter of changing the tape and playing a new song. (Maybe just one word of advice: as much as you should not make it about Leni, you should also not make it about yourselves as volunteers. Again, the voter won’t care because it isn’t about them)

When developing your pro-Leni message, always make it about the voter, not Leni. Don’t be that annoying friend.

Note: This piece was written around late December with a burning frustration (and the Omicron variant lingering in a room next to mine). My main inspiration for this article was reading Paul Begala’s book “Your Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump”