With his appearance at a Brighton Democratic Committee meeting, and now that content is posted on his website, David Nachbar's campaign has started in earnest. As new information becomes available, it's possible to glimpse some of the Nachbar strategy for election.
Though full reports of Nachbar's appearance at the Brighton meeting have yet to be posted, one attendee ("davesnyd") reported at Rochesterturning that Nachbar's campaign will not be focused on a grassroots drive. This person summarized Nachbar's answer to the electability question as follows:
Mr. Nachbar’s response to that question boiled down to a statement that he can afford to hire the best campaign assistants– including people who had previously worked for or with the DCCC. Also, that he feels that between self-funding and fund-raising, he thinks he can raise $2.5M for this campaign.
Nachbar's strategy is one used by many corporate managers when facing an unknown problem: hire experts and trust their guidance. This strategy can explain why Nachbar has been reluctant to engage with local committees. Instead of spending hours listening to the advice of local Democrats, Nachbar can rely on the wisdom of former DCCC staffers. On the face of it, this might be a reasonable strategy. Let's see how it's playing out so far.
Nachbar's new site, which I assume is the product of sessions between him and his DCCC-bred experts, is a mixture of platitudes along with a few new ideas. Most of it is unobjectionable, non-specific, middle-of-the-road thinking about the major issues of the day. Interspersed with those are a few howlers, like the first bullet point of his Iraq strategy:
Our troops have done what they have been asked to do. It is time for them to come home. We need to deploy the Corps of Engineers, in place of the Marine Corps, to help rebuild basic human needs: power, water, hospitals, schools, police and housing to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and to show American credibility.
Anyone who's paid attention to the war in Iraq understands that any US presence makes them a target for insurgent attacks. Removing Marines and sending in the Army Corps of Engineers would replace one target with another: it's likely that the Marines would have to stay to protect the Engineers.
Aside from this little misstep, the Nachbar site does its job: it introduces the candidate in language designed to pique the interest of anyone even slightly interested in an alternative to Randy Kuhl. The next play in the DCCC playbook is a media campaign designed to introduce Nachbar as a non-threatening alternative, then perhaps some issue ads that distinguish Nachbar from Kuhl, and finally a few responses to the almost-certain attacks from Kuhl.
What's missing from Nachbar's campaign is one thing: the involvement of the voters in the 29th. As Carolyn Schaeffer, the Yates County Chair, puts it in her letter to City Newspaper:
Mr. Nachbar's candidacy is the antithesis of a voter-centered campaign.
The Nachbar/DCCC playbook places voters in the role of consumers rather than actors, and it treats his candidacy as a product that needs to be sold. Instead of attending endless coffee sessions, participating in neighborhood canvassing, and showing up at every town celebration, this strategy substitutes money for time. Since Nachbar doesn't have the time to visit and cultivate party support, he'll just do it wholesale, by beaming out television, radio and print ads that tout the Nachbar brand.
The Nachbar product created from the consultants' recipe comes in one flavor -- vanilla -- and it's meant to go down smoothly, with no bitter aftertaste. That's probably fine for the general election, but primary voters aren't used to such bland concoctions. David Nachbar will have to figure out how to inject some flavor into his campaign, or he'll be faced with an unpleasant and expensive lesson consultants can't teach.
Comments
Somewhere Randy Kuhl is smiling. There is nothing he would like better than a well fought democrat primary with hard feelings remaining with the loser and his voters.
Yes - with the emergence of a real Nachbar campaign, Christmas came early this year for Randy Kuhl.
My observation is that high-priced out-of-state/DC consultants usually know nothing about what it takes to win an election in a mostly rural district, and their confidence/arrogance usually means they effectively shut off resources from knowledgeable activists who could help. Thanks for linking to Carolyn’s letter. It’s well worth reading.
This is amazing. Indeed, Congressman Kuhl must love it! Wouldn't it be something, assuming 2008 is a pivotal year anyway, were Nachbar to end up running independently in the general AND--the real kicker and could-win under those circumstances-the conservative Gates (?) councilman who ran against Randy in the primary three years ago got in as well? !
Anne: I agree that consultants are often do more harm than good. There's more than just confidence or arrogance at work. Consultants naturally try to shut out other voices because they want their client to pay for all advice that he receives. Also, since Democratic consultants typically take a percentage cut of all advertising, it's in their best interest to pitch a huge media blitz, so they can rake in the coin.
OG: I think you mean Mark Assini.
I don't think that former DCCC-staffers has any clue about how to win any kind of race in NY-29. After all, they felt NY-29 was unwinnable last time and put no money into it.
I think when a race is lost by 51.5 to 48.5 and the losing candidate got bombarded with attack ads the last couple weeks...it's pretty clear that such a race was, in fact, winnable.
My take is that what they're likely to do is put together a campaign that might appeal to Monroe County voters. There's nothing they've said or done that indicates any idea or plan about how to get more votes in the Tier.
I'm sure former DCCC staffers think it's winnable now, as long as there's a pot of gold in it for them. David Nachbar's wallet will help them see the error of their ways.
Given his recent public appearences, no ammount of well-paid experts can save this man from political blunder. From what I've heard he's an impersonal and inconsiderate, which probably means he'll fit right in with the Washington crowd, but as far as rural voters go, he doesnt have a chance.