Staying in touch from Ohio

Iraqi war vet and Illinois GOP political operative Drew Veeneman is a graduate student of political studies in Ohio, but he's staying in touch with the political scene here.

As a class project, he analyzed one of Governor and then Lt. Governor candidate Steve Rauschenberger's mail pieces in 2006 and had some cogent analysis.

The campaign message specifically fails to meet the purpose. The message, "A Voice for the Middle Class Families. . . A Vision for Illinois," lacks a degree of benefit oriented language ideal for persuasion. This message may have been taken directly from polling data without proper word-smithing. The middle class is a common demographic term, but it is ill suited to selling points. You don't rally around the middle class. Bill Hillsman, famous media consultant of Northwoods Advertising, explains the importance of stressing benefits, not features. "People don't buy polished carbide high-speed quarter inch drill bits because they want quarter-inch drill bits. People buy quarter-inch drill bits because they want quarter-inch holes." The middle class is a feature, a demographic.

You can stay in touch with Veeneman at his new blog, Trenches of Democracy. It's worth a look. He plans to return to the political wars here in a few months once he completes grad school.

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