Political Marketing Wisdom: Beyond Polarization and Fear

Obama is not forcing the gender issue by waving a banner that reads "I am all about women." Rather, he is living and speaking in ways with which voters with caring and consensus-building concerns can relate.
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We shall see how this plays out when the votes are tallied, but the difference between the female-appeal of the Obama and Clinton marketing pitches may demonstrate a gender-stereotype of the self-inflicted kind: Will women vote along purely gender lines, come November 2008?

Make no assumptions my friends.

Just as "all women everywhere" don't automatically respond to pink and flowers on retail web sites or product packaging, so, too, will "all women everywhere" not automatically vote for the token female in the 2008 presidential race. As a December 2nd New York Times article by Robin Toner pointed out, the Obama campaign is demonstrating a lot of female voter savvy in its approach, which may give the Clinton campaign a run for its money.

What's happening here? Voters are acting like the consumers they are, and reflecting their more sophisticated decision-making skills. We've certainly come a long way in finally having a female presidential candidate doing so well in the race, but that alone won't sway female voters. Instead, most people, male and female, are looking for the candidate who shares their values and approach, and who seems to live and understand life in a way that is closest to their own perspective. And, for the voters doing their homework, that person does not necessarily have to have the same skin color or be of the same gender.

As Toner wrote:

The Obama campaign is, in some ways, subtly marketing its candidate as a postfeminist man, a generation beyond the gender conflicts of the boomers. In the video released this week, Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat of Illinois, says that Mr. Obama understands issues of concern to women "in his gut" and not as "a kind of pandering." The writer, Alice Walker, describes Mr. Obama as "someone who honors the feminine values of caring for all."

Obama strategists also highlight his leadership style - his promise of consensus-building and moving beyond the politics of polarization and fear - as especially appealing to women.

What happens if we don't label it a feminist pitch, per se, but a humanistic pitch? Let's leave off the references to female/feminine, using instead, in Walker's words: Obama honors the values of caring for all; and, as Obama's strategists say: with a promise of consensus-building and moving beyond the politics of polarization and fear.

Are caring for all, consensus-building and moving beyond polarization and fear campaign positions that only a woman can appreciate? I think not.

What I do think is that women may very much connect with those values and also be able to see that Obama is not pandering or changing his ways or words in any "feminine" way in order to make that connection. He is not forcing the gender issue by waving a banner that reads "I am all about women." Rather, as Toner's article suggests, he is living and speaking in ways with which voters with caring and consensus-building concerns can relate.

While Clinton may hold an edge with female voters in general, her female-ness may also be a drawback, and contribute to the perhaps more intense scrutiny of her actions and reactions by both men and women. Obama, on other hand, may be more free to express the care-giving and consensus-building values that are appreciated by many of today's voters - and, as such, will continue to be able to do so in a more authentic manner. No one will say he's just acting like he cares because he's a woman, obviously.

History is being made in and around this election cycle, no matter the outcome. The fact that a sophisticated "marketing to women" pitch absolutely must be employed by each and every candidate holds great cultural significance. How the presidential candidates approach the female voter, either by pandering or by serving more genuine, universally acknowledged humanistic values, will be a reflection of just how far we have come.

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