Playing to the Electorate

...That is a different, and more controversial, contention...

...The author probably has a point about this new independence, but he pursues it only impressionistically...

...One more problem that Sabato touches upon concerns the way consultants have reinforced the already strongly "populistic" character of American politics-the notion that politicians should give the people "what they want...

...Admittedly, here too consultants probably are an effect and not the cause...

...In his new book, Larry Sabato, who teaches political science at the University of Virginia, argues that consultants have altered the way American campaigns are conducted...

...Sabato's essential charge, though, is that consultants make it easier for candidates to function as independent entrepreneurs, free of local or national political organizations...

...Conservative mailings abound with warnings about "big-spendingultraliberals" under the thumb of "labor bosses," "baby-killers," and pansies "soft on crime...

...As with other sections of his book, Sabato paints an illuminating picture of the art of direct mail solicitation...

...Adapting the methods of Madison Avenue, consultants size up the electorate in much the same manner that a private company studies the potential market for a new consumer product...

...Even putting real stamps on reply envelopes increases response rates dramatically, and one mail specialist suggests that the stamps be put on the envelopes (by machine, of course) at a slightly crooked angle...

...Our parties have always been weaker than those in Western Europe, our elected officials always much more in business for themselves...

...Take polling...

...The process is generally a two-stage affair, beginning with "prospecting," or the mailing out of large numbers of fund appeals to cast a wide net for willing contributors, followed by repeated resolicitations to respondents that bring much higher return rates...

...Consequently, when elected they are beholden to nobody-which may sound like admirable autonomy, yet often ends up meaning that politicians think of no one except themselves...

...the number now appears closer to several million...

...Several years ago spots were often concluded with the obligatory, 'This ad paid for by the Potzrebie for Senate Committee.' Now most media professionals have adopted a new version: 'This ad was brought to you by a lot of people who want to see Irving Potzrebie in the United States Senate.'" Finished spots are focus-group tested to check the reactions to them before they go on the air...

...If, for example, research shows that the majority of voters are impressed by the ability of a candidate for governor to attract industry to the state, that aspect of his record will be emphasized...

...And as Sabato acknowledges, organizational decline has also been spurred by increased mobility and education, by welfare state policies that have turned the favors that old political machines used to parcel out into citizens' rights, and by television's crowding out many kinds of organized voluntary activities...

...Carefully aimed print ads can be placed only in the copies of a magazine sent to certain zip codes...

...This sort of political marketing can be refined to the point where, say, the interests of black voters are isolated and appealed to on "soul" radio stations...

...These elements are then incorporated into the campaign...

...In explaining how political consultants have gotten where they are, Sabato provides a crisply written, anecdote-laden account of the profession's techniques that amply documents the changes brought about in running for elective office...

...Unbeknown to most citizens, consultants have gone far beyond taking polls merely to tell how well their candidate is doing or what people think about the issues...

...His criticism echoes the common refrain among political scientists, most notably Sidney Verba, that the waning of parties further worsens political inequality: Lower-income, poorly-educated voters are less likely to participate in politics when they lack a party they can identify with and rely on to help them make choices at the polls...

...He calls it the "poisoned pen of politics," for consultants have found they achieve the best results by scaring people...

...Regionally tailored messages may be broadcast on local TV or run in local newspapers...

...Yet it is in this regard that the most profound questions about consultants-the unease, for example, provoked by "selling politicians like soap-flakes," an unease that might otherwise appear knee-jerk-need to be asked...

...they simply facilitate populism by providing data on what people do want...

...In short, political consultants are more a reflection than another cause of our changing politics...

...The latest addition to the political consultants' bag of tricks is the direct mail appeal, largely a product of the 1970s campaign financing reforms limiting the clout of the rich by placing a premium on the ability to develop a loyal cadre of small givers...

...Some of them, such as the conservatives' Richard Viguerie and the liberals' David Garth, have emerged from the shadows and gotten a fair amount of press attention, so the presence of this new breed of "communicator" is hardly a secret today...

...Gathering statistics on public opinion has been integrated into the highest levels of strategy, catapulting pollsters into positions of prominence...

...Liberal letters employ similar charged phrases and images...

...It is here that their close affinity to consumer product marketers is most obvious...

...The success of the follow-ups makes direct mail an especially attractive fund-raising vehicle for organizations, since unlike candidates their ability to seek additional contributions does not end on election day...

...Finding that personalizing a pitch adds to its effectiveness, consultants have developed methods for simulating this, too...

...author, "Regulating America, Regulating Sweden" Political consultants are the hired guns candidates bring on board to create advertising, conduct polls, raise money, and come up with strategies for winning elections...

...Previously the conventional wisdom was that there were only a few hundred thousand Americans willing to donate money to political causes...

...Literally every word of a spot announcement becomes important" because of the limited time available, Sabato notes, encouraging reliance on symbols over substance...

...Even somebody skeptical of those who see "trends" around every corner would be hard-pressed to disagree with him there...

...It is bound to interest any certifiable political junkie (a group that I unabashedly count myself among...

...Reviewed by Steven Kelman Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard...

...Even if we leave aside the issues raised by manipulative advertising and assume that ads simply evoke what the electorate really wants, this approach contrasts sharply with the view that politicians ought to lead the way, ought to at least formulate and present alternatives that the people have not thought of themselves...

...Sabato also shows in fascinating detail how consultants actually devise advertisements...

...But he also maintains that consultants are transforming politics itself in America...

...After defining the likely composition of a winning coalition of voters, they use polls to determine what elements of a candidate's personality and platform appeal most strongly to that group as a whole, to its subgroups and to swing voters...

...It is important to remember that consultants have at most exacerbated tendencies already present in the American political system...

...Sabato concedes that the rise of political consultants has paralleled the decline of party organizations, but claims their activities have hastened the fragmenting of our political system and therefore substantially altered the way it functions...

...And their careers as advisers often continue after an election-witness Pat Caddell's work in the Carter White House...