A loosing slogan

I knew State Rep. Joe Lundy was going to lose his State Senate election to State Rep. Arthur Berman when the Lundy campaign slogan was revealed – “Declare Your Independence in 1976.” Berman’s slogan was “Effectiveness Counts.”

Slogans indicate the strategy of the campaign and I felt that Lundy was pitching to his own supporters and urging voters to adopt a specific political stance. Berman was saying that politics didn’t matter. That was a much better message.

Ironically, Lundy was a very effective legislator and one of the first officials to operate a full-time, community service office, when others – like Berman - merely pasted their names on the doors of local political party headquarters.

But Lundy was committed to the “independence” theme. At the end of a very persuasive pitch to a group of voters, he wrapped up by saying, “The real issue in this campaign is who will control the 11th district – Mayor Daley or the people of the district.”

That was not the issue at all. Mayor Daley was not on the ballot, so bringing him into the campaign was a mistake. And the Mayor had carried the Chicago portion of the district in his most recent campaign, although not by much, so that didn’t help.

Independent organizers were overconfident and created what they probably thought was a clever slogan.

Well, Lundy lost. He won Evanston, but with a smaller than expected turnout. He lost the 49th ward, which he expected to win. And he lost the 50th ward (Berman’s base), as anticipated.

Lesson? Don’t pitch to your base. Your base will vote for you no matter what. Pitch to everyone else.