Campaigning in the age of coronavirus. Thoughts for what’s going to be a changed environment for at least a while.

In the space of little more than a few weeks, we’re in a different landscape.

The economy has screeched to a halt as people are all trying to evaluate how to operate in a world with no organized sports or events at any level, and being told to avoid large groups.  And what are you going to do with no after school programs, and those darn kids around the house for at least the next week.

Welcome to the world of coronavirus. 

And candidates this is the new landscape you’re going to be operating in for at least the next several months as we’re busy deep-cleaning and avoiding groups of 100.  Welcome to Campaigning in the age of coronavirus.

Here’s my 2 cents worth on things to keep in mind and how candidates can rise to meet the challenges in the hand they’ve been dealt:

Events are out for a while –  You can try it, but you might find out the hard way that after spending a lot of time and a bot of money planning and sending out invitations, they may be shunned. People will be hanging out at home, and a bit reluctant to go out, but they’re still going to be looking for information about voting. So bring it to them.

Candidates are going to have to be creative about earned media.  They can’t just have a rally, so they’d better start putting pencil to paper, and get their thinking cap on.

Direct engagement of small groups might still be accepted in many areas, but you will be challenged to go to the people. Gun shows, sports shows, and farm and home shows will be shuttered for a while, so forget petitioning to gather large numbers of signatures all at once. You may find yourself gutting it out collecting signatures in neighborhoods.  (If you go door to door to gather signatures, let me know how people respond… this environment is uncharted territory.. we haven’t seen it since the days of polio).

Staffing campaigns – Volunteer Campaign teams… significant groups of 15-20 coming together simply for fellowship and pizza? I’m guessing that’s going to be challenging at least for a while. Paid teams? If you have the money, this could be a tough economy for a while, with many people in certain jobs at reduced or zero hours. You might be able to readily hire some eager help glad to have the work.

Social media engagement (Livestreams, videos and informational posting) – We haven’t done a ton of it yet in South Dakota, but this will probably be the year it gets a lot bigger. Light, catchy and informational will be the key. People will be on facebook, but based on a lot of media hype, both real and imagined, I think they’re a little weary of scare tactics and clickbait propaganda. They want good, solid information.

In fact, people are going to be glued to their computers. If people are going to be isolating, their contact with the outer world will be important… Think social media targeting via facebook.

Campaign Funds will be tighter, so candidates will be a little more discriminating about where they spend their dollar. On-line fundraising should be set-up, but you’re still going to need to make a personal connection to get larger amounts. Given the viral environment throwing cold water on the economy, it will be a tougher to wring dollars out of donors, so give it more focus.

As for spending those dollars…

Weekly Newspapers, yay. Daily newspapers, meh. – In South Dakota, weekly newspapers are a niche unto themselves, and might be THE best advertising buy you can make if you’re in a community with a weekly. They are read and re-read multiple times, they have a unique place in South Dakota culture, and the darn things stick around forever. It’s information about our smaller communities coming from friends and neighbors. For the most part, ads are CHEAP. Even moreso when the paper sticks around in the magazine rack in the bathroom for a month.

Most daily papers don’t hold that affection. Period. Some are actively disliked. The largest have a corporate aura, since most of them are owned by people several states away. And there’s a bias – whether real of prejudicially conceived – that some people hold against them.  Take the Argus. Democrats think it’s too corporate, Republicans loathe the liberal bias some columnists can exhibit. They have a short shelf-life too.

When you buy an ad in a daily it tends to be expensive and caught up among a lot of other expensive ads. And out in the trash by suppertime.

Radio – It depends on how people are using it in their area. If we’re in a state of shutdown, as we’re gearing up for at the moment nationally, drive time to jobs could be impacted. Yet, Farmers will still be listening to the markets, on their tractors planting, and later harvesting…  So, I think it could be a mixed bag.

Direct mail will always be direct mail. If we find we’re doing a lot more self-isolation, if it comes in an envelope, looking less like mass mail and more personal might help get it opened.

Postcards – If you need to efficiently put a message into the hands of targeted voters, postcards are, and always will be king. The list of people who are most likely to vote is out there for purchase, and you can pack an effective message into a small and generally inexpensive package. Because of automation, they don’t require hand addressing. They don’t necessarily require you to slap a label on them. All that’s required is your message, and it can be delivered directly to voters who have a demonstrated likelihood that they will be a participant in the election cycle.

And before you ask, Yes, I sell postcards. (Click here to find out more… shameless plug). Why? Because they work, and after more than 30 years, I’ve found them to be effective.

And about voting… anticipate LOW TURN OUT. Good for incumbents, but an upstart candidate can potentially swing an election if they can drive enough people to get out and vote.

Early Absentee and Regular Absentee voting – This is going to be a key item this year. Early voting (a.k.a. in-person absentee) allows people to go into and take care of voting on the increasingly rare occasions when they’re going out in small groups or individually. Traditional absentee ballots do allow voters to request ballots without setting foot in the courthouse. However, absent a messenger, they must be received, filled out, returned and mailed back to the auditor prior to the election day. A little more complex.

Early voting is going to be the stronger force in comparison to plain absentee, as people like it, and had been getting used to it when there were no concerns about going out.  If you haven’t done it before, understand that people can do it quickly in small numbers, so if you’re running for office, and haven’t thought about an early voter program, you’d better educate yourself about it NOW.

So, those are the election related concerns I believe we might be in for the next several months in the age of coronavirus.

Any thoughts from you, the reader?