The Silicon Valley Candidate
A little fiction for consideration.
The call came in to the campaign consultant. He has run many campaigns in California and this one is one of the weirdest ones ever. No one has risen up. The vitriol is coming out. His candidate is leading in most polls and seeing the support from the biggest groups. He was feeling good, the pieces are falling in line.
He answered.
“Check out the Mahan bit on the All In podcast.”
“What about it,” the consultant asked.
In his mind, he did not care about Mahan. He was not real. Him and Steyer, a lot of money but not ready for the primetime. They are missing that added “oomph.” He cannot crack 3-4%. Steve Hilton is more dynamic and is polling at the top. His candidate, the Congressman, is polling second in almost all the internals they have reviewed. “Mahan is nowhere,” he said. “He is too ‘tech,’ and not relatable.”
The Congressman was relatable. Get him in a room and watch the magic. Usually to get to federal office, you have to have something. The Congressman goes on cable tv with ease. Mahan is not used that kind of limelight and this is California after all, the largest State, 40 million people, $400 billion in spending, and, well the home (or used to be) of the “limelight.”
The other side of the call responded. “Man, he botched this one. Said all the right things. Even hit your candidate as a tax and spend liberal, for all intents and purposes, but he was wooden. The points landed if you are a wonk, but something is missing. Watch it. He has all the right points for his lane, but he make them last. I watched it and now am trying to remember his points. His solutions? They just feel like they are missing the mark.”
The campaign consultant knew exactly what the caller was saying. Politics is about reaching the people, having an electability, an authenticity or something where you cannot take your eyes off the candidate, especially for the biggest offices. Think about California. Regan, Brown, Davis (recalled), then Arnie, and even Gavin. There is an attraction to the candidate needed. The knock against Mahan is he is not ready for this kind of a role. He talks, but do you hear, do you listen? Are you drawn in naturally? It is kinda like subliminal advertising where your subconscious is triggered in a certain way. He says the words, but do you walk away moved? Gavin for all his faults, he holds you. He has the magic. The President, as bad as he is, you cannot forget his accent, his Queen’s vernacular. He makes an impression. Mahan? He is missing the ‘it.’ Will you remember him when the campaign is over?
“What did he botch,” the consultant asked, figuring he was going to be confirmed in his impression.
“It was not so much the words, but the tone.”
“Confirmation,” thought the consultant, as he leaned back in his chair, smiling. He did not need to watch the interview, he knew it instinctively after all these years in the business.
The caller continued.
“There was no joke, no exasperation, no emotion. It was rote. Trump? He said he ‘opposes him,’ the talking point, tested for California. He is right we need to work with Trump, but he just does it in a way which is forgetful. It sounds reasonable, but there is not that intonation of the ‘kind uncle,’ or the ‘diplomat,’ to make you feel like he will knock it out to contrast with the fight of your Candidate or Katie. If I was him, I would have said, ‘why do we always talk about him? Isn’t there something else we can talk about than give the guy that much air time and letting him live in our heads?’ The relatability is not there.”
The consultant thought. Mahan has the chance to distinguish himself from the pack. He is truly different. His words are different. His ideas are solidly middle. He aligns with the “Emanuel model,” what Rahm is saying. He was in a softball environment. It was his home turf. Tech friendly. All In. Those guys are center left or center right. They are against the BTA, anti-labor, all over the “corruption” in California, the allegations of “fraud, waste and abuse,” having Nick Shirley on there, and wonky so you can drop the formality.
How could you flub this one?
“He is not ready for the primetime as we have been saying all along, based on this interview. He can hit the Congressman all he wants to be a tax, tax, tax guy, but that is what labor wants, and we got the biggest endorser with SEIU. Mahan is Caruso, but without Caruso’s schtick or his yacht. Caruso would have been a worry. He should have run for Mayor. He could have won.”
The caller responded in turn.
“Lorena was right about Silicon Valley, though in the BTA context. They are not ready to play in Sacramento. They are used to just throwing money at the problem or picking up and going. They are not fighters. They are fine in their bubble over there, but playing outside of Silicon Valley is going to be much tougher. The best they could do was run Mahan? He talks a good game. He mentioned they would have to ‘build a movement,’ but there was no grand vision, nothing the cynics in Sacramento will latch onto. He mentioned it once in an hour plus long interview. The movement must be the purpose, not the policy. The movement to moderate California will require taking on the big interests. They control California. You need to be special. You need to have a gravitas like that guy in Altadena said. You have to be “all in.” You are going to have to draw people in like a moth to a flame. It is about something greater than yourself, it is about California, it is about the future, and it is the tying of the policies back to the movement. Moses parable.”
The consultant loved the “Moses parable.” The “cause is the calling.” If you can get your candidate to think about it through that mode, you will be tapping into something greater, but they have to believe truly or it does not work.
Policy is fine, but policy is the form. Elections are about the substance. People want that “extra.” That “extra,” that “vision.” The “strategy,” is what distinguishes a campaign. Mahan has not got it yet. Hopefully he does not find his stride.
Sure, he says he wants to “moderate,” and “take on Sacramento,” but to do what? Build more housing? Supply problem or supply distortion? Want to solve it quick, Prop 13 is the quickest way.
Cut government spending? Sure, how? Who are you going to disappoint and have parading outside your door?
How are you going to give people a villain who is against you? There is no “swamp.”
That is the campaign.
Where is the slogan?
Back to basics?
I dunno, sounds small. Where is the soaring vision?
“I am not sure he gets it yet,” said the consultant. “You make the jokes in a friendly environment, you slap backs, you laugh from the gut, you humanize, you give people a dream, a vision, something they can walk away with. Or, you cut your deal with the interest groups. The two R thing is a joke, we all know it. It sells papers and keeps a boring race interesting. Hilton wins. Bianco is crazy. We come in second. We walk to the seat. Mahan cannot articulate the difference to get him into the top 2 since he is really running against Hilton. This is his primary cross to bear. He cannot get the Hilton people to come over. He has this short window. He has to bypass the usual ‘kingmakers.’”
“What I saw,” said the caller, “ was the right words, well spoken, but wooden, missing personality, without emphasis, crying out for ‘vision.’ If that is the way you bypass the kingmakers, then you are in deep trouble. You are in a sprint. You need these pieces to come together ‘just so,’ and it is a difficult game to play in normal times. He is trying, but he needs to find that message, and without it, we are good to go. Katie is going to be an issue as we get closer, but we are getting the Establishment, and her burning bridges in the past are going to affect her long-term. Mahan’s chance to moderate is not happening. He needs to get going and quick. I will say this though, if he could get the message right, with tone and humanity, along with a vision, you could be in trouble.”
“Good thing we are not at that point,” said the consultant. “We just need to see how they play it. In politics, things can change fast. Still, based on what he has seen and heard, he is not losing sleep just yet. The Congressman has his supporters, and maybe they have something up their sleeves in Silicon Valley. Glad to hear it has not presented itself yet. Time is wasting.”