{"id":30561,"date":"2012-09-28T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2012-09-28T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=30561"},"modified":"2012-09-28T08:08:18","modified_gmt":"2012-09-28T13:08:18","slug":"the-campaign-that-couldnt-shoot-straight-part-iv-howling-with-mild-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=30561","title":{"rendered":"The Campaign That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, Part IV: Howling With Mild Approval"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we’ve been noting this week, the DFL candidate in the 3rd CD, Brian Barnes, may be a heck of a guy – but his campaign has been making some odd choices.<\/p>\n

Their campaign signs – one of which I finally saw on the street the other day – still \u00a0violate FEC law<\/a>. which is all nit-picky and anal-retentive, but I sure didn’t make up the law. \u00a0They still apparently are either conjuring up polls from the ether<\/a>, or have found a pollster that’ll do polling for free or, more likely, are using internal push polls to try to convince potential donors to pony up for what will likely be a quixotic bid for office. \u00a0And one of Barnes’ “political organizers” has been disparaging small town and suburban people<\/a>, who make up approximately all of Paulsen’s district.<\/p>\n

The Barnes campaign (push-polls notwithstanding) are generally considered a long shot by the Democrat establishment. \u00a0And like all long-shot campaigns, Barnes’ has to try to find\u00a0something\u00a0<\/em>to try to get\u00a0some\u00a0<\/em>traction.<\/p>\n

Some long-shot campaigns overcome that obstacle via ruthless budgeting, solid \u00a0organizing and above all,\u00a0relentless hard work; see Chip Cravaack in 2010.<\/p>\n

Others – the ones who can’t manage the budgeting, work and organizing – have to find some Hail Mary or another, something that’ll give ’em a hook to get them some mindshare, some little slice of the public consciousness. \u00a0See the Tim Penny and Tim Barkley gubernatorial race in 1998, which used a former pro wrestler as an elaborate marionette to serve as the face for their campaign.<\/p>\n

Barnes’ campaign seems to have chosen the old standby, “have your people relentlessly repeat a set of chanting points” (along with the DFL’s usual “bank on fawning media coverage<\/a>“).<\/p>\n

Wait – that’s no old standby. \u00a0That’s because it doesn’t actually work.<\/p>\n

But no matter. \u00a0The Barnes campaign seems to be focusing on having its people relentlessly repeat a couple of chanting points in hopes that one of them catches on.<\/p>\n