Kim Reem via the New York Times
The New York Times today has a wonderful story about the role that mail played in driving the decline of Newt Gingrich’s poll numbers in Iowa. While the article quotes a Republican activist that is not persuaded, it is hard to imagine how the average voter is not affected by wave after wave of print ads painting a negative picture of Newt Gingrich sent by Mitt Romney and super PAC’s that support him. The decision makers in these campaigns know that the “mail moment” that a postcard advertisement creates grabs a voter’s attention more fully than any web, television or radio advertisement could possibly do.
Here is an excerpts that show, when push comes to shove, putting a printed advertisement in the hands of a voter is a valuable use of a campaign’s or super Pac’s advertising dollar.
A prevailing headline from Iowa has been the decline of Newt Gingrich, who attributes the fall in his standing to a barrage of negative advertisements from his Republican rivals and their allies. The criticism on television is pointed, but the attacks arriving by mail are even sharper and carry a far longer shelf life than a fleeting 30-second commercial.
Kim Reem via the New York Times
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” says a brochure that hit mailboxes this week. If the message wasn’t clear, another postcard declared, “Old Dog, Newt Tricks.”
For all the talk about the confidence of Mitt Romney in the days before the Iowa caucuses next week, his campaign continues to relentlessly hammer Mr. Gingrich. While Mr. Gingrich and his advisers concede that the negative messages have damaged his candidacy, not everyone on the receiving end of the mail agrees.
Kim Reem, a Republican activist from Cedar Rapids, has been saving some of her political mail for the past week for The New York Times. Much of it attacks Mr. Gingrich, a tactic she said has not been persuasive.
“I haven’t had a piece of Romney mail on Romney in quite some time,” Ms. Reem said. “I assume he is making such big tracks shredding on Newt that he has given up campaigning on his own merits.”
The conclusion of the piece brings home the message about the value of mail.
As the New Year’s Eve holiday approaches, the political mail will slow down. When the results are announced Tuesday evening, Ms. Reem will find how many Iowa Republicans share her view or were persuaded by the mail.
Given that every member of House of Representative runs a campaign every two years and every Senator does the same every six, one wonders when they compare the Postal Service to the horse and buggy if they ever talk to their campaign managers about how their campaigns will be spending money on advertising. Mail is why members of Congress get there and it is why they are reelected or defeated trying. Maybe it is time for postal industry stakeholders to explain to members what it would be like trying to get reelected if the Postal Service runs out of cash and shuts down this fall.
