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Since the bumbling dumpster fire of Bernie Sanders’ communications strategy is becoming a running topic, let’s take a look at their latest: The “Bernie Yells For Us” hashtag.
If you caught this thread a couple weeks ago, this won’t shock you.
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If you caught this thread a couple weeks ago, this won’t shock you.
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At the debate the other night, Bernie came off like his usual self: a perennially angry scold whose baseline volume is about three notches louder than normal human speech.
The dude is yelly. This isn’t news.
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The dude is yelly. This isn’t news.
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Now, most people don’t like incessant yelling. Strong communicators use inflection and volume as tools to dramatize and punctuate. Even stronger communicators can “yell” without ever raising their voices. (See: Kamala Harris and Cory Booker)
Bernie has no such mastery.
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Bernie has no such mastery.
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That is unequivocally not terrific for a candidate - even for a white man afforded the widest latitude to yell without being labeled “angry” or “shill”.
Howard Dean was soaring up until he yelled a single time.
People don’t love yelling.
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Howard Dean was soaring up until he yelled a single time.
People don’t love yelling.
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Now, a competent communications team would know and accept that.
They’d know that any focus on style over substance cuts against Bernie’s appeal.
And they’d know to therefore wholly ignore - and even avoid - the topic.
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They’d know that any focus on style over substance cuts against Bernie’s appeal.
And they’d know to therefore wholly ignore - and even avoid - the topic.
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Bernie’s comms team is more akin to a bunch of Bernie fans just winging it - as if the discipline of professional political communications is no harder than thinking up stuff to say.
Enter the trending hashtag “BernieYellsForUs”.
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Enter the trending hashtag “BernieYellsForUs”.
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Somewhere, in some group chat or brainstorm someone said “Let’s make lemons into lemonade! Let’s turn his yelling into a noble thing! He’s a righteous teller!”
And many heads nodded and said “YES!”
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And many heads nodded and said “YES!”
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Absent from the room were any communications pros who could say:
“That’s a tacit admission he yells all the time. That... isn’t a great idea. People don’t like that no matter the reason. Remember Howard Dean?”
So a hashtag was born.
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“That’s a tacit admission he yells all the time. That... isn’t a great idea. People don’t like that no matter the reason. Remember Howard Dean?”
So a hashtag was born.
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Invariably, the Bernie folks are psyched they got a hashtag trending... while having no clue they themselves just pegged their own candidate as someone with too little impulse control to lower his voice even when among peers or on camera.
Genius.
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Genius.
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Now they’ll never be able to unring that bell.
Bernie the Yeller will far outlive Bernie Yells For Us.
They did their opponents’ work for them. Again.
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Bernie the Yeller will far outlive Bernie Yells For Us.
They did their opponents’ work for them. Again.
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While this is all minor, inside-baseball kind of stuff, it speaks to something larger and important:
Bernie has not recruited talent that can give him good advice and lead his communications in a good direction.
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Bernie has not recruited talent that can give him good advice and lead his communications in a good direction.
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Presidents are first and foremost managers. They oversee work by others. A president who can’t identify, recruit and then steer a team of qualified people is like a... Donald Trump.
Hiring fans is bad. Hiring unqualified fans is worse.
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Hiring fans is bad. Hiring unqualified fans is worse.
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The communications out of this campaign aren’t going to get better because the team responsible for them just isn’t good enough to do better.
Fast forward to a general election.
Imagine these kinds of bumbling mistakes weeks before the election.
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Fast forward to a general election.
Imagine these kinds of bumbling mistakes weeks before the election.
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We could literally hand another four years to Donald Trump because a candidate’s communications team is stacked with people prone to costly mistakes.
We could lose the White House because of bad advice and dumb ideas no other candidate would be prone to.
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We could lose the White House because of bad advice and dumb ideas no other candidate would be prone to.
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When you back a candidate in a race, you’re backing not just the candidate but the ability of their team to produce a winner.
Bernie’s team is not remotely close to good enough at this level.
That’s a problem. That is a very big problem.
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Bernie’s team is not remotely close to good enough at this level.
That’s a problem. That is a very big problem.
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One postscript:
A major difference between Bernie 2016 and Bernie 2020 is the absence of Tad Devine.
Devine is a mercenary with somewhat fluid “values” but he’s good at what he does.
I’d happily go up against Bernie’s current comms team in a campaign. I’d be wary of Devine.
A major difference between Bernie 2016 and Bernie 2020 is the absence of Tad Devine.
Devine is a mercenary with somewhat fluid “values” but he’s good at what he does.
I’d happily go up against Bernie’s current comms team in a campaign. I’d be wary of Devine.
Wait, one more postscript:
If Bernie wins the nomination, he’ll be my candidate.
Based on his current comms team and their efforts thus far though, he would get the absolute shit kicked out of him in a general election though.
Not psyched about that potential outcome.
If Bernie wins the nomination, he’ll be my candidate.
Based on his current comms team and their efforts thus far though, he would get the absolute shit kicked out of him in a general election though.
Not psyched about that potential outcome.
