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185 13 Delivering the Messages The work of the campaign begins in earnest with the answer to Jim Shultz’s fifth question—How can we get the power holders to hear the messages ? The effort to answer this question strategically is the essence of the campaign. This is the most challenging arena, and this is where DeMarco invests his greatest effort,once his organizing is well under way. Lobbying—Direct and Indirect In-person communication from the right messenger is often the most effective way to deliver a message. This is especially so when the content of the message is political.Thus,a whispered word from a trusted pollster that polls show that the candidate’s stance on a bill entails grave political risk can change that stance more effectively than can a front-page story on the same poll; no candidate wants to be seen as blowing in the wind of the opinion polls rather than relying on his or her conscience. DeMarco is a lobbyist, and among his closest colleagues in many of his campaigns has been lobbyist Len Lucchi. Eric Gally, chief lobbyist for the American Cancer Society in Maryland, has also long been a key player in DeMarco campaigns. Though DeMarco devotes much effort to direct lobbying himself, he is at least equally likely to tap his network of allies to find exactly the right person to sway a wavering or unhappy power holder.When he was pressuring Governor Parris Glendening to sign the campaign pledge to support the cigarette tax increase as he had promised, for example, DeMarco reached out to the governor’s communications director,“our biggest advocate” inside the governor’s staff. Glendening finally announced that he would sign the pledge but kept DeMarco waiting for weeks to get the signed document to him, so DeMarco called upon another ally, the head of the teachers’ associa- 186 The DeMarco Factor tion, who was close to the governor and could say bluntly to him,“Would you give Vinny the paper!”DeMarco got the signed pledge. To persuade all the gubernatorial and legislative candidates to sign that pledge, DeMarco earlier had relied not on private lobbying but on the very public strategy styled on the Boston Tea Party and waged through the mass media; the candidates saw that their alternative was to get tossed metaphorically into Baltimore’s inner harbor. The pressure would come from the broad media coverage of the rally, and the personal and political embarrassment to those who had not signed.The governor got the message,promised to sign the pledge at the last minute,and was hailed as a hero at the rally. Media Advocacy A strategic approach to the mass media as a potent weapon in advancing an advocacy agenda is an essential element of every DeMarco campaign . He spends a lot of time thinking about how to most effectively use what he calls this “telephone” to the public. Citizen advocates, who seldom have the same access to lawmakers as have moneyed interests with influential lobbyists, see media advocacy as indirect lobbying, a necessary if imperfect surrogate for real lobbying. Media advocacy, however, has its own strengths. The media have influence .“Media effects”researchers, most prominently political scientists Shanto Iyengar and Frank Gilliam, make a strong case that extensive media coverage signals to people what is important and greatly affects legislative agenda setting , the priority an issue receives from both voters and policymakers.When Marylanders express the feeling that health care is a top priority issue, their opinion doubtless reflects the drumbeat of media coverage on the plight of the uninsured and underinsured,which heightens people’s sense of health insecurity . DeMarco’s campaigns demonstrate how media coverage can also prime and reinforce citizen mobilization, so that the constitutional power of citizens to elect or un-elect governors and legislators can become a focused political force. The mass media deliver a message that everyone hears, and part of the message to legislators is that everyone is listening to and watching you. DeMarco’s campaigns typically proceed in planned stages, beginning with a year or two of public education,broadly defined.When the campaign moves into the primary and general election stage, the media advocacy is focused on voter and candidate education; next, in the legislative phase, on pressuring the legislative leaders and members; and in the post-legislative session phase, on thanks or condemnation.Characteristically, DeMarco’s 1997–1999 cigarette [3.21.248.119] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 16...

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