CAMPAIGN LESSONS FROM BUSINESS AND WAR

By: Chazz Clevinger

The premise of my campaign philosophy hinges on several important core beliefs. One such belief is that it is essential to operate campaigns like professional businesses. No small business (or campaign) should ever expand into a new market (voting district) without a solid and professionally designed business (campaign) plan.

Sadly, many businesses(and campaigns) fail because of poorly researched strategic plans. Even worse, some campaigns and businesses have no written plan at all! This is one reason I love working with military veterans and entrepreneurs. They have an acute understanding for the importance of strategy, planning, tactics, and execution.

A marketing executive may understand the need for direct mail advertising better than a drill instructor, while the drill instructor will likely have a better grasp on the strategic execution of a battle plan. However, both the successful warrior and entrepreneur know how important it is to have a strategic plan in place, before launching a campaign.

What is meant by a strategic campaign? Simply put: a campaign with a strategy. The Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated the extraordinary Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca in the Third Punic War, due to superior strategic planning and execution.

At the Battle of Zama, Scipio correctly calculated the strategic weakness of the Carthagian campaign plan — a strong dependency on their mighty war elephants. By outwitting, outplanning, outmaneuvering, and ultimately outflanking Hannibal's war elephants, Scipio handily defeated the seemingly invisible Carthaginian General Hannibal.

Forget for a moment that we are discussing ancient military history, and focus on the age old adage that “he who fails to plan; plans to fail.” Hubris kept Hannibal from developing a proper strategic plan, because of his many past victories. This is also true of many veteran politicians, who rest on the laurels of their incumbency, and fail to successfully develop and execute winning campaign plans.

Hannibal had won many previous victories in his campaigns against the Romans in the Punic Wars. In his early days, after crossing the Alps, he crushed countless Roman legions in the Battles of Lake Trasimene, Lake Trebia, and Cannae. The venerable Roman Consul and General Quintus Fabius Maximus suffered defeat at the hands of Carthage, not because he failed to plan, but because he failed to act, and as a result the word “Fabian” is now synonymous with a non-confrontational style of warfare referred to as a “war of attrition.”

Implementation is the second and equally important part of strategic planning. Fabius Maximus learned the hard way that plotting against Hannibal from behind the Colline Gates in Rome without taking decisive action against him, was a poor strategy for such an ambitious and clever opponent, who would not be defeated by such meek methods.

Strategic planning has as much to do with your opponent’s campaign as it does with your own. A campaign plan must be well researched, written, and developed with your opponent’s strengths, weaknesses, resources, education, personal history, and character traits in perspective. A cautious and clever opponent requires a far different strategy than an aggressive and impulsive one.

Hannibal made the mistake of utilizing the same strategies on Scipio that worked so well in his victories over Fabius. He failed to adjust his strategy to fit his opponent, and thus his homeland of Carthage forever suffered in vassalage to Rome, before ultimately becoming lost to the pages of time and history. Meanwhile, Fabius failed to implement the strategies he incessantly pitched to the Roman Senate, and ultimately followed a cautious and reactive battle plan, which allowed Hannibal to defeat or convert many Roman provinces, under his banner, before being lured back to Carthage by Scipio’s attack on his homeland.

Your voting district probably does not resemble Northern Africa in third century BC or require you to do battle with war elephants, but it nonetheless possesses strategic considerations that you must evaluate in order to develop an appropriate plan of action. One of the most important strategic considerations, which Scipio took into account during the Third Punic War, was Hannibal’s “Center of Gravity.” He determined that in order to lure Hannibal out of Italy and away from Rome, he would need to invade Hannibal’s homeland. This forced Hannibal to return and defend Carthage. Scipio compelled his opponent to action by forcing him to act against his will, and therefore gained a decisive advantage.

Hannibal had not planned to fight Scipio in Carthage. His armies and elephants were tired and unprepared. Scipio had forced them to fight on a field of his choosing – not their own. This is important to remember in political campaigns as well. If your opponent is tall, handsome, well educated, friendly, and a good speaker – do not debate him in public! This is a battle field that favors his talents. Raise questions about his campaign by employing a vigorous advertising campaign against him. Force him to fight on your terms. Scipio had won far fewer battles than Hannibal before Zama, but he defeated him, because his strategic plan and implementation far exceeded Hannibal’s preparations.

In addition to strategic considerations, your resources and personal determination are highly important factors in political campaigns. Famous Prussian military strategist, General Carl Von Clausewitz refers to these considerations as the “Iron Calculus of War.” He cleverly states that an opponent’s resistance equals “means” multiplied by “will.” Essentially, he believed that an opponent’s level of determination and degree of resources was an exact measure of his ability to compete in warfare.

Thanks to campaign finance regulations, you can easily discover the degree of financial resources, which your opponent has in his arsenal. However, other forms of political capital, such as strong name identification, deep ties to the community, favorable occupational and educational history, veteran status, and other considerations can also be important supplements to an opponent’s monetary means.

Some candidates will not spend any of their own money to run for office. This is a strong indication that their political will is weak, because they value financial security over victory in their campaign. However, other candidates have been known to take out second mortgages on their homes and liquidate their retirement assets to raise money for their political ambitions. This indicates an opponent with an abnormally strong political will, who will not be defeated easily. This kind of opponent is committed to a zero sum game of “total” political war.

However, if you also choose to mortgage your house, then a state of “Nash Equilibrium” may be said to exist, unless an imbalance of means is present, thus giving advantage to either you or your opponent. Therefore, in this case, the possession of superior means often determines the outcome in battles of equal will.

Whether you are a first time candidate or a veteran running for higher office, I would urge you to consider investing in an energetic, skilled, and proven campaign strategist with superior planning skills. You must have a consultant, who can research, write, develop an appropriate plan, budget, strategy, achievable goals, and clear timelines for fundraising, media, direct mail, paid phones, field operations, volunteer recruitment, canvassing, coalitions, voter targeting, polling, etc. Only then will you be able to operate an efficient, thoughtful, and professionally organized campaign capable of overcoming numerous obstacles to achieve victory.

As a general consultant and campaign strategist, my most valuable skill set can be found in my ability to write, research, and develop strategic campaign plans that can be vigorously executed. I like to think of them as being similar to warrior’s battle plan. For a one-time fee, a candidate receives a tangible product that outlines a specific road map for victory.

My most successful candidates have utilized their campaign plans to help guide them in the midst of chaos, focus their resources, implement advertising campaigns, communicate key issues to the public, build name identification, and demonstrate gravitas to donors and party leaders. Most importantly, they take their strategic campaign plans and implement them.

Implementation is the key to success. Whether you are designing a national ad campaign for a new product line, commanding a platoon into battle, or running for State Senate; it is important to remember that the goal of any strategic campaign is victory.

This might mean achieving substantial revenue growth for your company, increasing your donor base by twenty percent, or crushing your opponent Von Clausewitz style in a game of “Total War.” Whatever the case, you’ll need a strategic plan to get there successfully.

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