For Warren Kinsella, politics is a winning game for anyone who follows his advice. A former political strategist for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Kinsella was invited to share with students what he claimed were "super important tips" for successful political campaigning, stating that while his advice is "extremely self-evident" it is often disregarded.
In his lecture, "Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics," given in Shatner's Lev Bukhman room last Tuesday, Kinsella stressed the importance of making political strategies compatible with the time restrictions of the average citizen and made suggestions for drawing voters' attention. He warned against a common elitist tendency to disregard those at the "bottom of the pyramid of power".
"It's not that people are dumb, they just don't have time," he said. "You have to get them to stop [to listen to you]."
Common mistakes that he discussed included a tendency for candidates to flood voters with an excess of numbers and figures. Rather, Kinsella emphasized the need for creating a narrative of the candidate that voters can relate to. Similarly, he warned against employing long, drawn out statements.
"Keep it simple, stupid," he said. "It may be cliché, but it's true."
Kinsella also cautioned against politicians attempting to take on the issues of their fellow running-mates, instead advising candidates to advocate issues only along their proper party lines.
"In a campaign, it does not matter if you look like a million bucks. You make sure you talk about the issues that work for you," he said. "If a conservative stands up and says they want to improve health care, they are going to get laughed at."
Kinsella further stipulated to leave, "no charge unanswered." He highlighted the pertinent example of Hilary Clinton's success at diverting attention from her recent political gaffe; namely, her fabricated story in which she claimed to narrowly escape death upon her arrival in Bosnia. The truth of the matter was that she was actually greeted warmly by Bosnian children. To avoid the criticism sure to ensue from such a misstep, she made the astute political decision to denounce Barack Obama's close relationship with his controversial Reverend in an attempt to divert attention away from the negative media attention she was receiving.
"I really appreciate seeing campaigning in a more scientific manner," said Richard Tseng, vice-president organization of Liberal McGill. "But it's also somewhat sinister in the way that parties have it down to a science and it's not about principles."
At the close of his lecture, Kinsella lauded the current blog revolution as an efficient medium for political campaigners. Blogs are, "pithy as heck," because "you can spend 30 seconds on a blog," and get the message.
He also brought up the increased media attention given to specialist bloggers.
"Journalists are turning to them for expert advice," he said. "[Bloggers] can be found interviewing leadership campaigns."
Students in attendance had mixed feelings toward the lecture.
Max Reed, Law 1, had been a regular reader of Kinsella's blog.
"He's one of the few commentators who really has something unique and insightful to say but I wish he had been a bit more specific," Reed said.
2008 Woodie Awards
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