At a city corridor occasion 4 years in the past, I had a possibility to ask US presidential candidate Kamala Harris the query, “What are you a fan of?” The reply she gave from the stage, “I really like music… I’m particularly keen on Bob Marley,” was stunning in its honesty.
After the city corridor concluded, we talked briefly about our shared love of Bob Marley. She advised me about seeing him stay on the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and I talked about seeing his final live performance on the Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh.
Here’s a one minute video of these moments.
In the course of the lead as much as the 2020 presidential primaries I used to be ending my e book Fanocracy: Turning Followers into Prospects and Prospects into Followers. I assumed it could be cool to ask the presidential candidates what they’re a fan of, so I attended over twenty presidential candidate city corridor occasions in New Hampshire, the primary main state.
I requested every candidate the identical easy query: “Exterior of your work and household, what are you a passionate fan of?” My query about what they’re a passionate fan of is uncommon and reveals a bit about who they’re as a person.
At presidential candidate city corridor occasions, most questions are predictable. Candidates are requested in regards to the problems with the day resembling reproductive rights, weapons, revenue inequality, taxes, healthcare, the opioid disaster, and so forth. Every candidate has already labored up the solutions to those questions. Heck, you will discover the solutions on their web sites!
I wished to ask Donald Trump the identical query. I attended a Trump MAGA rally in 2020 nonetheless, he didn’t take Q&A. (I wrote in regards to the Trump rally in a submit titled Trump the Marketer: Non-Political Observations on Final Night time’s NH MAGA Rally.)
I used to be excited that Harris was keen to share her love of Bob Marley in such a public setting. There have been dozens of journalists overlaying her occasion, with video cameras rolling your entire time. Declaring her love of Bob Marley confirmed an awesome deal about her persona.
Some candidates ignore the instructions of my query and talked about household. Others select to pivot to a speaking level.
Essential word: It is a advertising weblog, not a political weblog. By analyzing and commenting on a Presidential candidate’s passions and their advertising methods, I’m not saying I do or don’t help that candidate. That is merely a advertising evaluation, one thing I’ve finished over 5 presidential election cycles. Somewhat than commenting on any candidate’s views on the problems, I write in regards to the US Presidential election as a result of it’s a huge advertising case research. You may learn extra of my evaluation going again to the 2008 election right here.