As the Republican nominees stumble toward a Super Tuesday and an uncertain fate, all seem unelectable. Polls show President Barack Obama besting all four GOP candidates. Each finds himself in a situation not too different from a man who likewise lurched toward a party nomination, only to find himself third place behind an incumbent president and wealthy independent: Bill Clinton.
Now every candidate in the race is probably howling "I want to be nothing like that Democrat 'Slick Willie!'" Yet these four Republicans should be taking notes, for Clinton wrote the book on being "the Comeback Kid." And he did it with something unexpected in politics: a story.
In 1992, Bill Clinton was tabbed the early front-runner among Democrats in an expected uphill battle against George H. W. Bush, with sky-high approval ratings following the 100 hour war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf conflict. But Clinton stumbled time and time again, with stories of infidelity, accusations of dodging the Vietnam War draft, and being considered a slick politician.
Clinton managed to outlast his lesser-known, lightly-funded opponents (Paul Tsongas, "Governor Moonbeam" Jerry Brown, Bob Kerrey, Tom Harkin, etc.), but only on the last day of the primaries. Headlines of his win were replaced by stories of the independent candidacy of wealthy businessman H. Ross Perot. Clinton found himself broke and in last place.
Going into the Democratic National Convention in New York City, Clinton relied upon the media talents of Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason, best known for such television shows such as Designing Women, Evening Shade and Hearts Afire. The two helped put together a documentary called "A Man From Hope." It can be seen here.
It was a simple concept. They told of Clinton's humble origins, his rags-to-riches story, and how his life lessons influenced his candidacy. The 17 minute video was a hit. It was a hit with viewers. The VCR was circulated to all campaign offices for viewing in houses. It was a Horatio Alger story for a politician, overcoming all obstacles to succeed, the type that inspires others to believe.
Nowhere were the results more apparent than in the polls. Clinton moved from third to first. Perot dropped out for several months. Bush was weighed down by the economic recession. Despite the return of Perot, some tumultuous debates, and plenty of negative attacks, Clinton never lost the lead established on the night his story was told, and won the Electoral College vote by a 2-to-1 margin.
How did it happen? At the 2012 Azalea Storytelling Festival in LaGrange, Georgia, I asked a pair of nationally recognized speakers how storytelling can help.
Bill Lepp, a West Virginia author and storyteller, talked about the importance of "the suspension of disbelief." You have to have some level of trust to go along with "the crazy idea," he told my class. In response to a question from a student about how he gets others outside of his state to care, he replied "Folks outside West Virginia do find it interesting because they don't know it."
In other words, voters really don't know the candidates. They hear the media reports about campaign dynamics, the latest polls, and the negative ads. But do they really know a candidate outside of a one sentence description involving that person's political office title?
Chicagoan Syd Lieberman, another nationally-prominent storyteller, noted that "storytelling is how we understand each other. It is how we communicate." Lieberman provided some additional advice for my students. "If I think it is important, you'll think it is important." In other words, candidates need to be like Clinton, and recognize that they have an image problem and need to reintroduce themselves. He cautioned that adults are the toughest audiences, so the storytelling endeavor should not be taken lightly.
When one evaluates the current candidate list, one sees a great need for such stories to be told. Already, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich seems to have caught on. At a recent campaign stop in Carrollton, Georgia, at his old stomping grounds he told the University of West Georgia audience a personal story about cutting down a tree. It was a chance to reintroduce himself, poke fun at himself, and seek a personal connection with the voters. The GOP candidates may not like President Clinton, but they could learn a lot from him.
