Photo Credits: mystereys

Florida’s primary elections will take place in two weeks. Yesterday on TV, I saw some ordinary Floridians being interviewed about how would they vote on Amendment 1 , an important proposition to change the state constitution to rein in real estate taxes.

Surprisingly (or perhaps, not so surprisingly) many of them said that they would not vote because they “didn’t understand” or “didn’t have all the facts”. Statistics show that in the last two presidential primaries (where important local initiatives are usually also put to vote) 80% of Florida electors didn’t care to vote .

While political proposals are usually framed in language that is muddy and convoluted, the real issue to me is that most people are just too damn lazy. Making an effort to understand the facts and making decisions is just too hard. It’s easier to just sit in front of the TV for hours and watch stupid shows .

But let’s leave the rant for another day.

Things could be different . Through better branding, politicians and political organizations could make it easier for voters to make up their minds on the most complicated issues. Voters don’t want all the facts . They just want a quick and easy way to make a good decision. All they need is frame of reference, a “brand”, if you will, that caters to their world view, has enough equity and enjoys enough trust, that can simplify the process by just telling reluctant voters what to do.

Let’s look at one example: Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, has a powerful personal brand. He is a popular politician with a strong track record of advocating personal responsibility, lower taxes and smaller government. He is also a very charismatic and approachable guy. Naturally, he is in favor of the “yes” in Amendment 1, and he has lent his likeness to the “vote yes” campaign:

If your world view favors lower taxes and limited government, and you know and trust Gov. Crist, you don’t really need to fully understand all the facts (although you certainly can). All you need to do is check how Crist will vote and cast your vote accordingly (call it the “lazy” approach to voting if you want, but it certainly beats sitting out an election).

I am not advocating for any candidate or any position, nor for people to be lazy. What I am saying is that the dismal 20% voting turnout could be reversed if politicians and political organizations did a better job at marketing and branding.

McDonalds, Starbucks and Apple have a strong brand because customers know what to expect and don’t need to do complicated research before buying from them. Politicians and political organizations have a long way to go to achieve that same level of brand equity and awareness.

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