In politics, battles are won and lost on the field of communication. Politicians that can control the message win elections more often than not.
Yesterday, there was a communication battle worthy of a case study - two very different strategies at play.
Here is the scene:
The Newmarket Integrity Commissioner has issued a report that finds Councillor Di Muccio in breach of the Code of Conduct.
Maddie's message:
Intuitively, you might think this is a "can't win" situation for Maddie because her integrity is being called into question, but I think that's wrong. I believe it is a "can't lose" situation for her.
She can't lose because even if her communication strategy falls flat, she can't fall any lower than the Integrity Commissioner's message. She knows where rock bottom is and is aware that any success in communication will be deemed a great win for her.
Fortunately, I think she scored herself a big win.
Maddie's communication day started with cheekily tweeting the theme song to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. She set the table by framing the impending confrontation as an old fashioned gun fight between the white-hat lone drifter against the evil cattle rancher/ colonel and his gang of ne'er-do-wells. The imagery was perfect. (Not to mention that the movie referenced is one of the coolest ever made).
At the meeting, she made the right decision to speak and to provoke a reaction from her opponents. Her speech was well prepared and delivered with proper pace and diction. It wasn't so much what she said, (although defining an in camera meeting as a 'secret' meeting thus conjuring up images of some secret society was pure genius), that made the night a success for her, but rather, what she provoked her colleagues into saying.
If I were an advisor for the other Council members, I would have told them to not speak and leave the Integrity Commissioner's words lingering as the final word. I think it was a colossal mistake on their parts to give speeches because by doing so, they handed the victory over to Councillor Di Muccio.
First of all, Councillor Emanuel spoke and by far he turned out to be the biggest loser of the evening. Why?
a) The matter is about integrity, (something that isn't his strong suit, criminal conviction and all). His speaking only served as a prompt for the public to recall his brush with the law. He actually had the utter gall to say words to the effect that integrity was important to him. Really? I couldn't have been the only viewer gobsmacked by that whopper.
b) He came across as a jerk. He started off saying "I wasn't planning on speaking tonight", but then he produced a quote from the minutes of a meeting that took place months ago and they just happened to be the top page on in his notepad? Riiiight.
c) Councillor Di Muccio's biggest complaint has been that he offered support and then changed his mind in a secret meeting. To which he replied that Councillor Di Muccio had voted in favour of the Integrity Commissioner investigation. I don't know what kindergarten he went to, but that excuse "well she did it too" never succeeded with my teacher. Post Script - This afternoon, DiMuccio produced minutes to a meeting that proved him wrong. He should have taken the opportunity to justify his decision to change his mind but instead he went for the cheap "gotcha" moment and fell flat on his face. To sum up his performance, I give him an F-minus.
Regional Councillor Taylor in an effort to look like a leader, gave a confused and meandering explanation of the confidentiality rules that had no context with the matter before council. I was left with the impression that he was simply enjoying the sound of his own voice giving justification for the stereotypical windbag image of a municipal politician. Again, he could have used the opportunity to explain why he chose to flip flop but he I think he believed his clever obfuscation would confuse the viewers into believing he actually had integrity.
Ward 2 Councillor David Kerwin, winding up for a trip down memory lane, was interrupted by the Mayor and asked to stay on topic. Unable to comply, Kerwin cut his comments short. He ended up shouting something nonsensical at Councillor Di Muccio.
The lesson for the day, when a very well spoken Integrity Commissioner does your dirty work for you against an opponent, avoid the temptation to steal defeat from the jaws of victory like Newmarket Council did last night. If the shoe is on the other foot though, follow Councillor Di Muccio's example and assist your opponents in stuffing their own feet into their gaping mouths.
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