As communicators, we are taught to know our audience and speak to them directly. We also are told (and in turn, tell others) that there is no longer just one audience—there is a beautiful mix of people in this world that have specific interests and appreciate being addressed directly.
One of the most important platforms for me is where candidates stand on issues important to the LGBT community. Yet, after just watching most recent of the last three debates between the candidates, only one direct LGBT-question was raised (same-sex marriage), and it was to the VP candidates in what amounted to about two minutes out of 270 total debate minutes. I’m not here to address their responses—that’s for you to decide (I personally can’t wait for Saturday Night Live this week…).
What we should talk about is how the networks, and for that matter, the Commission on Presidential Debates, need to bring these debates closer to home. I fully respect that it is hard to have a question that will resonate with every registered voter. But, remember the beauty that was the LOGO/HRC debate in August 2007? For one hour, the LGBT community had an opportunity to be directly addressed by the then-candidates for the Democratic ticket. It was a historic debate in a historic race. I’d love to see the candidates have televised debates that address all important communities directly. Imagine if Obama and McCain debated together in front of the Congressional Black Caucus on BET. How powerful would it be for the candidates to address Hispanic issues together on Telemundo? Similarly, come back to LOGO and address issues that are important to us.
There are so many voters in this country with issues that hit close to home. Whether it is the roller coaster economy of late or our respected brothers and sisters fighting for our country, candidates know that to get our vote, they need to speak to us directly. Tell us what we want to know, tell us what we don’t want to know, but just tell us and let us form our own opinions. It’s the same advice we all tell our clients. If you want to impact consumer behavior, know your target and know the best message to reach them.
I’ll leave the blog posting on “tolerating” our community for another time..
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