The first week of the 2015 UK general election campaign has been dominated by three things: questions over how parties intend to fund their promises (Gage, 2015), televised debates and the first outbreak of negative campaigning (BBC, 2015{1}). The trouble is that these staples of election campaigning, while rarely illuminating the issues, can have significant impact. Not from the events or debates themselves, but the small and decisive moments they create.
A televised debate became a significant point of difference between Nixon and Kennedy - but not because Kennedy was the more impressive speaker (Webley, 2010). Those that listened on the radio thought Nixon had won. Yet to viewers Nixon came across sweaty and tired and Kennedy fresh and charismatic (Gabbatt, 2012).
Barack Obama's successful campaign for the Presidency in 2008 was carried on the back of a particularly catchy slogan (Edgar, 2013). 'Yes We Can' became a rallying cry of hope and positivity, along with slogans like 'Change we can believe in', and simply 'Hope'. The dynamism and vitality of Obama's message was in stark contrast to his opponent, John McCain.
The UK general election of 1983 came off the back of a chaotic four years. Labour shift to the Left under the leadership of Michael Foot and the Chairmanship of Tony Benn - both committed left-wingers - led to a number of moderate Labour members leaving, to form the SDP. The newly formed SDP-Liberal Alliance polling as high as 50% as disaffection with Labour and the Conservatives ran high thanks to years of stagflation and recession.
Running against the Conservatives, under Margaret Thatcher, who had recovered in the polls due to the impact of the Falklands War, and the SDP-Liberal Alliance ended up taking 25% of the vote - for very disproportionately few seats - Labour produced a manifesto for the election which was christened 'the longest suicide note in history' by one of their own MPs (Clark, 2008).
The scale of the Labour defeat resulted in the manifesto and its left-leaning content - featuring abolition of the House of Lords, unilateral nuclear disarmament and nationalisation of certain industries - being made a scapegoat. The defeat of the Left in 1983 has been used to discredit the Left in the UK for the last three decades, and helped lead to the more right-leaning party that spawned Tony Blair's New Labour.
As Labour announce their manifesto, trying to tackle the lasting impact upon their reputation of the financial crash happening on their watch (Robinson, 2015) and the Conservatives try to convince everyone that they will provide adequate public funding for the NHS (BBC, 2015{2}), it is important to keep in mind these historic campaign moments. The fact is that, while the theatre of the electoral campaign can be little more than a distraction at its worst, it exists because of those small things that can turn more than just an election. They can set trends and shift debates for years to come.
References
Christopher Gage's 'IFS chief hits out at 'extraordinary nonsense' spending claims'; on Politics Home; 10 April 2015.
'Harman and Osborne at odds over 'tone' of election campaign'; on the BBC; 12 April 2015{1}.
Kayla Webley's 'How the Nixon-Kennedy Debate Changed the World'; in Time; 23 September 2010.
Adam Gabbatt's 'The best presidential debate moments: a video history'; in The Guardian; 1 October 2012.
David Edgar's ''Yes we can' – Barack Obama's lesson in American rhetoric'; in The Guardian; 4 November 2013.
Neil Clark's 'Not so suicidal after all'; in The Guardian; 10 June 2008.
Nick Robinson's 'Labour’s manifesto: Is he ready? Are they responsible?'; on the BBC; 13 April 2015.
'Election 2015: Tories 'confident' about £8bn NHS pledge'; on the BBC; 11 April 2015{2}.
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