Response to Foreign Affairs Article, “Campaign Tips from
Cicero,” Pages 18-26, May/June 2012
Quintus Tullius Cicero wrote an article entitled “The Art of
Politics, From the Tiber to the Potomac,” which was reprinted in part in Foreign Affairs. In it, he tells us how to run a campaign during the
time of the Ancient Romans. When one compares his time and advice to current political times, it seems that his advice seems to be timely.
The beginning of Cicero’s article talks about incumbency.
“It is crucial that you take stock of the many advantages you possess [.]” He
writes to his brother, Marcus. Among these enumerated advantages are the fact
that special interest groups are in his favor, as are the Italian towns, as
well as all “Thos holding public contracts.” The other advantages he mentions
are people he has defended, and the young people who “admire him,”
all of which are in his favor. [19] In
today’s terms, one would call this incumbency, and others would call it “name
recognition,” depending on the context of the campaign (Whether there are two
new candidates or not.). You can see this in many of the candidates who ran,
both in 2008, and in 2012. In 2008, Obama certainly had the support of the
young people, and support of companies (“holders of public contracts”) with
a
lot of money, such as Microsoft,
Google, and Citigroup (
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00009638),
while McCain had the support of smaller companies, such as the U.S. Army. (
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00006424)
Obama clearly had the most money. Obama also had the support of the states, the
equivalent of “public towns.” Clearly, many of these factors were in his favor.
However, it is now 2012. Can anything be gleaned from Cicero
regarding another campaign? The answer is yes. According to Cicero, “work to
maintain the goodwill of these groups by giving them helpful advice and asking
for their counsel in return. Now is the time to call in all favors.” [19] Obama
has, in theory, lived up to some of this advice. For instance, he frequently
speaks to the youth vote, campaigns in swing states (some of which voted for
him), and in his administration he has persons that once worked for big
business. Another thing Cicero mentions is to “keep the support of the
nobility.” The closest thing to Obama keeping the “Support of the nobility” is
that he has kept Hillary Clinton in his administration and has had Bill Clinton
campaign for him, both of which were in Presidential administrations (Bill
Clinton was a President) before and in American society could be considered
“Nobles.” They also fit into his next category, which is “men of privilege.”
[19] Here, Cicero warns to never make them think that Marcus is a “populist.”
Obama has done the same thing with pro-business officials in his
administration, and the bailouts of GM and Chrysler. The reason why this does
not come off as populist is that it saved companies that many voters were not
in favor of bailing out. In fact, there
are currently movements underway that are anti-business. Clearly, this does not
fit as “populist” in today’s society. Btu there are things that make him seem
populist as well, such as when he runs campaign ads against private equity, a
move that even one of his surrogates has said makes him figuratively sick. [NBC
Meet the Press: 5-20-2012: within the 20-30 minute mark.]
Yet another thing Cicero brings up is the “poor quality of
those men…who are competing against you.” [19] At this point, it should be
mentioned that Marcus is an outsider. President Obama was an outsider when he
first ran in 2008, but not now in 2012. Yet he seems to embody much of this
advice. In this instance, he attacks his current opponent, Mitt Romney, for
never knowing what he stands for. Cicero lists all of the faults that Marcus’s
candidates have. One was expelled from the Senate, which draws modern-day parallels
to New Gingrich. Another bought sex slaves, patterns of which can be seen in
Herman Cain’s sexual harassment. Still another attacked and destroyed business
by killing people. Mitt Romney, Obama argues, has killed business [See:
“Vampire Ad.”] There is another who attacked someone who was popular at the
time, which you can draw parallels in a way to Ron Paul, then lived a life of
“debauchery,” (Again, similiar to Herman Cain) [20]
The next thing that Cicero importunes to his brother is how
to guarantee votes. The three methods he mentions are “favors, hope, and
personal attachment.” [21] He says to be indebted to those who are campaigning
for him. Obama does this as well by campaigning for those who campaign for him.
For those that he inspires, he needs to “make them believe that you will always
be there to help them.” [21] Obama tries to stress how he understands the
problems going on in the current economy. To those with personal attachment,
one should “[adapt] [their] message to fit the particular circumstances of each
and showing abundant goodwill to them in return.” [21] Romney tries to do this,
but the problem is that he adapts too much in the public eye, and isn’t really
likeable [Gallup Poll] when compared to Obama. The one piece of advice that is
flip-flopped in today’s economy is that Cicero importunes that one should pay
attention to businessmen and the wealthy. While this is true as an outsider,
like Obama in this circumstance, to be one of them has backfired on Romney.
The next set of advice Cicero says is the type of supporter
than one has. There are those that "greet you at home, those who escort you
down to the Forum, and those who accompany you wherever you go.” [22] To the
first one, Cicero pretty much says to pay them lip service and name-drop when
you are able to. For the second, Cicero recommends that you draw them into one
large crowd. This can be seen in any candidate’s campaign event. For the last
group, Cicero says to thank those who do so voluntarily (volunteers), and
for those who work for you, make sure that they come every day. This can be
seen when a vice-Presidential Candidate campaigns for the President, or the
White House spokesperson, or a campaign spokesperson for Romney.
There are also three types of groups who will stand against
you, according to Cicero: “Those you have armed, those who dislike you for no
good reason, and those who are close friends of your opponents.” For those you
harmed, remind them that you would stick up for them if they were your friends.
Try to win over those who don’t like you without “good cause,” and for those
who are like your opponent, do the exact same thing. Sometimes, you can win
over those who like your opponent better. This can be seen when a newspaper or
prominent member of politics switched their endorsement. A classical example
would be when Colin Powell (Republican) endorsed Barack Obama (Democrat) in
2008 [Meet the Press].
The final topic Cicero covers is promises. If you go against
one of your friends, make it up to them, put on a “good show “ for the masses
(Campaign events), and inspire goodwill towards you, and don’t worry about
broken promises. The latter is the most controversial piece of advice to give a
candidate in modern times in the United States. In today’s times, blogs keep
track of each candidate’s promises and make sure to hold them accountable.
Further, special interest groups also keep track of promises to them. In fact,
in today’s climate, there are so many things that can go wrong for a candidate
when he breaks a promise. Cicero says that “if you break a promise, the outcome
is uncertain and the number of people affect is small, but if you refuse to
make a promise,” [25] you anger a larger amount of people. As mentioned prior,
it seems as though that, in modern times, it is better not to make a promise
than it is to make a promise that cannot be kept.
When one looks back at Quintus Tullius Cicero’s advice on
Campaigns to his brother, it seems that not a lot has changed. The enemies that
he mentioned are still enemies and the friends are friends. The nobilities
still exists, and there are so many modern-day parallels to today’s United
States’ political system. Even the scandals were the same. The one difference
in what he writes is in broken promises. Back then, word of mouth was the way
to spread things; today, if you break a promise, everyone knows.
