Cicero's campaign advice then and now

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.