Lineberry Alliance Blogs

This is an opinion piece on the candidates running for the District D seat, Raleigh City Council, and does not necessarily reflect the views of all the members of the Lineberry Alliance. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

After settling in yesterday from a long day in the office, I skirted through some rain drops to get the mail. In it, a first batch of political mailers for the election on October 6, 2009. One from each candidate running in District D. Incumbent Thomas Crowder and challenger Ted Van Dyk. I publicly support Crowder for the District D seat and lately, have been scratching my head trying to understand why Van Dyk is challenging Crowder’s City Council seat. A review of the two cards today lead me to think about how the candidates are positioning themselves.

On the front of Crowder’s mailer is a picture from his campaign kickoff. A few folks I noticed, Mayor Charles Meeker, At-Large Councilor Stephenson, former Raleigh City Councilor Anne Franklin, Linda (Planning Commission member) and Rufus Edmisten (former NC Secretary of State), and many more. On the left, a list of supporters. Real people who work with and know Thomas. Flipping the mailer over, testimony from neighborhood leaders around District D. I recognize the names (besides mine) because I work with these leaders on neighborhood matters. I think this association is important and I’ll touch on it later.

“A politicians brand is made up of the actions they take and the people they surround themselves with.”

On the front of Van Dyk’s mailer is a skyline shot of downtown Raleigh and a head shot of Ted. Flip it over, more views from around the district, four talking points for Van Dyk, and one quote from former Raleigh mayor, Smedes York (of York Properties).

A few months ago, I took on a new position in the Brand Communication + Design group at Red Hat. I’ve been learning a lot about brand, a few things about design, and growing my knowledge in messaging. Next, I’ll apply some of this knowledge to why I think endorsements matter.

In the Al Ries / Jack Trout book “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind,” they talk about the positioning of a follower. “But today in the product arena and in the political arena, you have to have a position.” Furthermore, I concluded from this book that a politicians brand is made up of the actions they take and the people they surround themselves with.

For me, Crowder has established the position that he works for and represents the community. I think it’s reflective in the endorsements from neighborhood leaders. Just count how many times you see the words community and neighborhood on the mailer. And if you know District D well enough, you’ll see that the endorsements are from different neighborhoods around the district. In working with Crowder over the last few years, this position rings true for me.

Van Dyk fails to establish a position for me. He has yet to differentiate himself from Crowder and is riding on the wave of similarity to appeal to voters. The fact that the mailer only has one endorsement on it, from a former mayor (impressive) but a major developer in Raleigh, says a lot to me. I even looked for anything to differentiate the two at a recent candidate forum and in this past Saturday’s N&O article, “Crowder divisive, rival says.” I’m coming up with blanks. I’ll continue to look for this in a District D candidates forum on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at Renaissance Park.

Van Dyk claims that he wants to be a positive voice for Raleigh. Personally, I don’t want a positive voice on city council. I want a leader. I want a leader to tackle the tough issues and bring consensus to the council table. And the leader that District D needs is Thomas Crowder.

Comments are welcome.

Tags: district D, raleigh, vote

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Raleigh City Council. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.