We've got a PR problem...

I've been thinking about politics more recently (as you can see if you've come here from my Twitter and Facebook TLs) and I've come to the conclusion that a lot of the reason the Right are doing so well and the Left and Centre are doing so badly is simply that the Right have very good Public Relations. They know how to communicate with people - and the Left, and Centre, do not.

It's all about presentation. If you are political and go on demonstrations or whatever, think about how the public - ordinary passers-by - are affected by your behaviour. What do they see? Are you forthright and confident? Or just intimidating? Do you look like a concerned citizen or a troublemaker? Perception is VERY important.

This is GOOD P.R.

You may be aware of a slogan: "The whole world is watching!" Well, the world is watching - and the world is quite a judgemental place, so if you look like stupid or threatening, you are going to turn people off.

This is BAD P.R.

Black hoodies, dark glasses and a thousand-yard stare are BAD PR. So is randomly smashing things up for the cameras, even if it does get you media attention- it gets you the WRONG KIND of media attention. It also puts off people in the street who might otherwise join in with your protest, especially vulnerable people such as the elderly and those with children.

In potentially dangerous situations, such as anti-fascist demonstrations, dressing all in black and staring people down also confuses people - traditionally it's Fascists who wear uniforms and intimidate people, so wearing a uniform and intimidating people at anti-Fascist demos, as well as being BAD P.R. could even conceivably create a risk of what are termed "blue-on-blue" or "friendly fire" type situations. Which you DO NOT WANT.

However normal clothes, a friendly engaging manner and a ready smile are GOOD PR. It's important to make your point, but it's also important to make a good impression and get people to join you. You want to be inclusive, right?

I'm not always great at this myself - I've been known to yell at people on my own side and look like a dickhead myself. Nobody's perfect! Generally when I get so pissed off I'm going to make a fool of myself I try to leave the area though. It's just not worth it.