Recall Tactics, Part 1

The recall election is underway -- with absentee voting taking place now at the Summit County Board of Elections, even with the actual deadline to register for the election next Tuesday.

Amazing how quickly government can work sometimes...

So now it's not just about whether voters want to see the issue on the ballot. The campaign now centers on the public and the private strategy of each side with the counting that starts after polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 the only thing that matters. Less than five short weeks, with at least four days between now and then taken up by Memorial Day holiday activities (rotten time to campaign), the end of the school term, vacations and the general malaise surrounding anything political between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

In this case of the compressed campaign, the push to organize get-out-their-vote drives is on a very short leash. With effectively only four weeks to get done what normally takes four months, the strength of the political machinery on both sides will be tested.

So what strategy to adopt for each side?

The ChangeAkronNow folks need to continue their momentum beyond the 3,179 certified signatures it took to get the recall on the ballot. They need to convince those who signed the petitions to take the next step by voting, and try to convince those on the fence to fall their way -- and to vote that way. So far, it's been grass-roots campaigning, with the strong use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, word of mouth, and use of shoe leather. But their task isn't as hard as it is for those arguing on behalf of Mayor Plusquellic. Anger and outrage, deserved or not, is a supreme motivator for people entering a voting booth. In this case, word of mouth works best because it is one-one-one and intimate; it also doesn't have to stand the test of truth-telling or challenge.

In terms of putting on a media show of pro-recall advertising, that takes money. Raising funds to support an effective ad campaign would cost thousands of dollars. It will be tough waging that kind of political war against a two-decades plus incumbent who clearly knows not only how to raise campaign money on his own, but also understands how to freeze out potential support for his opposition. Look for more push for so-called "free media" from the pro-recall effort, although in today's news environment that effectively limits them to the Beacon Journal and West Side Leader on the print side and broadcast news & talk outlets WAKR, WNIR, WKSU, WCPN and WHLO. I hope I'm wrong, but Cleveland television can be expected to treat this as they do most Akron issues -- with a 1:40 package the days before the election, unless something better is happening in Westlake.

The tactics for Citizens For Akron will be much more nuanced; not only do they need to convince voters the recall is unwarranted, they need to motivate voters to care enough to lift themselves off the chair and get in front of a ballot. The biggest problem Plusquellic supporters may have is indicated by a conversation I had recently with a woman at the Starbucks on Sand Run -- not an area of the city known particularly as a hotbed of revolutionary thought.

She doesn't like the idea of the recall, telling me she thinks Plusquellic's done nothing illegal or unethical to warrant being tossed out of office two years before his term ends. She thinks it is a waste of time and money, but here's the problem for the pro-Plusquellic campaign: she also doesn't like the mayor personally.

She tells me she while she believes it is a big mistake to recall Plusquellic, she isn't invested enough in the civic duty part of being an Akron voter to come to his aid. She needs a personal reason to vote no to vote yes for Plusquellic, and that's her tough choice because she doesn't like the way he treats people.

There's the rub of the greatest challenge for the mayor's supporters: the very passion which makes Plusquellic a powerful and, on a great many occasions, an effective advocate on behalf of Akron is his greatest asset. It's also his greatest liability. In the same conversation supporters opine Akron is in far better shape than every other northern Ohio major city, and they credit the Plusquellic Administration with being pro-active rather than reactive. But in the next sentence they'll shake their heads over name-calling, finger-pointing and bring up stories such as arguing with parking lot attendants and saying opponents have special places in hell reserved for them when he loses.

It's not the big picture with all the talk of travel budgets, long-term or short-term debt that seems to spark the greatest reaction. It is the little things that all of us can relate to -- how do the big guys treat the little guys, and should that be the biggest part of the equation when the big guy needs the little guy to vote?

The conventional wisdom politically is to come out with guns blazing, and that's been the history of the mayor's pattern of response...but is it the wise course of action when blazing guns appears to be why people will vote against you, or worse yet decide to not vote for you?

Supporters tell me they intend to wage an intensive feet-on-the-ground education campaign detailing the plus of Plusquellic. WKYC's Eric Mansfield Tuesday night aired portions of a sit-down with Plusquellic that broke little new ground. I think the interesting take-away, however, is the mayor's tone: less combative than we're used to, perhaps an acknowledgment that in this case leadership style may very well play the major role in this election.

WKYC-TV video; if embed doesn't work you can find it here on WKYC.com

The Recall Timetable

Akron City Council tonight will set a date for the recall election targeting Mayor Plusquellic -- what in effect should serve as a textbook learning opportunity for political wonks. Here's hoping the central issue doesn't get lost in the tactical war.

Updated: Council President Marco Sommerville says Council will be asked to vote tonight to hold the recall election on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

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Akron's charter provisions on a recall election leave a lot to be desired. While technically specific, even down to the language where a "yes" vote means the office holder is out, a "no" vote means the office holder remains.

Akron City Charter: Each ballot at such election shall have printed thereon the following question: "Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (name of office) by recall?" Immediately following such question, there shall be printed on the ballot the following two propositions in following order:

"For the recall of (name of person)."

"Against the recall of (name of person)."

Immediately to the left of each of said propositions shall be a space in which the elector may vote for either of such propositions.

It even sets the benchmark dates for action by city council, how long the office holder has to resign if they choose to, and when the election will be held.

But it offers little else of guidance to voters, such as what exactly merits a recall. Expect to see a push, no matter what the outcome of the 2009 recall election, to make the charter language more specific. It would be an overdue improvement and keep the protections of a recall process in place while making the grounds more specific beyond the we-can-do-it-because-we-can school of political theater.

Council will vote tonight on setting a date, between June 20th and July 10th, for Akron voters to put this to rest. Mayor Plusquellic has until 4:30 this afternoon to let City Clerk Bob Keith know if there is a resignation coming -- fat chance, I think, but the mayor's office says there will be a letter to that effect.

Now this issue comes down to tactics; whether holding a vote with dates on either side of what is essentially two weeks of Independence Day holiday. Cruddy time to hold an election unless you hope for a really, really low turnout. On paper that should benefit the pro-recall folks, unless the anti-recall campaign is confident their campaign organization is stronger and better organized. The sooner the better, say the mayor's supporters.

The central question is whether or not you think Don Plusquellic should continue to be mayor for the remainder of his term. Period.

Critics of the mayor, led by longtime opponent Warner Mendenhall, did what the charter required in securing enough signatures to put the issue before the voters. Democracy by the rules, that's all they needed to do. Akron's charter made it easy because the number was based on the turnout of the last general election, which was very low because there was no contested race for the office. Nothing criminal or civil needed to be proven.

No case needed to be made on why Don Plusquellic should get the boot in mid-term, just that they could put the issue before voters. Those are the rules, and in systems of government where the rule of law is supreme these rules held fast. The arguments on whether a recall election should be held provided plenty of fodder for editorials and commentary but the basic truth is: with enough signatures, all recalls are possible.

That's actually a good thing, because the charter controls how democracy works in Akron. It's the document that keeps the people ultimately in charge. That critics of Plusquellic, unable to do in a primary or general election what they now try to do through recall, found an opening in the charter is the kind of political lawyering that makes most of us yawn but drives those involed in the process crazy. But it is the process, and both sides clearly know how to play this game.

Now it's up to voters to sift through the posturing and determine the real issue, which is has Plusquellic done so wrong that he should be removed now? That's the central issue voters should consider when casting their vote this summer -- and what exactly are the charges against Plusquellic to warrant this political death penalty?

Critics say their charges are substantive but Plusquellic's supporters argue they are driven more by personality conflict.

The strategy for the pro-recall will be to keep their campaign supporters invested enough in anti-Plusquellic emotion that they vote. Don't look for this in slick television or radio ads, because this emotion is best stoked under the radar. Keeping someone angry is far easier than appealing to a more noble concept of what's best for the community. This argument is made to the heart, misplaced or not. ChangeAkronNow already has their list of likely voters and a starting point. Strong emotion is a powerful motivator for action as simple as walking into a voting booth.

The strategy for the anti-re-call campaign is to get out their message that the mayor has done nothing to warrant getting the boot after more than two decades of being who he is and voters should turn aside the effort. In a nutshell: "he may be a tough old SOB, but he's our SOB." This will be a tougher campaign because the argument is one made to the brain, seeking to have reason provide enough of an emotional shove for voters to make the effort to get to the polls. Citizens For Akron also has a strong list of supporters but needs to make the case beyond individuals saying they support Plusquellic -- and turning that support into action.

Either way, this political schooling that started soon after Issue 8 at least comes to a close by mid-July...unless the political lawyering is already looking past the election.