Rewatching David Axelrod and Karl Rove’s excellent Masterclass on campaigning, I was struck by the wisdom of Karl Rove:
“First come the message and the theme. But, after you have agreed on what the message is, and what the theme is, you then need to sit down and write out a plan … If you have no plan, you will lose.”
There are many reasons why you may not prepare a lobby plan before you start work. I’ll consider the most obvious.
First, you are a thetan, whose abilities to discern the future are not of this world. As you can walk through walls, shoot fire from your fingertips, moulding EU legislation and policy to your will is child’s play.
Second, you may believe in telepathy. If you write a position paper, the thoughts and ideas will mysteriously filter through to the men and women making the decisions. All you need is to write out the position and your work is done.
Third, you may be put off by sitting down for 5 hours to write out the plan, find out who you need to meet, find the evidence to support your case, and craft your message to words that persuade your target audience.
Yes, it is hardly fun. But, with some good music, your work is done quickly enough.
Fourth, and most common, you know from the very beginning that what you are trying to achieve has little to no hope of working out. Instead, you are going through the motions.
Fifth, maybe you are stringing along others, and fighting on the ‘principle’, realizing that, under a sober analysis, there is little to no hope.
Finally, you have worked yourself into a frenzy of self-belief. You don’t need a plan, because the ‘animal spirits’ tell you are going to win.
Whilst ‘animal spirits’ have guided Keynes and others, I prefer to rely on less meta-physical forces.