Plastic Surgery
Oh boy, some people aren't going to like this.
The official opposition has always struck me as a very polarizing bunch. You either really like them through thick and thin, or you are seriously bothered by their presence all the time. For me, it's always been a bit closer to the latter. That's strange because I don't have an innate reason to dislike them, certainly not through family ties or anything like that. I've only been following politics for a couple years, so I'll just call my opinion of them nothing more than a first impression.
But first impressions can be lasting.
I decided I would write this article around the time of the FNM's 2014 convention, after I saw a strange picture. It was of Dr. Hubert Minnis just before he entered the convention, surrounded by a throng of his supporters. What stood out to me was not just the amount of posters the supporters were holding, but the tagline on each. It read "Dr. Minnis - an agent of change." a phrase that sounds oddly similar to something we've heard before. I brushed it off. Then, he printed shirts with the same tagline. He’s even published a recent Youtube ad with that same phrase attached to the end. Clearly this is no longer a phase, but a lasting tagline attached to Dr. Minnis’ brand. FNM, that’s why we need to talk.
I will start the same way I always do when I'm about to criticize your party, by noting some of the positives. I like Dr. Minnis as a political figure. I think he is an individual as genuine as you will find in politics, but I don't believe his party appreciates or stands behind him as much as they should. What I don't like about Dr. Minnis is his leadership style in and outside of the House of Assembly. When he is in, all I have ever heard is "we are the opposition, watch us oppose", even when opposing means blatantly flip flopping on national issues. When he is out, I see him calling snap rallies and marches downtown. At best, I find Dr. Minnis passionate. At worst, I find him confusing and generic. Which brings me back to that tagline on his poster... I can tell that whoever suggested using the word 'change' was a good idea for the FNM didn't study advertising. There's nothing wrong with the word itself, but it is simply will not work for everybody. As my professor keeps telling my class over and over, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit.” What he meant was advertising does not exist to fix a problem, it can only highlight or hide aspects of a brand that already exist. If it's not there, your advertising is doomed to cause a wave of backlash when your buyers (voters) don't get what they pay for. That's something the PLP learned the hard way.
I have to keep it real with you FNM, you will never convince the Bahamian people that you are the party of 'change', ala Barack Obama in 2008 and the DNA in 2012. It is not believable and for good reason; your party has existed for nearly half a century and seems to pride itself on its track record in government. If you are trying to portray the FNM as different now that Minnis, Turnquest and Pintard are at the helm, then maybe you should say that outright and build a campaign around the idea. Saying "an agent of change" is lazy and makes you seem like rip-off artists. People have no qualms with the DNA when they use the word change because it's a hard claim to prove them wrong. It is a fact that they have never been the government, and it's at least a possibility that they could do what successive governments have failed to achieve. Voters will fight the FNM every time they use the word change for the opposite reason, and they’ve already started in social media commentary. You cannot replicate the DNA's primary appeal (as much as I’m sure you’d like to) by imitating their slogans. Trying to do so will only result in you cheapening the word change for everyone. That's just free-advice from an advertising newbie.
This issue is a symptom of a larger problem. I wager that ever since former FNM leader Hubert Ingraham left the party shortly after the last election, the red party has had an identity-crisis. Ingraham was and is a strong man with a massive amount of political personality. When he became the country's first FNM Prime Minister, he became more than the face of the party, he became the party. The proof is in how the FNM has approached general election campaigns since their defeat in 2002. In 2007, the FNM used Ingraham posters with the tagline "proven leadership", and they were eager to contrast Ingraham with then-PM Perry Christie. They did the same in 2012, even saying that "this election is about leadership". The approach did not work as well as it did 5 years earlier. Despite Ingraham building his last campaign on this ideal, the amount of FNM supporters that refuse to accept this as the reason for the party's loss is staggering. I get the sense that these same supporters feel like they did better in the election than they actually did. It's amusing to see the DNA belittled for having zero seats, when the official opposition themselves only occupy 8. That is a disturbingly low 21% of all available seats in the House of Assembly. To put that in perspective, it would take the efforts of all 8 FNM MPs with the addition of nearly twice as many additional PLP MPs for a bill to not leave the House. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not cause for celebration in any democracy.
The identity-crisis of the FNM and stubborn denial to make sweeping changes to their party is frustrating to watch. I shake my head when I see the FNM saying that the "2017 victory train has left the station." As another Bahamian writer so eloquently put it, it's like the FNM is "politically tone deaf". Many Bahamians cannot imagine putting ‘The Right Honorable’ in front of Hubert Minnis’ name. The Bahamian people are dying to see some kind of brand personality from the FNM that transcends attacking the governing party at every turn. That isn't directly Dr. Minnis' fault, as the precedent for what an opposition party should act like has been in place long before Minnis entered politics. It's not completely fair to criticize a new leader for doing what he thinks he's supposed to. I do, however, blame him for not being more proactive and creative in his approach to the role.
Before the FNM can get to the dessert of winning a general election, someone must slap them across the wrist, insist that they eat their vegetables first and deal with their present branding problem. That person cannot and will not be me because of my political affiliation. Based on everything I’ve witnessed over the last three years, these words are predestined to be ignored by the party faithful who see me as nothing more than a loudmouthed youth, and hey, they're kind of right. Regardless, I remain firm in saying that if the FNM does not make major moves, they will find themselves with more excuses than seats in the aftermath of the next general election.
