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That Dracula moment

 

John Shosky

 

 If you want to win the argument, you have to go for the jugular. John Shosky analyses when and how to hit the vein, and keep your opponent's blood pumping 

 

 

Successfully going for the jugular looks like this: in the 1980 campaign for President of the United States, there was only one televised debate between the two major candidates.

 

Jimmy Carter spoke repeatedly about governmental solutions to the nation's problems. At one point, he began an eloquent appeal about healthcare: Medicare for the elderly, cost-containment measures, and catastrophic care insurance for those facing unexpected and expensive treatments - all leading to government financed national health insurance. He concluded: "Governor Reagan, again, typically, is against such a proposal." Reagan, smiling throughout Carter's remarks, responded, delighted, almost laughing: "There you go again!"

 

It was more than a dismissive line. Carter advocated more governmental programmes, more federal spending, more taxes, and more erosion of individual freedom. Reagan, of course, stood for less government, lower rates of public spending, lower taxes, less intrusion on individual liberty. The contrast was clear; the comment said it all. And with that one comment Reagan did more than note a difference. He went for the jugular. Journalist Bret Schulte, reviewing the debate last year, said Reagan's lines "pierced Carter's presidency" and the conclusion was a "knockout punch".

 

When a politician is going for the jugular, it typically means they are going to slice the jugular vein in an argument in order to weaken; to grab the open vein, rip it out, until eventually so much blood is spilt that the argument loses lifesustaining credibility and dies.

 

How to do this? Actually, there is a strategy for political hematologists. It usually has stages of development:

 

 

1. Look for a devastating weakness

 

Most arguments in the public arena are about the give and take of policy, tradeoffs, a mixed bag of winners and losers among the electorate. Going for the jugular is an attempt to expose a weakness that is lethal. When you have found it, allow no diversion, no resuscitation, no transfusion, no staunching, and no tourniquet! The whole idea is to let it bleed!

 

How to find it? Well, sometimes you have to look behind the headlines or outside the flow of events. Often, political rhetoric is designed to deflect attention away from weakness. So don't follow your opponent so much as look for what you need. And the weakness in your opponent's argument may come from a spontaneous mistake. So look for a weakness. Be patient. If it isn't obvious in your preparation, it will probably come out during the course of a discussion. Almost always, it will be there.

 

 

2. Seize the moment

 

When the mistake is made, pounce on it. Don't let a rare, defi ning opportunity go by. One may not come again.

 

Here's an example. In 1990, the American cabinet member for health and human services was Louis W Sullivan. Dr Sullivan was an eminent hematologist, and former president of the Morehouse School of Medicine; one of the historically black medical schools in the United States. Sullivan was attacked in early August of that year by Pete Stark, a congressman from Northern California. Stark, who is white, called Sullivan a "disgrace to his race" because he "doesn't have the courage" (to oppose Bush Administration policies that hurt poor and minority citizens). Sullivan responded within minutes demanding an apology, saying, with explosive effect, "I don't work on Pete Stark's plantation!" That angry comment changed the debate and sliced the jugular. Sullivan added, "I wish he had the guts to make his comments to my face." The White House called Stark's comments "bigoted" and a media feeding-frenzy followed. Stark, disavowed even by his own party, later said: "I blew it". Yup!

 

3. Blow it up

 

It isn't enough to identify the mistake and go for the jugular. The rhetorical focus must be stationary. Don't go to other arguments. Stay on the mistake and blow it up. Collapse on the argument. This is the place to vastly expand your response - make it bigger, much bigger! This is where you use your time, only leaving the argument behind when you have done as much damage as possible. So don't just mention your reasons for opposing - destroy the opponent's argument. By winning here you may win everything.

 

Here's a classic case of jugular slicing, pumping, and dumping; a case that lingers in the mind to this day. In late June of 1960, former President Harry Truman gave a speech arguing that presidential candidate Jack Kennedy was too young and inexperienced to be President. Rough stuff from a respected fi gure. Kennedy countered in a televised press conference. He argued that there should not be a "maturity test" for politicians in their forties (Kennedy was 43). Then he went for it. To do so, he said, would have denied people the contributions of Theodore Roosevelt, William Pitt (the younger), and others. But he didn't stop there. He piled on: "To exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44 would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution, Hamilton from serving as Secretary of the Treasury, Clay from being elected Speaker of the House, and even Christopher Columbus from discovering America."

 

He added that, up to that moment, America had had six presidents in their forties. So if these people wouldn't be qualifi ed to serve, then who would be? And if only the old could serve, then the vigour and stamina of youth would be lost. Certainly, Kennedy won that argument with a "who's who" of American leaders.

 

Blood attracts attention. You don't have to do all the work. At some point let the media take over. They can smell blood. The media is good at blowing up arguments and piling in. Let them pound and pound away. Let them show the video again and again. Let the think tanks get involved (I remember a great, devastating session on "plantation politics" at a think tank in Washington after the Stark/Sullivan exchange). And, of course, the blogosphere will be at it, relentlessly, 24/7. More and more we see the media following the blogosphere, not the other way around (witness the unfolding of events with the recent Damian McBride scandal).

 

 

4. Tell them what to do next

 

Don't just leave the argument gushing blood. Tell anyone listening what must happen next. Take the rhetorical ground. Defi ne the debate. Make it clear that the next response must be on your own terms, according to your own demands.

 

If you do this effectively, you will own the issue. And your opponent will have no place to go, no way to squirm out. I had a debate coach who once called this moment the time to justify or deny. Make your opponent either justify the bad argument or deny having said it (or deny holding the view). In a jugular moment, when you are right and you have blown it up, neither option will be possible. There will be no acceptable explanation, no possible way to deny holding the view. This is a powerful moment in an argument. The other side is trapped by their own words and actions. You can see that you've won, feel it. So can everyone else, except those who somehow believe their own spin.

 

 

5. Follow with hope and vision

 

If all you do is exploit weakness you have only done half the job. Politicians cannot be effective if they are only attack dogs. Winning an argument is not necessarily proof that you should be an opinion-maker or leader. It is not necessarily the qualifi cation for government. Effective jugular arguments are followed by positions and policies that are full of life and promise; glowing in good health by contrast. Kennedy showed he understood this in this party convention speech in 1960. After going for Nixon's jugular, he said: "But I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through the darkness to a safe and sane future.

 

So next time the 'Dracula' moment comes, be ready. Discover your inner Bela Lugosi. Go for the jugular! But blood-letting isn't wisdom...also be ready to offer new direction, better programmes, optimism about the years to come, hope for moving forward, and an inclusive vision, a vision that even generously includes someone you've just drained dry.

 

 

 

John Shosky is a Washington speechwriter