By the early 60s McNamara and his early data analyst “Whiz Kids” had turned Ford into an efficient producer of boring cars such as the Falcon above before he went on to play CEO of the Vietnam War and do penance running the World Bank. In similar manner the data geeks and consultants ruining our Democratic Party have insured that damn near none of our billions of dollars in donations gets “wasted” on rural campaigns because that’s what their interpretation of the data tells them. When all you’ve got to offer is the political equivalent of a Falcon, it’s no surprise that rural voters are hanging on to their decades old pickups and voting republican.
Lee Iacocca followed a grittier path to running Ford and used simple research to conclude that a market existed for the Mustang, he even let competitor GM fund his research with their marketing mistakes. While a technical revolution the Corvair looked as boring and safe as the Falcon and was rewarded by slow sales. But when GM added the Monza model with bucket seats and a turbocharged engine sales perked up as the Corvair’s image changed from “economy” to “sporty”. Iacocca’s “market research” was that success of sporty Corvairs, the 1960 census that showed millions of baby boomers turning drivers license age, and the low unemployment rate that showed they had the money to buy new cars… But not a Falcon! So Ford gave the Falcon a 2 door coupe roofline and ragtop too along with a small V8 and sales perked up a la Corvair Monza and Spyder. That was all the research Iacocca and his co-conspirators at Ford needed to create and convince Ford to build the Mustang… And despite the usual research data that said it would be a flop, the Mustang was a runaway sold out success. A decade later Iacocca figured out a lot of those boomers had a couple kids now and needed the minivan… Ford killed it but Iacocca took the concept with him to Chrysler and saved the company. And while the original Bronco was a sales flop, the current sold out Bronco’s market research was based mostly on hunches and it’s development fed by passion more than $$$.
So throw out the indexes and polling and like Iacocca look at the hints and go with our hunches of how democrats can win in rural districts again. Small towns and family farms out here are hanging on by threads, and what are we offering rural voters? A 2022 Falcon. When all you have to offer is a bland sedan, the republicans will easily sell more rusty old pickups that at least make entertaining noises, smoke, and will haul a ton across a muddy field even if they need a gallon of gas for every section they cross. The hints are clear- The democratic senator with the flat top haircut from Montana proves that a democrat who advocates solutions for rural voters needs can win while the Democratic leadership who got us into this mess loses by trying to sell electric cars in places where electricity isn’t taken for granted.
It took millions for Ford to bring the Mustang to market in the face of market research that predicted failure, but had Ford not taken that risk they’d at best now be the Ford division of Toyota or VW. Capital “D” Democrats, we need you to risk some of your billions on hints that become hunches that the right rural democrats can win and some of them will!
Sassy Democrat 