‘Douglas, the worst place to be in modern politics is to be Goliath, because there are millions of Davids out there,’ Trippi told the man now at the helm of Labour’s 2010 general election campaign. ‘The power of the internet is to empower those Davids.’
Alexander says that conversation came to mind when he heard about Progress’ David versus Goliath online campaign, aimed at raising money for Labour PPCs in marginal seats awash with the cash of Michael Ashcroft and other Tory donors. ‘Actually it’s true that in financial terms, the Conservative party is a Goliath, but with Progress’ help we can make sure our candidates throw a few shots,’ says the son of the Church of Scotland minister, warming to the biblical analogy.
The international development secretary insists he is not complacent about the money the Tories will throw at the election campaign, but believes that Labour can ‘out-work and out-campaign’ its gold-plated opponents.
‘I don’t think they understand, from what I’ve seen of their campaign, that this is going to be a different kind of election,’ he says. ‘In an environment in which trust in politics and politicians is low, then what in jargon we call “peer to peer communication” – but we would all recognise as word of mouth – is going to matter more, not less.’
‘That’s why the conversations we are having with voters are so important, whether those conversations are happening online or at the school gate, or whether they’re happening through Twitter.’
As a keen student of US politics, who worked on Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential campaign, it is no surprise that Alexander has turned to friends across the Atlantic for campaigning tips. Meetings with members of Barack Obama’s campaign team have yielded crucial, though not always predictable, insights.
‘When I first met Obama’s team I thought that they would tell me that modern campaigning really begins and ends with the internet,’ he recalls. ‘And they convinced me that his background as a community organiser was at least as central to the campaign that they ran as their embrace of new technology.’
Alexander says that, notwithstanding Obama’s celebrity and the importance of new media, ‘they were applying some very old dictums in the way they campaigned’. ‘They were relying on friends, families, neighbours communicating their message just as much as they were relying on Barack Obama to communicate that message.’
Alexander also took heed of the way the Obama campaign used technology to empower activists rather than simply control them – a challenging lesson for a party accustomed to keeping its candidates and activists on message through fax, pager and email. ‘I think the way that they treat volunteers could teach all of us some important lessons, with respect and a real appreciation of the work that volunteers – sometimes not party members – can bring to a campaign,’ he adds.
The 2010 general election campaign will see party HQ taking a less hands-on approach, says Alexander. ‘I think this campaign is not going to be as centrally directed and as centrally driven. It is a campaign which recognises we have outstanding candidates, committed activists and supporters, and our job at the centre is to support, facilitate and encourage that activism.’
One of the reasons the Obama campaign used technology so effectively, Alexander argues, is that it used the longest primary campaign in US history to build up online support which could then be deployed offline. Despite its cashflow problems a few years ago, Labour began investing in its technology earlier than the Tories – and the results are starting to be seen. ‘The Tories have in recent weeks invested heavily in their online database called Merlin, and compared with [Labour’s] Contact Creator, it’s a pile of junk.’
And with the technology in place, Alexander says the evidence shows that Labour activists are ‘rising to the challenge’, with the previous week seeing the party make 106,000 contacts, treble the number in the same week prior to the 2005 election.
While the role played by activists at a local level will be perhaps more crucial than in any previous election, Alexander insists that ‘Gordon’s role will be absolutely central,’ – especially as the three leadership debates, to be broadcast on BBC, Sky and ITV on three consecutive weeks of the short campaign, mean ‘there will be an unprecedented focus on the leader’.
Alexander is quick to point out that these debates will not be an extended series of Prime Ministers’ Questions: not only will the setting be different, all three leaders will be answering questions as well as asking them. ‘I’m looking forward to the sustained scrutiny that three 90-minute debates will mean, not just for Gordon but for David Cameron and Nick Clegg as well.’
‘I don’t think we should fear that scrutiny, and I get a really strong sense that the Conservatives do fear that scrutiny. Their whole strategy has been to make Labour the issue and avoid the Conservatives becoming the issue, and I think these debates offer a real opportunity for the country to make an informed choice about the offers being made by each of the party leaders.’
And with recent opinion polls showing the Tories’ lead over Labour narrowing sharply, Alexander believes the election is moving from being a referendum on the government to a choice between two alternatives for government. ‘I think as people focus on the big choice they face, then they will both re-assess Labour and re-evaluate the Conservatives,’ he says.
Alexander believes that after the economic crisis brought about by the financial crash, and the political crisis brought about by the expenses scandal, people are asking different questions than they were even a few years ago. ‘I think in some ways the conversation around this election will more reflect the events of the last 12 months than the last 12 years,’ he says, adding that the economy will be more central than in any previous election since 1997.
Asked how he would advise Labour activists to make the case for a fourth term on the doorstep, the international development secretary says: ‘I would start by explaining that Labour got it right on the recession and is getting it right on the recovery … and now is not a time to turn off that road to recovery.
‘And, in contrast, I would say that David Cameron and the Conservatives have got it wrong on the biggest call of this parliament, that they continue to believe that you should let the recession run its course, that unemployment is a price worth paying and that the job of government is to get out of the way when the economic storm strikes.’
Election campaigns are notoriously tiring affairs, and, as Alexander notes, ‘the days get longer as the campaign gets shorter’. He may well need plenty of the Diet Coke he sips during our interview to sustain himself through the campaign’s daily grind of media monitoring, press conferences, telephone calls and team meetings.
But he’s confident of his election companions Peter Mandelson and Harriet Harman, saying: ‘I can’t think of a team that I would rather be working alongside. I first worked alongside Peter and Harriet 20 years ago in 1990, so we have known each other for a long time and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.’
‘It’s the Conservatives at this stage who are paralysed as they look to the election. It’s our campaign team that’s energised as we look to the election.’ Bring it on.