♪ > > This week and the Wheelhouse behind the scenes look retail politics and community.

♪ > > for Connecticut Public, Frankie Graziano.

This is the Wheelhouse.

It's a show that connects politics to the people.

We got to weekly dose of politics in Connecticut and beyond.

Right here.

And with the midterm elections around the corner, one word is about to be everywhere.

Likability.

It's a quality candidates.

Spend millions of dollars trying to project and cultivate well, what actually makes a politician connect with voters?

Is it offensive to city offices that this is a to do whatever the way I said it, authenticity.

Charisma, a compelling story this hour.

We're exploring the making of a politician from messaging and media training to campaign ads and public image will look at the strategy behind building a candidate resonates with voters.

Joining us is Joe Bartley Reuters.

Jill, she's director of Emerge Action Fund her work involves recruiting and training candidates for office.

Jill, thanks so much for being here.

> > Thank you so much for having me.

> > All right.

We got to ask folks, what are the qualities they look for in political candidates?

Hit us up comment on our YouTube live stream.

That's right.

We're live on YouTube right now.

We're going to call 8, 8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, We're going to kick this conversation off by asking you what emerged is and how it came to be.

> > urged America is an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office and win.

We turn to 20 last year and the 20 years we have existed, we've trained over 7,000 women to run for office and over 1300 of them are currently in elected office.

> > So spoiler alert.

You're telling me that women can run for office and win that is true.

Cheney's ing in 2026, you wouldn't know it, but they can't.

And they do.

When people think up assists successful politicians, they often focus on charisma or personality.

> > You spend your days recruiting and training future candidates.

How being successful in politics is natural talent and how much of it can be taught.

Would you say?

> > And say that, you know what we're looking for in a candidate is someone who has a heart to serve and who cares about their community and is passionate about the issues.

And I think those are things that cannot be taught.

But what we can do is we can encourage our candidates and emerge to lead with their authentic selves.

And to bring their full selves to the table and to talk about what they care about, we can help train them on message.

We cannot train them on how to get some earned media.

How to have a good speech.

Had to have a great plan for reaching voters.

But that often to city is something that they bring all on their own.

> > When someone decides they want to run for office water.

All the piece is that have to sort of come together before voters ever see them on a debate stage or in a campaign ad.

> > Well, Ed emerge we love to make sure that we're always telling our candidates to prepare first and foremost as human beings is your life ready for?

That's what you have capacity for.

Is this the time to run for office or your loved ones ready and on board or your friends there to support you.

What do you need to do to get ready as a human to run for office?

And what kind of support are you going to need in terms of maybe shifting some of your caregiving responsibilities making sure they can take the time work to run, et cetera.

And then we recruit them for our program and we train them and we teach them all the nuts and bolts of putting together a successful team and a successful campaign plan to win.

> > Speaking of potential candidates about safety more now than you have and passes this is a real thing.

Now we're worried about political violence in the job that you do.

> > It's an absolute real it's not lost on me that this week we saw the one-year anniversary of the assassination of politicians and Minnesota.

An and that's that's real.

That's a real threat.

We've known that political violence exists in word and deed and that women, especially women of color, are at risk for these for these threats.

That's real.

We train on that.

We train on how folks can keep themselves safe online and physically what they need to do to make sure that we can increase their safety and well-being.

But I think it's more than that.

It's also the emotional and mental preparation for face saying that these kind of attacks and these threats and that's something that we work really hard to do.

We provide our cohort model of all of our training to train in a group and hopefully really deep connections with your fellow participants and you have people to lean on when things do get tough.

> > Typically who are some of the people behind the scenes helping shape the candidates message.

Public image, communication style and just overall against campaign.

> > Well, Adam urge were part of that.

We train on that.

We train on how to create a really great stump speech had to essentially use your story.

What significant moments that have happened in your life connects that to an issue that you care about and connect that to why you're running for office and why you should win and be allowed to serve.

And they're also obviously a candidate can get volunteer staff.

They can hire staff.

There's lots of campaign Consultants Inc, a man to help you.

But we always encourage our candidate to make sure that you are shaping your message with your authentic self and your story.

> > You talked earlier about getting your mind right and getting yourself correct.

Is there?

Things are so personal nowadays and people might be reticent to get help particularly if they're in the spotlight.

So light.

Can somebody who's having any kind of mental health challenges and they like take anxiety, medicine, maybe even ADHD medicine nowadays.

Are they going to be concerned that other people are going to find out about that?

> > I mean, I think that if a candidate is addressing their mental health through therapy or medication, I would encourage them to talk about that, too, because so many Americans, so many of their constituents struggle with mental health and wellbeing and seeing someone in elected office.

I lead on that issue to and say, hey, health care is important.

Mental health is important.

Here is how I take care of myself.

I think that's all part of leadership.

> > Emerge recruits women who may have never picture themselves as politicians.

I'm wondering what typically catches your attention and makes you think that person is the person that ought to run for office.

> > When Ali sketches, my attention is first that that passion for service that care for their communities for their state, for this country that we love.

a desire to serve a desire to see change a desire to do something about it.

That's what I always look for.

That spark for service and someone with a really great story and a really great background.

And I think that our stories, the things that we've been through in our lives shape us and help us once we're in elected office to lead from that place of having them there ourselves.

> > Are there certain personality traits that connect best with voters?

> > Yeah, I think realness, I think often to city.

I think someone who you can talk about their own experiences in a way that resonates with others who can show up and as their authentic self.

You know, so many times we hear that women need to change how they speak, change their appearance, change their hair and emerge.

We disagree with all of that.

We want a woman to show up as her authentic self and lead from that place of being a real person so that the women and the kids, the girls who are watching and know that they too could be in the same position.

> > A lot of politics involved ego talk a bit about how you manage that.

If you approach a potential candidate there.

Yes, initially resistant to the idea of running for office.

What does that say to you?

> > And says that they're absolutely normal.

So average we have to ask a woman on average 7 times to run for office before.

consider it.

Yeah.

So think that they might not be qualified.

They might not know everything they need to know.

And they may not be strong enough to run for office and they they they sell themselves short.

So we really have to encourage them and build them up and let them know they can do this, that they won't be doing it alone.

And that they that they are absolutely qualified.

> > I want to get into the secret sauce too much.

But now I'm like so curious is somebody who's the producer also and and does a lot of research are you paying attention to a local news national news?

I don't know certain TikTok trends or Instagram topics.

Anything like that like how do you find these people?

> > Well, one thing that we did add emerges that we knew especially in these most recent years where I think our very democracy is unfortunately under attack, maybe that we had to meet folks where they were at.

So we created a training and Emerge Action fund called meeting the moment.

And what it does is it takes our participants through a place of attending a protest, expanding their activism, getting more civically engaged, thinking about maybe serving on a board or commission locally or statewide and then laying the groundwork to run for office themselves.

So were literally trying to build a pretty political pipeline of women who are ready to step up and run.

> > Are the rules of what makes someone likable unelected ball, different for women than they are for men.

So like it.

Does the approach change in any way in that regard when you're dealing with a with a female candidate?

> > I don't think the approach changes, but the conversation changes.

I think that there's a race gap for women who run for office and maybe make mistakes.

Or have things in their past that they're going to be judged for.

I think that women are held to a much different and unfortunately higher standards than white men are.

I think that we have to prepare our candidates for this and make sure that if there is something in their past, if there is a mistake that they've made, how are they going to lead on that and get ahead of it and bring it out and so that they can talk about it and hopefully make it part of why they're qualified to run and serve.

> > 2 women with extensive political backgrounds, certainly very qualify to run for president recently Ave run Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton.

He talked about some of the challenges they face in winning over voters.

> > Yeah, I think voters were and has a tent to get behind women who are running for the highest office in this land.

We still haven't smash that ultimate great glass ceiling.

> > And I would say that whether or not folks realize that and are meant it, I think that sexism did play a role.

I think that racism did play a role when it came to Vice President Harris and I think that again, they were held to much higher standards than their male counterparts would have that especially their white male counterparts.

But a merge actually got started because of Vice President Harris.

She's our original emerge woman.

She was running for district attorney out in California and a group of women who are helping her out there realized that we needed to have a program that would train and support women who are going to run from office.

And that is how emerge was founded and got its start.

> > Women in politics often expected to project confidence and strength.

Also conveying warmth and relate ability that can be a difficult balance.

How do you coach people through those competing expectations?

> > I think that we don't always see them.

We try not to see them as competing.

We try to see that you're a full human being.

So sometimes you're talking about about strength and how you need to approach an issue from a strength based place and sometimes you're talking about how to approach an issue for men that the based place and that's all part of who you are.

So sometimes you'll be out there talking about, you know, tax policy or foreign relations and sometimes you're talking about, unfortunately, maybe a school shooting.

And I think that you just want to bring your full self and your your full range of emotions to the table at all times.

> > When you watch campaign ads speech or debate, what are you looking for?

That tells you whether things are going the right way.

You wanted to whether it's working.

> > And we're looking for stories.

We always encourage our candidates to tell a story.

Think about a moment in their life or a story of someone that they've met along the way and bring that and so bring that.

And when you're talking, you're introducing yourself to voters.

Bring that into a campaign forum to bring that into the debate.

Find a story that connects to that issue and connect that to why you're running for office.

> > You've been listening to G o Barkley Royce.

enjoying getting to know here, director of emerge an fun.

Joe, great to have you on the show.

It's great to be here.

And so anywhere can more for folks learn about emerge.

> > They can visit our website at the Merge America Dot Org and find out all about our candidate training programs all across New England and the rest of the country and they can follow us on Instagram find our like tree.

There.

> > After the break, we continue our behind the scenes.

Look at how politicians, bill, their public persona and gain public support.

What do you look for in a politician?

Give us a call.

8, 8, 7 to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, And if you're looking for more ways to get involved, tell us where political issues matter most to you.

Fill out our election surveyed CT public DOT org slash election comments may even be featured in an upcoming episode of the show.

Ct Public Dot Org Slash election.

There's more Wheelhouse coming up right after this.

Listen to Connecticut Public.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ This is the Wheelhouse from Connecticut Public Radio.

I'm Frankie Graziano as candidates gear up for 2026 midterms, they're all trying to answer the same question.

What makes voters like and trust a politician.

Today.

We're taking apart the modern politician piece by piece, the speeches slogans adds image making and behind the scenes strategy that go into building a public persona.

Joining me now live in Scranton, what's Republican analyst and owner of the jury group.

Liz, Great to see you.

Good morning.

Thank you for having me or seek way is the founder and CEO of the narrative Project.

She also teaches part-time at Quinnipiac University.

Welcome back to the Wheelhouse.

Mercy.

Thanks for having me.

So great to have you on the program, guys, folks, what are you thinking about what the candidates give us a call 8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, is part of your couch.

Gilles.

You care about what the kid it looks like likability.

All that jazz.

Give us a call.

8, 8, 7, to 0, 9, 6, 7, 7, mercy.

We spent a lot of time talking about politicians as if there's some simply somebody we just see.

I'm like a TV screen or something like that.

But behind every candidate, she's like a team.

You heard there of all the people that you could have access to emerge.

Usually a team making lots of decisions, maybe about messaging appearance, advertising, social media, whatever.

Let's start there.

When a politician wants a percent authentically, what does that look like?

> > You know what I really love about where the conversations starting is from really talking about what is your authentic story to begin with?

Because a lot of times people, men in particular when they want to get into a recent one thing I'll say is I love that this is an entirely female panel, right?

When men want to get into our 8th grade when when men want to say almost doesn't matter what their background story, it's they don't care.

I a constituents often don't press them on it like it.

That sense of who they are.

It doesn't often come into the story unless their opponents can use it against them or unless they can say I'm just like you that relate ability always always matters.

I think that one of the biggest things we talk about who is setting up a candidate from the behind the scenes, it's obviously the message.

And how are you going to say what you're going to say?

Not just what you're going to say, policy priorities matter.

A great deal, but are you the messenger for that policy priority is also big deal.

And and frankly, you know what seems an authentic is even if you have the right policy priority, you don't understand why that policy matters to your constituents.

It's going to feel as though you're being tone deaf.

They're tone deaf to your constituents.

Their needs because you don't actually come from where they come from.

When I think about it, it is a public relations or specifically public relations to connect with communities, communities of color from low-income backgrounds.

Us really have to be from that community to be really double.

But you need to show something that says you understand that community.

And without that piece, you're not campaigns not going to go a long way towards convincing people.

You understand them.

So how do you do that?

Then you have to go to the U again.

I'm going to show my Hartford buys > > Do you have to go to Wally Avenue in New Britain or New Haven or something like that?

Like, what's what's what?

What are people going to do?

You know, I was gonna say the north end of Hartford.

> > Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it will in New Haven and actually not just in New Haven around the state and wherever you are, you have to be in community.

Yeah.

And when you are developing those initial relationships, you have to maintain them throughout the entirety of the campaign far too often.

What we see is a candidate will come in.

We'll have that initial conversation.

That initial right relationships setting conversation and then you never hear from them or see them again.

If you start from a place of that initial town hall and that initial town hall wasn't for show, you didn't do that to put out the press release afterwards, you to put it on social media some kind of content you might have, you know, thanks people on social media, but you didn't put out content when you came back.

If you came back to them later in the campaign and asked them for something or ask them, you know, I love to sit across.

We even have a conversation for social media at that point.

Those sorts of relationship building tactics, build relationships, not just for that campaign for the long term and that kind of investment in communities shows your communities that I'm invested in what you have to say.

Not just as relationship builder, but has a relationship maintain.

> > I want to talk about authenticity.

Also then Merced brings up a good point about making it sort of organic how to do that.

> > Well, look, I think the first and most important thing is that you have to actually care about an issue and you want to run with purpose.

I think that's really important to the authenticity of a campaign because if you are a candidate who is simply doing this to check a box, voters are going to see that if you're using it as a stepping stone to the next big office, you want to run for?

People can see through that.

And I think that that creates a barrier between you and the voter.

And I think I completely agree with the fact that you can't just show up on Election Day and ask for the vote.

And I think that becomes significantly problematic for incumbents because they're so used to winning and being elected a lot of times they forget where they came from.

And that's how you see opportunities for challengers to come in and sort of make a way for themselves because they're listening to these constituents for the first time.

these constituents maybe didn't have an audience with their elected for quite some time.

But I think it's really starts at the basic of every time you start a campaign, whether you're starting a campaign for an alderman seat or you're running for governor.

Our president, you really start at the basic level of saying, OK, what what is our message grid?

How are we going to talk about ourselves?

What are our priorities?

What's the difference?

We want to make.

How are we going to talk about our opponent, their record, their message, their failures, that cetera.

How are they going?

House our opponent going to talk about themselves in the positive.

How are they going to address their issues?

And and how are they going to talk about us and if you don't do those things, you have failed straight off the So that's really how you you kind of figure out.

Okay, I'm I'm running for this office.

These are the issues that I care about.

This is how I think I can have an impact in the community.

This is why this is my why.

And N here's how I'm planning to make a difference.

And then you go build a campaign off of that.

That makes it actually a lot easier to get the candidate authentic and fired up and talking about things.

It's funny because you see it would just look at the governor's race right now.

It's hard to get it.

The governor fired up about something as unsexy as fiscal stability, right?

And so, you know, where he where you see him now getting excited is when he's talking about.

He hit the Iraq war, for example, right?

That was started his his entree into politics when he ran against Joe Lieberman.

Yes, it was.

And so is quoted with Graham Platner who's running rise in Maine and we're asking.

> > So it's just that's just like one recent example of something.

To me.

You are where you're wary when you're trying to get somebody fired up, people can spot a fake a mile away when something happens.

Authentically like that.

Like I said it, talking about fiscal stability is not exact.

Are you going to get people's mojo?

Got the sexiest thing.

It was > > does this keep you up at night?

Does like the authenticity thing keep you up at night is something you can overthink.

I guess.

> > I think if you don't boil the ocean, I if you're if you just have to be who you are, I've seen some great campaigns that have been run around.

How boring a candidate in there.

I saw one of my favorite actresses like a guy who's running for like.

> > You know, a treasure comptroller, something like that in the southern state and the entire ad is his wife standing there doing all of these chores around the house listening to him drone on about numbers and that's the whole ad, right?

Sometimes the thing is the thing.

And here's that out for you right Let's take a look at.

> > There are million people in this community.

I mean, that is 0, 1, to 8 power.

If you're around it off, it's 0.

> > All he wants to do is a 6.

So get this 18 wheeler, this part in this neighborhood is so good all over the place.

> > quite frankly, it's not a But code violation.

You know, I think a lot of help around the House.

> > Please re-elected mayor perfect.

It is absolutely perfect.

They're taking something that like, you know, they're sitting there like man, oh, my gosh, if we impose guide dog for one where they get, they made it the thing.

And I also think that what we see here is as a candidate do what you know and promote what you know to try to tap into something that you don't know.

It's going to it's going to be really obvious to the voter.

And I think that the other thing that we see here is a willingness to lean into the things that.

Are sort of working in a social like ice, right?

Like.

> > moaning and right.

Bree grudging back and forth between a husband and wife very regularly doing laundry.

It's understanding who year.

> > Who?

Who?

Who?

You're.

Everybody loves rate.

You're right.

Exactly.

who's there already and right.

And who's going to find you deeply relay double.

It is honestly one of my favorite ads.

I'm so glad they pulled as it is.

I think exactly what a campaign should be.

And when you talk about slogans in developing those kinds of things, I mean, I always think of those things of that like, are you running for student Council way, right?

Like, you know, I mean, I think people I don't know.

I think we're to a point where a lot of those things sort of people get the kind of like glaze over.

And, you know, I go you have to be real with people and not an attack ad that is that's not in the So that's what I'm trying to say.

Is that like?

> > And a lot of folks will say, like you guys in the media are not positive.

I'm sure politicians will get this to like, you know, like.

> > Everything is so negative.

There's nothing negative about that.

> > People wouldn't.

First of all, people wouldn't run negative attack ads if they didn't work.

Number one.

Number 2, the timing is everything.

If you if you look across the country, the average deficit for name ID for a challenger running in the congressional race is between 30 and 50%.

If you're running for Congress and you're running as a challenger here that again, the average name ID deficit is between 30 and 50%.

Your number one job as a challenger is to get people to know who you are and that is how you do that.

You are in an ad like that when you're introducing yourself your goal is to help people understand who you are, get to know you and why you're doing this And you have to sort of start that narrative arc.

You can't go straight to negative.

And Josh Elliott is going to have that problem here in Connecticut in this governor's race and as is Ryan Fazio, hey, it's Josh.

Again, I just sent you a text message.

> > I don't know.

He's he's got the the I'm just made a joint.

Alicia, the reason for the uninitiated, I will say that if you know, Josh Kelley it as I do because I've interviewed him before.

> > I am now a part of the campaign list.

I guess where I'm getting some of these tax that say, hey, it's Josh.

Again, I'm running for governor in Connecticut.

So you get some of that.

> > The reason that I bring that up is because your first job is to introduce yourself to the voter.

And right now Josh Elliott is tasked with doing 2 things at once.

He has to get paid will to know who he is and understand his brand and his campaign because he's got a significant name ID deficit and then try and get them to not vote for Ned Lamont, which is very difficult to do in a very short amount of time with a limited budget and it's the same issue that a candidate in Connecticut on the Republican side when you're running as a challenger you you're in name ID deficit.

You have fewer resources and you have to get people to elect you and not elect your comments.

Fascinating point because Governor Lamont is going to face his first primary since he started running for governor.

First time quite a while.

> > A sitting governor has faced a primary here in Connecticut.

The ad you just saw was from Gerald already, by the way, is a member of the Travis County Commissioners Court in Texas representing district 3.

That was, I guess, and 2016 and Tillis is point.

It's been seen many times, 4 million times.

Something like that.

Deja Foxx.

Let's talk about Deja Talk about that with mercy Cannon Democratic Party's primary election for Arizona's 7th congressional district in 2025.

Special election ultimately lost.

But in the pre-interview process, I understand the said she's a good example.

Someone who really knew how to capture, I guess a bigger audience.

> > Capturing a bigger audience in such a small amount of time.

She ran a campaign in about 3 months and raised about $600,000.

25 years old coming from a background of being a political.

I'm sorry, a digital strategist.

Kind of a content creator.

I first came on the scene when a video of her at at a town council challenging a congressman goes viral.

She's about 16 years old and working at a gas station.

Right?

So from there, she goes directly into political work, working with a Planned Parenthood.

And when she sees opportunity to Demick Democratic congressman who right?

He says opportunity.

She jumps into the race and she's got about 3 months to extent are name recognition to raise money and to challenge not just his daughter, but a number of other candidates in that field.

Ultimately she did lose.

But what she shows showcases is there is a towards the name recognition that loses talking about and oftentimes people don't win their first race out, right?

That's a big If you're not, if you're not expecting to win your first 3 south and what is the goal of your first campaign?

It's getting your name out.

There is getting your face.

Some household recognition, some name recognition.

It's also leveraging whatever that campaign was into your next thing.

And for her, she's now doing political communty she's a political commentator for CNN.

How can she leverage that into the next thing?

And also be able to advise other campaigns on how to tap into Gen Z is her big question.

Her entire campaign was run similar to mom.

Donnie was front and social media.

She was doing videos from her couch.

Oftentimes barefoot and in the preview in the prep, I often talked about how she's got a little bit of pretty pretty privilege as well.

I think at one point he did is he spent a few months as a model.

She said a little bit a pretty privileged and because of that being right in front of the camera, right.

And also being Young Gen Z being a digital native.

All of those things work to her advantage, raising 600,000 in 3 months is no small feat, particularly when you're doing it from small donors, rights motivation, small donations, you're doing it from folks who are when you are younger.

Not just in Arizona, but creating some name recognition around the country.

I'm getting her ads here in Connecticut that says a great deal.

You know, also say that Kamala Harris came out to support her campaign.

Right and talked a great deal about how.

A young candidate even if this campaign doesn't turn out successful for her, she sees a very long runway for her in politics.

And I think when we see other campaigns are across the nation, you know, the similar Gen Z candidates around the nation.

Mom, Dani or a Helen Halyna Murano down New Orleans.

These are examples of unapologetic, unafraid.

We're just going to say the thing sort of in that spirit of much either of you are familiar with the content creators.

Suzanne Lambert, the mean Girl leftist She's I think she would colors of more.

So a progressive that she's the person that started the the started bullying Republican makeup and really talking about is like, yeah, this is what Republican makeup looks like.

So in that framework, if you are seeing a content creator, give you permission to kind of be on a fried and the kind of run more real with your messaging as a politician and seeing that that's resonating on social than when you're taking on a campaign for yourself and utilizing social to do it.

You can say things like puppy be released the files right in that really works from Connecticut Public Radio.

This is the Wheelhouse.

I'm Frankie Graziano.

After the break, more on what makes a politician electable.

> > Let us know a campaign message.

Messages are resonating with you.

Maybe some historic ones as well.

Hit us up comment on our YouTube live stream or give us a call today.

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And I guess I'm also here with past years past doctor says, Stuart, little bit off thinking maybe like a new show.

I for those who are not familiar with can Pat.

I'm Kathryn Schenn host of Where We Live and Pat, who are you, Pat?

I'm Patrick Scahill and one of the reporters and editors here.

> > Well, we're really excited to be here today.

And it's been a really fun conversation.

Listening to, you know, what makes a politician electable and I can help but think about how this show makes a very don't a double.

Wouldn't you say I would absolutely say that cat and yeah, Frank and his team each and every week are bringing > > Really, you know, in-depth, inexpensive.

Look at politics here.

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It's really cute.

And I mean, if you're 9 to cute, it can also be really cool.

That's taking whatever beverage.

> > Out of that very cool mud.

And like Patrick said, it is $8 a month.

You can get your very own Ali.

The octopus will ha smug and again, it's CT public Dot org stash.

Donate or you can give us a call at 1, for 2, 7, 8, 8, and another reason why I love this conversation because it's focused on being your authentic self and they're talking politicians, of course.

But I think it also relates to people who are behind the scenes, bring the news to our listeners, know the people who are.

> > Both in front of a camera and at the mic and for our listeners, you actually have to care about the issues and the world around you for wanting to donate very much.

I feel like summer philosophies to what they're talking about today where a politician actually has to care about the issue.

> > To run for testing while parallels here.

> > Absolutely.

And we know that our listeners really do care so much about the station on you become a member.

It's taking that caring relationship to a new level.

You really feels like, hey, I am.

You know, I'm an active part of the team and active producer and the work that the Wheelhouse team is doing each and every week and the work that the NEWSROOM is doing.

So I want to say thanks to Chris and Jerry out in Burlington, Connecticut.

They left a very nice comment with the donation.

The generous donation they made online just as the trip the truth, exclamation point.

Thank you for what you continue to do.

Wilkerson, Jerry, thank you so much for your pledge.

We also heard from folks in Westfield, Massachusetts this morning.

Gales Ferry, Connecticut and a donor from New York.

Also got on board.

So they are all supporting the truth.

They're being their authentic selves and they're showing up with a donation asking you to do the same right now.

Ct Public Dot Org is how you do it.

I mean, we love an exclamation I feel like when we're talking about the Wheelhouse and we were talking about our amazing colleague, Frankie Graziano.

There are several information points after the name.

Thank you.

Got No, sir.

> > Thank you all so much for joining us this morning and making donations.

And as you all know, its been really challenging this year for us.

But we feel safe because we have listeners like you who continue to support us.

And, you know, we continue to appreciate us.

Well, so give us a call.

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Slash donate and thank you lost so much for your generosity.

> > This is the Wheelhouse from Connecticut Public Radio.

I'm Frankie Graziano.

If you've ever watched a political drama.

You've probably seen a character whose job it is to make problems disappear.

Shout out to Charlie in anything like that from spies in disguise.

> > Tom Holland says that When.

disappear here.

That's for you.

Kids.

Think Olivia Pope from scandal.

She make problems disappear right?

And yup.

Those people exist in real life, too.

Behind every speech.

Campaign ads, social media posts and public appearance.

Often a team making strategic decisions about Canada present themselves to voters this hour.

We're talking with some of the people who do that work and explore what makes a politician connect with the public.

We still have with us.

This grand awaits and mercy quay.

Marcia, before the break, we were talking about social media and Asia.

FOX a candidate and Democratic Party's primary election for Arizona's 7th congressional district, social media there.

A big key that we were talking about is it making it easier or harder to build trust and social?

And I think building building trust on Social is easy.

If you are a trustworthy person, if people can see right through what you're saying.

Or it's something list said just a moment ago.

If you're not the kind of politician who can go straight to face straight to camera and make a point, if you're someone who needs a lot of prepped.

> > You don't know your issues.

Well enough to speak on it in a moment.

If you can't take your phone out and right southeast, I'll say the thing.

A few things are going to undercut you from the beginning.

One, there's a general, generational divide.

If your opponent is much younger than you and is that generation that digital native, what's going to happen is you're going to lose time in your prep and buy time.

You're ready to go to camera.

You need that Polish background.

You need your talking points.

You need a teleprompter dishes.

has already put out 3 videos, right?

And that's already circulating.

I think the thing that we often miss when it comes to social media A's were it's incredibly forgiving.

It's incredibly forgiving because we have, you know, you know, the move to a 24 hour news.

Hold whole rather to fill meant that there was a little bit more forgiveness around how quickly you got information out, right?

If you didn't have the entire history at that, you were first to report it.

There's forgiveness about not having all the details and all the information and that's where you got the line.

Here's what we know now that Ramzi translating that over to social media is if you're the first to talk about his story, you're going to get the first 2 views.

The algorithm is going to preference.

You write more.

People are going to how low can now go out to them now.

Go right.

And so because of that, I think there is a a benefit users on Social.

You can have a grainy video.

You can be a little bit more, you know, unprepared because you got out first.

If you or someone they think this is what we're seeing here in Connecticut now as well Governor Lamont, when he puts out a video, it's not quick.

It's off and polish.

He often needs a lot of time to prepare or some talking points that even if this talking point arm ready to go right?

There's still you can tell.

He's using the talking points, right?

And so where where Josh Elliott, who's going to have an uphill battle going against an incumbent, his preference.

There is he can pull his phone out and just go and there's a big difference in > > And then you have Ryan that.

Fazio is going to be running from the Republican side as well.

Listen with a few questions that you first.

I said something about like Olivia Pope and making problems disappeared.

You ever feel like your job is actually like that?

Are we exaggerating a little bit that you feel like that's kind of like?

> > Something you have to do.

So I don't entertain myself with watching shows about things that I have to do for her gum.

A golden girls.

Fans of that helps make I love the > > I am Dorothy in the streets and Blanche in this year.

Good for you.

> > In UK, so all of that to say my favorite campaign-related movie or show is actually the Will Ferrell movie the campaign, which if you haven't seen it, you really sat out the My goodness.

It's hysterical.

> > I do.

I find myself.

No.

The the hope is that you are prepared and that you can avoid problems can be the one causing the problems, right?

I mean, you know, as a Republican strategist in running campaigns, frankly, in places where Republicans don't win our job is really to be the problem, you know, to be the one poking the bear and causing the issues.

And I can say I've done that with my candidates with great success and the goal there is to, you know, kind of put candidates who are incumbents and used to not being challenged kind of put him back on their heels and make them have have to thank and have to answer the questions and to be on defense and a way in which frankly they are very rarely having to having to perform.

So when you know, when you see candidates like making mistakes, not yours, but anybody I would what what kind of mistakes can you make in trying to connect people?

I don't want to say people lie, but like it can be easy.

I'm sure you're asked a million questions, right?

Like I was.

I think of some of the outbreak like you could not not just slip up, but there's so many the prep Israel, right?

That's where U.S.

I mean.

But again, I think that that is where you have to, first of all, being not having to act.

It's probably the most important pieces.

If you are who you are in.

And that takes an incredible amount of confidence to be able to just sort of put yourself out there in an authentic way and take it on the chin day after day, which is what politicians and candidates are doing.

I don't have sympathy for them because they've chosen to do that.

But but it is something you have to be prepared for it and makes it a lot easier if you are saying and doing things that you believe in.

So I think that's really fundamental to all of this.

No.

And having a team was prepared to understand and help you better gauge.

What are the issues?

How does that align with what you said in the past?

How does that fit with the campaign that you're trying to run.

But I think really just comes down to having a good team and being prepared and not being afraid to be who you are.

Is probably the most important thing now.

That's not to say that you're not going to have campaigns that have issues.

And I think that no matter how well you vet a candidate.

Things are always going to come up.

I am a kind of person.

And as an advisor, I say, tackle it on the front and get in front of it.

Be open, be transparent and that is how you're going to make quick comment from you here.

We're running out of time.

and I think the biggest piece particularly on the left we're seeing candidates messed up is you're voters are not going to be loyal to you just because you both carry Indy right?

Like there is a little bit.

I'm the summer, right time and a lot of the COVID.

It's not going to work.

And so if there's distancing your campaign, if there's > > some some and contradiction from something earlier in your campaign and now you change your mind.

You need to make that make sense to your voters.

I'm not saying you cannot change your mind as a candidate.

You just need to draw the lines to people in, bring them along the journey with you.

> > That's was granted with Republican analysts in honor of the jury group.

Thank you so much for coming on.

The shanks for that.

We have you back.

Same thing with Mercy, founder and CEO.

The narrative Project also teaching part time at Quinnipiac University.

Thank you for being here.

Mercy.

I I'm excited for mercy.

Summer today show produced by Chloe.

When Patrick Scale added it.

Thank you so much, Dylan race for your work.

The rest of our team here, Connecticut Public.

It was fantastic.

Let's go Wheelhouse.

Tune in next week for a new show.

You're listening to the Wheelhouse in Connecticut Public.

♪ ♪