The Prime Minister's Strategists Reveal How They Seized The Election... (Reverse Packaging Alert)

Jerusalem Post ^ | 03/21/2015 | Gil Hoffman

[goldstategop]

“The most important decision was to drive the electorate to two large parties,” Harow says. “We decided that if we create a situation where people have to decide who they want as prime minister, people will prefer Netanyahu over [ZU challenger Isaac] Herzog.”

Therefore, the first slogan of the Likud’s campaign was “It’s us or them,” referring to Herzog and his running mate Tzipi Livni, whom the Likud’s polls found extremely unpopular. Shaviv advised Netanyahu from the start of the campaign to push what he called “reverse packaging.”

The strategy was to persuade voters on the Right that rather than vote for other right-wing parties and get Netanyahu, they had to vote for Netanyahu and get the other parties in the coalition.

“You vote for a Prime Minister and get the parts,” Shaviv says. “You don’t buy a radio and get a car with it. You buy a car and get a radio. You vote Netanyahu and get [Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali] Bennett and [Kulanu head Moshe] Kahlon with it.”

But Shaviv had to wait for the right time to raise the stakes significantly and have Netanyahu drive that message home. The more Netanyahu fell in the polls, the more voters on the Right would feel compelled to vote for him. ...

“People won’t allow parties to ram messages down their throats anymore,” Shaviv says. “To deliver messages effectively now you have to be entertaining. The ‘Bibi-sitter’ ad for instance was not only entertaining, it also delivered a key message: Who do you trust to maintain the security of your children?” Shaviv and Harow give all the credit for the win to Netanyahu.

“He was on message, razor sharp, and did every media interview we could come up with,” Shaviv says. “He carried the campaign and swung it to victory.”

[goldstategop]

An incisive look at the "reverse packaging" strategy that helped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pull off the most stunning election upset in Israeli history.

He was truly the Comeback Kid.

[WVNan]

Let us remember it.

[rightwingcrazy]

It’s an unsurprising response to the “anyone but Bibi” strategy. In essence, it was a “no one but Bibi” strategy.

[Star Traveler]

That’s risky, but Netanyahu has been the one who could pull it off!