In terms of political messaging, fighting uphill is when you’re trying to make people care about issues and be motivated to vote on the basis of issues that they don’t currently care about, aren’t motivated by, or maybe that they aren’t even aware of.
The smarter move is to try and convince people to vote on the basis of the issues that they already care about. The ones that hit them in the face every day. They already know why they’re important, and they already have strong feelings about them. The goal then is to communicate a message showing how your position is relevant to what they care about and to get them to vote on that basis.
In other words, fight downhill.
In messaging, repetition equals impact. But if your message needs more repetition than you have in terms of time and money, then you’ve got a problem. The more limited the time-frame to communicate, the more expensive it is and the less likely you are to succeed. You’re fighting uphill.
The solution? Don’t try to fight an uphill battle.
Fight downhill!
