Ken Matesz Describes his Vision in Ohio's 5th Congressional District

I am sure that Ken would not mind me copying his letter to me detailing his passions and positions in politics. He certainly can describe his journey better than I. Below is an excerpt from his letter.

I am a entrepreneur here in Northwest Ohio. In order to survive, I must SELL my unusual product. I am a self-trained salesman and learn more each day about how this all works.

What I have learned is that selling a product, especially a high-end, unconventional product, is that half of the battle is first selling myself. Once I have sold myself to the customer, then I stand a chance at selling the product.

When it comes to running for office, it strikes me that exactly the same rules apply. The very first requirement to selling myself (or selling anything) is to sell credibility. I have to show my proposed constituents that I really know my stuff – that I understand the issues, difficulties, challenges, choices, and responsibilities with which I will be faced. (NOTE: understanding the issues is NOT the same as having a STANCE on the issues.) It is my belief that incumbents almost always win not just because of name recognition and rarely because the voters agree in principle with how that incumbent has performed. Rather, I think incumbents are reelected because they have credibility. They won the seat once and now they’re running again. The thought is, “I not only recognize his name, but I know that he has won and can win again.” Sad as it is, people like to vote for the winner, as if they were betting on a horserace. Similarly, those who have held other elective offices are perceived to be more credible candidates, even though there is not a shred of proof that that person will perform admirably or has any of the best skills for the new position.

Selling my credibility will be the biggest challenge in running against a two-term Republican Congressman in the Fifth District of Ohio. He gets to start out with 100% credibility AND name recognition throughout the district. I have to start out with zero credibility and near zero name recognition. UNTIL I ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY, VERY FEW PEOPLE WILL EVEN CARE ABOUT MY STANCE ON THE ISSUES.

When I am selling my product, I have to prove to the potential client that I understand their situation, their needs, and their wants. I have to show them that I am a professional who can comprehend and address their situation right away and ask intelligent questions of them to determine the best way to “solve their problems.” It is ONLY when they are completely comfortable with my credibility that they can really hear what I have to say about my product. In running for office, the same rules apply. Most people are not going to be impressed with my assertions about how to solve high-level problems UNTIL they have some reason to believe me; in other words, they will listen to me after I have established credibility.

Credibility equals comfort. When a customer (voter) feels comfortable with me, he also feels comfortable listening to me. THIS IS HALF THE JOB! When I have established credibility by understanding the customer’s plight, he is willing to listen to how my product can solve his problems. Now, here’s the next important point. I don’t sell my product, most of the time, because I have the best product on the market at the lowest price. Rather, I sell my product because I have credibility and I can show how my product fills an EMOTIONAL need of my customer. Though my product has perhaps dozens of physical and reason-oriented benefits to customers, they buy it for emotional reasons and get to enjoy the physical benefits as well. I succeed in selling when I have discovered the principle needs of the customer and have successfully shown the customer how my solution fulfills that need better than any other product on the market. In this way, they develop an attachment to the vision they have of how this product will help them AND they have developed an emotional relationship with me because I established my credibility. So once credibility is established, one must work toward knowing the deep emotional needs of the buyer.

I bring this up because of the suggestion that candidates establish websites. Websites are fantastic advertising tools. However, they can also be a way to lose potential voters right away. In my opinion, any website for a candidate should in every possible way make visitors welcome and feel “at home.” It’s when they feel at home, unthreatened, welcome, excited, happy, and see things to which they can respond, “Yes!” that will keep them and make them want to read more. When the web environment makes someone feel welcome, included, and happy or excited, they become comfortable with the candidate’s name and generate EMOTIONAL attachment to the candidate or, at least, to the website. Then they want to learn more.

IF THEY SEE DIVISIVE STATEMENTS, STATEMENTS OF ANGER, STATEMENTS OF FRUSTRATION OR STATEMENTS PROCLAIMING “ONLY I AM RIGHT,” they will be turned off – often even if they may agree with you on many issues. I am 100% sure that if you want a candidate website to be effective, it needs to have an emotional “grab.” It has to have some thing or some things that make people say to themselves, “I want to be a part of that,” or, ‘I want to be included in that,” or, “I want to have some of that.”

I think the website needs to show the person that you understand them at deeper levels. Anger with the uniparty, frustration with the current congress and general discontent are felt by many voters with regard to government and politics. But these are very base, surface emotions. Anger, frustration, and even hatred are shared by mobs who can vent their frustrations by getting together and having demonstrations. But I could never sell my product by showing my customer how angry I am about how poorly their last product purchase met their needs. Instead, I need to show them I understand why they are so upset (which establishes credibility and comfort) then show them how my product will better fulfill them. As a candidate, I need to show that I understand my fellow citizens and that I want to have a deeper connection than shared anger and frustration. They need to think we’re alike.

Think of it this way: Would the average person vote for himself? Yes. He would vote for himself because each person believes he has the answers. It is our duty as elected representatives, and our task as candidates, to show the voters how much alike we are. We need to have them pointing at us and saying, “He wants to solve the problems the same way I do.” Now, granted, there are some people and some issues with which that just won’t happen. But most people are libertarian at heart, they just don’t realize it. Your website and advertising is your chance to show the voters how much like them you are. Get them excited about voting for something they cannot disagree with. From there, the trip is downhill straight into the new office.