Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1239IR // #c1239Synthesis

"Perhaps the most notorious example of this phenomenon came in 2004, when the UK’s Guardian newspaper launched “Operation Clark County,” urging its global readership to send personal letters to voters in Clark County, Ohio, “citizen to citizen, explaining why this election matters to you.”"

— In our words · Source: This Is the Plan (Ben Wikler)

[Use when]

You're planning outreach to a community you don't belong to.

[Why it matters]

The letters produced an avalanche of rage from Ohio voters. Outsiders telling people how to vote reads as condescension. Wikler's rule: the more the contact rests on a real relationship, the bigger the impact.

Filed under situations:When you need a yes and they’re not there yet

More from This Is the Plan

#c1233"Here’s the operating principle: All other things being equal, you’ll be most persuasive to the people with whom you have the closest…You want to change minds and are about to start with the widest, least personal channel available. #c1234"Keep a CONSTANT WATCH on the DOUBTFUL VOTERS, and from time to time have them TALKED TO by those IN WHOM THEY HAVE THE MOST CONFIDENCE."You need to win over a wavering group and are deciding who should deliver the message. #c1235"Whenever a new way to reach someone unsolicitedly and cheaply pops into existence—mail, texts, Facebook messages—it has a brief twinkling…Your team is excited about a new cheap outreach channel because early numbers look great.

Same situation, different book

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