NASA’s campaign strategy of zoning the country and deploying campaign teams led by each Pentagon member is both good and bad.
It is good because Kenya is expansive and dividing up the campaign groups will help them preach the NASA gospel to as many Kenyans as possible within the shortest possible period.
It should not be lost on us that NASA is campaigning against a government that is well entrenched in terms of machine from what used to be the provincial commissioners (now the county/regional commissioners) to mandarins like the Cabinet and Principal Secretaries, among others. For any campaign team to outdo these establishment operatives, you need an elaborate plan that includes what NASA is doing.
You will also realize that the pairing of the NASA campaign teams targets the perceived ‘stronghold’ of each member of the Pentagon and the Governors in their team. Such pairing is positive political fodder in any political strategy. It will not be long before you see Jubilee adopt a not dissimilar strategy to reach the most far-flung regions of this country, even though they have enlisted support from the earlier-mentioned category of civil servants.
There is the likelihood of maximum campaign outreach because the campaign effort is localized, with some of the Pentagon members culturally identifying with the locals, making it easier for NASA vision to sink in in a fairly easy manner. This strategy will also be a good opportunity for post-nomination healing in the NASA strongholds, it will be most likely that Pentagon members will lead campaigns in areas where they have strong support, and, from the recent nominations, it is an open secret the primaries across the political divide left wounds that might turn into indelible scars for any political party. This will be a perfect opportunity for NASA to heal wounds at the grassroots.
This strategy, if well-coordinated, can inspire euphoria, especially in swing and perceived Jubilee regions, which will be a plus to NASA’s campaign. NASA may not have the same resources as their power incumbent opponents and this strategy is likely to reap maximum utilization of campaign resources, the output in this case will be commensurate with the input, which is a plus in any campaign.
However, NASA will have to do without the charisma and the crowd-pulling magnetics of Raila Odinga in regions where other members of Pentagon will be on their own.
Ambasa is a political scientist