That is “the first rule of politics” in the sense of the “first rule of comedy, Spike” catchphrase in the late lamented David Croft’s Hi de Hi.
In this case, the rule I am thinking of is:
Always book a venue slightly too small for your expected audience. That way the room/hall will seem full and vibrant.
LibDems love to repeat the story of the agent who put out one chair for a meeting. Three people arrived. The agent brought in two extra chairs from the next room, then released a statement to the press about the meeting saying:
Extra chairs had to be brought in.
It says something about the cack-handedness of Mitt Romney’s US Republican nomination campaign that he can obviously learn a thing or two from the humblest agent.
The Democrat National Committee have put together this video of a rather disastrous Mitt Romney “rally” in Detroit, Michigan.
It’s worth watching this video all the way through for the priceless comment from an incredulous political pundit at the end.
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
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