Extreme marketing

"This referendum is so important that if it was to be lost it would mean a failure of the government. And a government that failed would have to resign." So said Prime Minister Leszek Miller, referring to a referendum scheduled for next year on joining the European Union. If Miller's declaration is any indication of his government's marketing savvy, then the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) will have a particularly tough sell on its hands when it launches its nationwide EU campaign May 9. Evidently it hasn't sunk in yet that the SLD is not as popular as it was six months ago and there are growing legions of disenchanted Poles who couldn't care less about Miller and his party.

But threatening to call it quits over EU accession - making the vote a referendum on his government - is just one of Miller's blunders. The second was SLD's announcement last week that it would deliver straight, "propaganda-free" information about joining the bloc. The promise from a party of ex-communists already accused of manipulating the media rings a tad hollow. Even those citizens who might be pro-EU may be inclined not to believe the government's "information." Good intentions or not, it's better to avoid the "p" word altogether. The extremely euro-skeptical League of Polish Families (LPR) had a field day last week with this public relations faux pas. As part of its anti-EU campaign, Roman Giertych, one of LPR's rabble-rousing leaders, quoted a Joseph Stalin speech, arguing that this, too, was "straight information" - according to its source. Extreme tactics are beginning to appeal to a widening number of Poles. The ultimate political nut himself, Andrzej Lepper, recently re-elected with expanded powers to head his Self-Defense (SO) party, is becoming increasingly hip among youngsters who have college degrees but no jobs - a result of the demographic bulge and a weak economy. Some of these kids are so impressed with the lawbreaking former pig farmer that they've been dubbed "Lepperjugend." Now there's progress.

To compete with the emotional appeals employed by these parties, SLD is going to have to come up with a compelling argument of its own while avoiding further mistakes in getting its message out. Garnering advantageous terms in negotiations with the EU would certainly help its cause but so would a well-reasoned, point-by-point exposure of the flaws in its opponents' positions. After all, Poland's economic, unemployment, corruption and justice-system problems will take eons to solve if the country is left to drift on its own while the others in the region join the EU and reap the benefits of membership. If the government can't present its case smartly, perhaps it should hire a professional firm to do so. But if the government can't do the job on it's own, perhaps Miller should resign anyway.