Can you be so Yes that you help No?
Can you be so No that you help Yes? The two official independence referendum campaigns - as they fuss over their final message grids - face the same challenge: how to limit the damage inflicted by their own most zealous fringes.
For Better Together, the problem comes draped in an orange sash and sporting a bowler. Scotland's noisiest Unionists, already registered as referendum participants, are to march on the eve of the big vote. The pro-UK camp is trying to stop traditional working-class Labour voters, many of them with Irish Catholic roots, from turning to Yes. Does it need a big parade by sectarian loyalists? "No Thanks." Does it need fired-up leaflet donkeys? Well, perhaps. That is the dilemma of dealing with radical grassroots: mainstream campaigns need their brawn, not their bile.
Yes Scotland has its extremists too. They may not be as politically toxic as the Orange Order but, increasingly, campaign insiders regard them as every bit as counter-productive. Why? Because, unlike the Order and Better Together, they badge themselves as mainstream Yes.
Last weekend -and some independence supporters will hate me for saying this - Yes had its Orange Order moment, an act of PR suicide. Hundreds of independence supporters picketed the BBC Scotland HQ at Glasgow's Pacific Quay. Their grievance? What they see as Aunty's "bias". There were kilts, there were Saltires and there were placards calling Aunty's journalists liars. And there was official Yes merchandise, despite no official Yes endorsement.
Better Together could barely contain its glee. First came the social media jokes about tin-foil hats and MI5 conspiracies. Then came the press releases. Labour's Jim Murphy saw the protest as a sinister attempt by supporters of a government party to "bully broadcasters".
Unfairly conflating the picket with mainstream civic nationalism, Mr Murphy added: "More and more Scots are looking at their angry and divisive campaign and finding it a turn-off." Controversial? Surprisingly not. SNP thinkers agreed. "It would turn me off, if I was undecided," said Paul Togneri, a senior party communicator, of the BBC picket.
Former heads of PR at both Yes Scotland and Scottish Greens made the same point online. Such protests, they said, make Yes look like it was a sore loser blaming the referee. Angry about bias? Go and hit some doorsteps, they suggested. They cited rule number one: Don't shoot the messenger, even if you really, really feel he or she deserves to be up against a wall.
How did some of those who supported the demo respond? Well, Mr Togneri and his fellow critics were blocked on Twitter. Social media, after all, is where Yes grassroots organise. It is also where their anger erupts as - in another suicidal PR tactic - they badger journalists and celebrities. Yes leaders - accused, surreally, of orchestrating such Twitter mobs - cringe and try to channel the anger into positive campaigning, gently reasoning with some of the more obtuse websites. It doesn't always work. "They don't understand movement politics," said one Yesser of Yes HQ. "We are grassroots, not astroturf."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article