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130 | THE PROFESSIONALISM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

people’ was contrasted with the image of Simitis as ‘a cold, inaccessible, rigid and
agoraphobic person.’ Karamanlis’ wife Natasha played a vital part in his public image,
and this led the couple, according to some experts, to overdo their joint magazine and
television interviews. But in the 2004 elections, as he had to confront the new, young
and very people-friendly leader, George Papandreou, Costas Karamanlis was forced to
change his style in his public speeches. ‘We dare, we proceed, we change,’ declared
PASOK in the 2004 elections, while ND supplemented this with: ‘The country needs
political change,’and ‘New policy,better Life.’

In both cases, at least in the two leading Greek political parties, the people called
‘communication’ experts are usually party members and do not come from outside the
party or the political system. The difference is that their political marketing techniques
are adapted to the new communications environment and media landscape. Their
knowledge of professional communication practices is not due to any special political
communication training but is rather based on their day-to-day experience with politics.
Often, professionals from market and survey research, advertising companies and,
mainly political, journalists surround them as a kind of support group. Most of them are
politically affiliated to the leader or the group which has the upper hand in the party.
Loulis and Flessas, although not party members, are well known affiliates of ND. Fanaras
was a close associate of Simitis, while Themelis was a close fried and associate of Simitis
since the mid 1980s (Hope, 2003). Only the case of Kousoulis corresponds to the new
model of professionalism. He was a communication adviser to the former Mayor of
Athens and former leader of New Democracy, Miltiades Evert, in the 1986 municipal
elections; to the former leader of New Democracy, Constantine Mitsotakis; and to PASOK
leader and Prime Minister Simitis from 1999 (Yannas,2002,p.80).

The Professionalisation of Political Communication
THE ROLE OF TELEVISION IN THE PROFESSIONALISATION OF CAMPAIGNING
The modernisation of Greek political campaigning and marketing has changed as a
result of the development and growing dominance of private television. New
Democracy’s campaign in the 1990 Greek national elections left an indelible mark on
the history of Greek campaigning. The incorporation of professional TV advertising,
opinion surveys, and television in an election campaign was seen as a critical addition
to New Democracy’s successful campaign. It is widely believed that its use of modern
campaigning practices helped it achieve victory. Since then, the use of new weapons
and strategies in campaigning has been slowly legitimised.

In the 1993 general election, ‘telepolitics’ was introduced and, ever since, political
parties have focused their campaigns around television news programming, television
political advertising, television debates and appearances by candidates on television
talk shows. By 1996, television had moved to centre stage: the 1996 national elections
were coined as the first ‘TV Elections’ and ‘the elections on the couch’. The growing
importance of TV was confirmed in the coming national elections of 2000 and 2004 and
one can trace the growing importance of television in a number of ways.
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