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You can't change his message as he is the message.
1. Create a narrative that is appealing to the media. For Kucinich I would go with a Cinderella motif or The Ugly Duckling, the guy who deserves to make it, who has the odds (quite literally in this case) stacked against him but in the end is the belle of the ball or the beautiful swan (i.e. truly the one that people do want). Work it into his stump speeches that he KNOWS he isn't the one anyone was expecting to go to the ball. He can create applause lines around the motif that fits his message. When he talks about the investment into renewable energy to help third world countries bypass the reliance upon petroleum fuels, he can relate that back to how his campaign has been helped to bypass the reliance upon the rich fat cats by the democratization of his fundraising.
2. He needs to get himself on talk shows, places where he isn't talking about policy. Kucinich supporters believe it is his policies that are his bread and butter and strong suit, but time and time again, it has been proven that people vote for leaders first, policy second. When McCain was suffering from lack of media attention, he created the Straight Talk Express. He became a near constant on The Daily Show for the amount of access he allowed. Kucinich could do the same.
3. He needs to plot a winning strategy. Much like chess (okay, I KNOW Kucinich supporters really don't believe politics is a game, but bear with me, I do believe it is a game and approach it as such) he needs to not only know what he wants to accomplish but how he is going to get there with the resources he has. Sometimes, in chess, you have to realize you don't have the resources to checkmate your opponent, so you have to play for the draw. He needs to be fully aware that he is quickly approaching a time that he either needs to make some amazing moves in a short period of time, play for the draw, or resign. If he resigns, we all lose. His overall agenda is a positive one and needs to be incorporated into the next administration. Unfortunately, if he attempts for the checkmate with too few resources he will be knocked out of the game, losing all control.
I'm not in the headquarters, I don't know what their resources truly are, but I do know one of the first things they need to do is assess what they truly have control over, what they can leverage for their cause. If it means he has to perform magic tricks on Letterman, then damnit, that is what he needs to do.
4. He needs hooks. Hooks are the little tags the media can assign to him. If a campaign doesn't provide them, the media will or the opposition will. Shrill, idealistic, etc. are not good hooks. I am willing to bet strong money that if you ask Americans to choose a trait they want from their candidate Idealist or Pragmatist, they will choose pragmatist overwhelmingly. Hell, accordign to William James, Americans defined and developed the whole concept of pragmatism. The things about hooks is they have to match up with the person. If he wants to be known as a fighter, he really needs to fight. He will need to become a bit abusive and belligerent. If he wants to be known as tough, he will need to make his campaign tough, go for the bulletproofing. They need to write down five adjectives, one word adjectives, they want attributed to Kucinich that the public reacts positively too when attributed to a leader. They can be silly, like Tall or Lean. Look at Dean, he has given himself the hooks of being Angry and Frugal. People think of him as Passionate because of his speeches and off-the-cuff remarks that get him in trouble at times and Motivated by interviewing with everyone he can (e.g. see Will Pitt's interview with Dean, and the interview Dean did while running through the airport). Some traits, hooks, that Kucinich could grab are Diligent for his work as Mayor, Progressive for his legislative history and policy proposals, Unstoppable if he picks up one or two issus and becomes a bulldog with them telling people that no matter what, he is going to fight for these issues whether President or not, and Compassionate for his dogged loyalty to the American worker.
So, first things first, he needs to get the meme out that people are already supporting his ideas as they are mouthed by the other candidates. Then he needs to set up his own Kucinich Rapid Response Team to hammer the media whenever they a) neglect him or b) fail to state his message correctly. The media is a tool and it must be treated as such. It is also like a blind dumb dog that needs to be lead to the juicy morsels. If the Kucinich campaign doesn't have media handlers who are getting the media to latch onto Kucinich press releases when they don't mention Kerry or Dean, then it needs to get some, pronto.
Politics is about presentation of a complete package. These also means he needs a makeover. A better haircut and better suits and shirts. Decry this all you want a shallow, but it makes a difference. Much like my suggestions for Dean revolve around dressing better and getting a sense of humor. For Kucinich he needs to become President now. Dress the part, speak the part, be the part. Instead of clamoring for attention, he needs to act like the attention is already on him and then get his supporters to chide the press for missing out on the story of the day.
I've never ran a campaign, I've only studied campaigns. I feel confident that I know what works and what doesn't. What Kucinich is doing is not working. Delude yourselves all you want that a sudden groundswell of support for Dennis is going to manifest, but that won't help your candidate one iota. Dennis needs to be thinking about the endgame. What is truly more important, winning the Presidency or advocating his core issues? I would say the latter is, so he needs to array his resources so his core issues are protected in the next administration. That means focusing on regions and states where he can pick up enough delegates to wield some floor power. If that means skipping several primaries to save money for later ones, so be it. That is fine and dandy if you know what you are really trying to accomplish. Otherwise, he will burn out after the Arizona/SC primaries and will be just a footnote in the race.
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