If non-verbal communication tells the truth, then Kay Hutchison is admitting defeat in her first television ad in her race for Governor of Texas.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Kay, and I think she had the potential to be an outstanding Governor of Texas. But her campaign continues to lack emotional horsepower and she has failed to connect with voters on virtually any level.  Many political pundits suggested the campaign dynamics against incumbent Governor Rick Perry would change with Senator Hutchison’s first television buy.

Television is a political game-changer for its ability to allow effective communicators to step into the living room and have a one-on-one conversation with voters — to create that personal connection that otherwise is impossible in a state the size of Texas.  I can see Senator Hutchison’s strategists telling her now: You need to go on television and tell the voters exactly why you’re staying in the U.S. senate instead of resigning to run for governor.

Unfortunately, she did.  It just wasn’t with her words.

A classic 1971 communications study by UCLA Professor Albert Mehrabian suggests that 97-percent of all communications is non-verbal.  That’s not to suggest that what you say is not important, it absolutely is, but the manner and method in which you say it is just as important.   Mehrabian’s study found that there are basically three elements in any face-to-face communication: words, tone of voice and facial expressions (verbal, vocal, visual) and that the non-verbal elements are particularly important for communicating feelings and attitude, especially when they are incongruent with the words. If one’s words disagree with the tone of voice and facial expression, people tend to believe the tonality and facial expression.

Senator Hutchison’s television spot features her sitting in a warmly lit living room setting. Her hands are, presumably, folded politely in her lap while she says “I’m gonna doing everything I can to stop the government take over of healthcare, and that’s why I am staying in the Senate through the primary…”

She nods her head, she blinks her eyes. She emphasizes all the right words. But her body language is defeated. She is sitting with her back against the chair. Shoulders virtually motionless and her voice monotone as all the right images are flashed on the screen.

I’ve seen Senator Hutchison get passionate about a subject. She leans forward. She looks you in the eye, she uses her hands for emphasis and she confirms she has the will and fire to fight.  To effectively communicate through an object sitting in someone’s living room (or on their desk) requires emotion and passion communicated visually and vocally.  Senator Hutchison does neither.

The spot is titled, “Fighter.” But everything about it communicates defeat.