Anthony Albanese could have won the Voice referendum with three simple words. But - somehow - the PM and his Yes campaign couldn't find them, writes LEVI PARSONS

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Anthony Albanese will be asking himself this morning - where did it go so wrong? 

How did the Yes campaign lose a referendum that he looked certain to win just months ago? 

The Prime Minister took a chance on a bold plan to change the Constitution and hopefully improve the lives of Indigenous Australians - but it failed miserably.

The Yes campaign lost every single state last night. Even Victoria. 

Scholars, political analysts and your average pub-goer will debate how and why it went so wrong for decades to come.

But in most people's eyes there were two main issues that killed the Voice to Parliament.

There was no real detail about how it would work. 

Plus, a large - and vocal - number of Aboriginal people from senator Jacinta Price to elders in remote communities, bitterly opposed it.

Bewildered Yes campaigners struggled to find answers to these critical sticking points and it showed in the polls leading up to the vote.

But there was one thing they could have done that may have changed the debate.

Something so obvious and painfully simple it beggars belief why it wasn't part of the strategy.

A Yes supporter reacts at the Inner West For Yes2023 Official Referendum Function at Wests Ashfield Leagues Club on October 14

Yes volunteers are seen embracing as the results roll in

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with his partner Jodie Haydon waves farewell after meeting voters and Yes campaigners during a visit to a polling booth in Dapto, Wollongong, Australia, 14 October 2023

The Yes campaign needed an easy-to-understand three-word slogan for Albo to repeat over and over again.

Something that would cut through to combat the No camp's highly effective: 'If you don't know, vote No.'

Political slogans done right can be extremely persuasive because they cut to the core of a complicated issue for everyday voters and play on simplicity and emotion.

Barack Obama adopted the rallying call 'Yes We Can', and inspired a nation. 

Brexiteers in the UK ran with 'Take Back Control'. Everyone knew where Tony Abbott stood - he was going to 'Stop the Boats'. 

And Donald Trump repurposed Ronald Reagan's four-word 'Make America Great Again'. All of them won.

Because there were so many unanswered questions surrounding how the Voice to Parliament would work and whether or not an extra layer of bureaucracy would actually solve crippling inequality, the Yes campaign tried desperately to sway voters with emotion.

It was a tried and true political tactic but without a central rallying cry, it proved completely ineffective.

Voters struggled with the lack of detail around the Voice to Parliament and the fact a large number of Aboriginal people - from senators to elders in remote communities - bitterly opposed it. Pictured: Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese consoles Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney after delivering a statement on the outcome of the Voice Referendum at Parliament House in Canberra, Saturday, October 14, 2023

The closest the Yes campaign came to a slogan was the TV advert with the tagline 'Yes makes it possible'.

It came late in the game.  

While it's not a bad line, it wasn't repeated enough by Yes advocates to stick in the minds of voters. 

It didn't roll off a politician's tongue the way that others have which have shaped history. 

On the contrary, 'If you don't know, vote No' resonated deeply with confused and undecided voters - and No advocates repeated it to the hilt. 

It was a brilliant strategy and it likely made the difference.