Promotions, Q & A, public relations • March 31st, 2008

Stepping into the lion’s den

by Chris Lato

Fellow Wispundit Karl Robe tipped me off to a fascinating interview segment on WISN-AM’s morning program today with state Sen. Lena Taylor, who’s looking to unseat incumbent Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker in tomorrow’s election.

It’s painful but worth a listen. (Scroll down to hour two, part two – it aired today). Things go downhill quickly due to a confrontational host who tries to step on Taylor’s answers, and Taylor swinging away, basically accusing the host of reading off the Walker campaign’s talking points.

Who thought this was a good idea? Obviously Taylor’s campaign was approached to appear on the program in the interests of providing equal time to both candidates. In general, WISN listeners are not part of Sen. Taylor’s support base, to put it charitably.

But most importantly, I took nothing away from the interview. What is the point of Lena Taylor running for this office? What does she want to do? What is her vision for Milwaukee County? I have no idea. Sen. Taylor had a prime opportunity to potentially connect with a group that normally wouldn’t be in her camp, and instead she took the bait and went rabid by trying to out-yell the host. If that was a voter’s first impression of Lena Taylor…not good.

I’m of the mindset that one should rarely, if ever, turn down media opportunities. Just about any mainstream media opportunity presents a potentially positive and even valuable outcome for a campaign…IF you are properly prepared for the appearance. If I was Sen. Taylor’s campaign advisor, I definitely would have told her to appear on WISN. And I would have advised her to handle herself in the exact opposite fashion, and extensively rehearsed her for that appearance.

Would she have listened? I don’t know, as I don’t know Sen. Taylor and how well she might have responded to media coaching. I can say that if she does pay for a media coach, that coach ought to refund her money.

Back in the day, I used to book media appearances for a top Wisconsin Republican who never looked forward to appearing on Wisconsin Public Radio programs, saying it was akin to stepping into the lion’s den. However, he recognized the value of taking on one’s ‘enemies’ head-on, not shying away from the challenge of confrontational callers who disagree vehemently with you.

Be disciplined, on-message, assertive when you need to be, clear-headed, and don’t let anyone bait you into losing your cool. If you are well-prepared in advance and feel secure in your answers, you should be able to handle yourself and get out of the lion’s den in one piece.

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