Messaging, Views on News, public relations • March 15th, 2011

“When the going gets weird….

by Chris Lato

…the weird turn pro.” Hunter S. Thompson said it, and it feels appropriate here as tempers fray and odd angles start popping up in the ongoing collective bargaining saga.

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Messaging, Views on News, public relations • March 10th, 2011

Another NPR bombshell

by Chris Lato

Where do I start with this one?

Last year conservatives blew their collective stack when NPR bounced Juan Williams after a comment about Muslims.

Pause for a moment here. Does anyone think Williams is an objective reporter of news? He is a conservative commentator and news analyst. That was the role he played at NPR. He was offering a statement of personal feeling. You could take it or leave it.

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Messaging, Views on News, public relations • March 8th, 2011

Insert cheap Viagra joke here

by Chris Lato

Hmmm. Is there any doubt that this was dropped because of the ongoing budget repair bill soap opera? This fight has been going on for years, and suddenly the Milwaukee teachers’ union decides it’s not worth continuing the suit?

The biggest surprise is that this didn’t get deep-sixed weeks ago. Talk about a good PR talking point for pro-Walker forces – this lawsuit is hard to defend (see what I did there?). I’m sure the union didn’t want to extend the debate (I’ll be here all week, try the veal!).

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Messaging, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News, public relations • March 7th, 2011

Why must WI get rid of collective bargaining?

by Chris Lato

It’s a fair question - and I’m hearing it from people who are Republicans and support Governor Walker.  The thing is, I don’t know that the administration has done a very good job of articulating the underlying reasons. I suspect that is part of the reason why, at least for now, Walker is losing the public opinion battle.

I realize this is a marathon, not a sprint, polls are just a snapshot in time, and that things will not change because a few polls indicate things aren’t going Walker’s way.

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Grass Roots Organization, Leadership, Messaging, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • March 2nd, 2011

It’s all about 2012 now

by Chris Lato

Others have raised the question as the whole affair in Madison grinds on: have these protests actually been effective?

The answer is not a clear-cut yes or no. In the short term, the protesters will not get their way. They forced Governor Walker to harden to the point that he will not back down, lest he appear weak.

I’m not saying that Walker ever would have been willing to negotiate anyway – and those behind the protests likely knew this already.

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Messaging • January 7th, 2011

Let them eat cake

by Chris Lato

A fascinating Walter Shapiro column about ‘The Underpaid Robert Gibbs’ questions what planet our president is living on when he praises his just-departed press secretary and his ‘modest’ paycheck. The key point:

Barack Obama bid a grateful farewell to Robert Gibbs Wednesday by stressing to The New York Times that his press secretary “had a six-year stretch now where basically he’s been going 24/7 with relatively modest pay.” As a senior White House aide, Gibbs modestly earned $172,200 last year. That income alone — leaving out any earnings by his wife — would put Gibbs in the upper 8 percent of all American families, according to 2009 Census figures.

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Events, Messaging, Strategic Blueprints • January 5th, 2011

Take a deep breath

by Chris Lato

There is no question that unemployment and underemployment are way too high in Wisconsin. People are hurting, struggling to make ends meet. Governor Walker has made it clear his #1 priority (and #2 and #3 priorities) is economic growth and job creation. He has set a jobs goal that some consider lofty, others consider impossible, yet he put a number on the table and will be held to it, as he should be.

All that said, can we give the guy just a small break and let him actually, you know, do the job for a little while before attacking him?

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Messaging, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News, public relations • January 4th, 2011

Jobs, jobs, jobs…and the other stuff

by Chris Lato

The saying goes that a rolling stone gathers no moss…so as Team Walker rolls its way through Madison, some GOP legislators wasted no time in introducing their own pet legislation.

This gave Democrats an opening, which they immediately pounced on. “See?!?!” they cried. “Republicans were bluffing when they said jobs were their #1 priority!”

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Leadership, Messaging, Views on News • January 3rd, 2011

Meet the new boss

by Chris Lato

As a new Rasmussen poll makes clear today, everyone wants to be on the winning team. But as the write-up also points out, what comes up will come down, and probably sooner rather than later.

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Messaging, Views on News • December 21st, 2010

The end of an era?

by Chris Lato

An interesting re-cap of the tab that the 111^th Congress has run up.

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