Leadership, Messaging, Speeches, Views on News • February 25th, 2009

Fact-checking

by Chris Lato

One thing that you can count on is that when given a big stage to speak from, most politicians find it mighty hard to avoid using some creativity in their facts, figures and versions of history.  So, while President Obama knows how to deliver a speech, and every reasonable American should be pulling for him to succeed, it’s always good to do a bit of fact-checking.  

Bottom line: last night’s address to Congress and the nation not detail-heavy. In fact, some may have been disappointed by the lack of detail, but all that comes later. Obama was doing nothing new in that sense. And these deep economic problems won’t be solved overnight, no matter how much some want to believe that all our president has to do is wave a magic wand and our national nightmare is over.

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2008 Primaries, Speeches, wispundits • October 30th, 2008

Too much information

by Chris Lato

This is the danger of blogs: throwing your views out there for the world to see and your enemies to save.

Later, those enemies will undoubtedly try to turn those words against you if you decide to run for public office.

Jo Egelhoff, a Republican running for the Assembly in the Fox Valley, is getting a taste of that now.

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2008 Primaries, Events, Promotions, Speeches, Strategic Blueprints • October 21st, 2008

Battleground state no more?

by Chris Lato

In another sign that Wisconsin is losing its ‘battleground state’ status, Barack Obama has cancelled an upcoming campaign appearance in Madison – where he surely would have been greeted as a soon-to-be-conquering hero.

The campaign has offered an excuse (sick grandmother) – and of course, we wish the Obama family well.  But, you know, read between the lines here.

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2008 Primaries, Speeches, Views on News • October 7th, 2008

Presidential Thunderdome: Two candidates enter; one candidate leaves

by Chris Lato

Today’s guest column is written by Alex Gelhar of Avicom Marketing Communications.

The political landscape is about to get bloody, as McCain and Palin have thrown the first punches in what appears to be the 2008 Presidential Election’s version of Thunderdome. In her speech yesterday morning at Clearwater, FL, Governor Palin assailed Obama’s relation to Bill Ayers, a radical from the 1960’s and neighborhood acquaintance of Obama. Days earlier, she referred to the same situation saying Obama “pals around with terrorists,” even though he was a mere eight years old when Ayers’ Weather Underground bombings took place. Moreover, McCain joined the battle with this statement I found on the Journal Sentinel website yesterday afternoon.

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2008 Primaries, Q & A, Speeches, Views on News • October 1st, 2008

The Ifill-Obama connection

by Chris Lato

This is a good example of why the right doesn’t trust the mainstream media.

The book is called “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” Its author is Gwen Ifill – who is also the moderator for Thursday’s night’s vice-presidential debate.

Granted, the McCain camp went along with the selection of Ifill to moderate this high-stakes debate, the only one featuring the two running mates. They claim they didn’t know about Ifill’s book, to be released on Inauguration Day and is said to feature glowing passages about Obama.

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2008 Primaries, Leadership, Messaging, Speeches, Strategic Blueprints • September 26th, 2008

Debate time

by Chris Lato

After some questions, tonight’s first presidential debate is indeed on. The spin machines for both sides will be churning away. Your best bet is to watch and decide for yourself who ‘wins’ and why.

National security and foreign policy are the top issues tonight, and those are considered the GOP’s domain - so many are expecting that John McCain will prevail tonight. However, the economy will surely come into play, and it will be interesting to see whether McCain will face criticism for his perceived politicizing of the crisis this week by suspending his campaign and suggesting that this debate be called off.

For Barack Obama, the challenge is to convey an understanding of the issues that soothes voters questioning his relative lack of legislative experience. High-flying rhetoric can only carry him so far in these debates.

As for McCain, he will have to justify his support for an unpopular war and the perception that his foreign policy agenda will be a continuation of Bush 43. He will also have to show vitality to assuage the concerns of those who say he’s too old for the job.

Both will also end up discussing the economic crisis and will have to connect with middle-class voters who are jittery about the state of the nation and need assurance that the next president is up to the challenge.

Debates are important – it can take just a moment, a quip or a well-placed criticism or badly fumbled answer, to set a campaign on a whole different course. Think Nixon’s sweat and stubble, Bush 41 glancing at his watch, Al Gore’s sighs, etc. The race is close and the undecideds are still out there. This may be the chance for one candidate to get those undecideds breaking his way.

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Leadership, Messaging, Speeches, Views on News • September 18th, 2008

Patriotism through higher taxes

by Chris Lato

Joe Biden’s record as a veritable gaffe machine is well-documented by independent reports, but a comment he made this week is not so much a gaffe as it is a telling example of the mindset that will be a deciding factor in this election.

In a story that I had to read at least twice to make sure it was ‘reporting’ and not an opinion piece criticizing John McCain, the AP says Biden calls paying higher taxes ‘patriotic.’ He was referring to the tax hikes President Obama would seek against high-level earners.

The idea of redistributing wealth, which Biden is endorsing with his comments, is the kind of notion that makes fiscal conservatives nuts – the ‘bigger government knows best’ ideology that stands in stark contrast to McCain’s record and positions. For Obama/Biden, the thinking is that economic class warfare will resonate with those who are not among the richest in the nation.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Speeches • September 4th, 2008

Palin hunting

by Chris Lato

Read this article. Does anything just leap out at you right out of the gate? How about referring to a teenage daughter of a vice-presidential candidate as ‘stupid?’ How about Palin’s ‘out of control home life’ will resonate with Americans if ‘they’re from Mars or perhaps on welfare’?

Have we really fallen that far in American news and comment when flat-out mean-spirited name-calling directed at a 17-year old girl passes as solid reportage? Or does it merely reflect the Daily Kos-ification of political news coverage?

Now check out this article. The gist of it is, a very slim majority of Americans believe the press is out to get Sarah Palin. That may be a troubling sign for Democrats.

Part of what makes Palin’s selection so brilliant, and that feeds into the McCain ‘maverick’ image, is that she is truly a Washington outsider. She hasn’t spent decades in Washington, or made a career of carefully calibrated choices with an eye on the biggest political prize she could score. The press doesn’t like to be kept out in the cold, and a decision like this one really shuts them out.

One thing McCain needed was a sense of energy and excitement around his campaign, something to rally around. It wasn’t there a week ago, but it’s there now. Democrats didn’t expect this choice and are struggling with how to respond. Some extremists are lashing out.

I’m not saying Palin is above criticism. Her record is absolutely fair game. The press can ask about her record on taxes, foreign policy inexperience, the Bridge to Nowhere, etc. She’d better have honest, straightforward answers.

But these vicious attacks on her family are truly offensive – and that would be true if it was a Democrat or a Republican. And it threatens to backfire as people believe Palin is being unfairly raked over the coals because she doesn’t fit the mold of what a Republican candidate for vice president ‘should’ or was expected to be.

Every time a member of the press goes after Palin with especially crass name-calling, or calls her teenage daughter ‘stupid,’ or her home life ‘out of control,’ it serves to validate long-held conservative beliefs that by and large, the press is in the tank for Democrats in general and Barack Obama in particular. Will that turn off some in middle America so much that McCain-Palin reap the benefits?

As for the speech before the RNC last night…impressive. She took it to the Obama/Biden ticket. The game is afoot.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Leadership, Messaging, Speeches • September 3rd, 2008

RNC: Day 1.5

by Chris Lato

It was an odd, and oddly compelling night of political theater in the Twin Cities.

Last night, I chose to watch PBS for the run-up to the prime time coverage, then tuned in to CBS and Katie Couric. Last week, NBC was my network of choice for the DNC.

Perhaps I should have watched the same network to conduct a fairer assessment of tone, but I was amazed as the persistence with which Couric pursued attack lines of questioning about VP nominee Sarah Palin. The DNC did not receive the same level of tough questioning from NBC in the coverage I saw. That is not an apples-to-apples comparison but it is now abundantly clear that certain segments of the press are really out to get Palin. The idea of Palin potentially being the next vice president is really riling some people up. We shall see whether she rises to the challenge as the top speaker tonight.

That said, the speeches Tuesday night were relatively low-key. President Bush delivered his address via satellite and focused on McCain, instead of trying to polish up his own record. Laura Bush, by all accounts a charming First Lady, offered a somewhat halting speech.

Then came Fred Thompson, which led me to wonder again why he flamed out in the primaries. I hadn’t made up my mind about who to vote for but was leaning toward Thompson, and his eloquent support of McCain was well done.

And then there was Joe Lieberman. I questioned the wisdom of putting Lieberman on in prime time, and I definitely think McCain dodged a bullet by not picking Lieberman as his running mate.

Initially, the crowd seemed understandably reluctant to embrace Lieberman. After all, this guy was (is?) a Democrat, the VP nominee in 2000 alongside Al Gore. He now calls himself independent, but also referred to himself as a Dem during the speech.

But what a speech. No one would accuse Lieberman of being a ball of fire on the stump, but his wholehearted embrace of McCain and repudiation of Obama’s candidacy had to have at least a few top Democrats reaching for the Pepto-Bismol. At the very least, Lieberman’s very direct appeals to the viewers at home had to touch a few fence-sitters out there. Democrats supporting Republicans…dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!

All told, the RNC didn’t offer the same intensity level as the DNC in terms of rhetorical flourish, but the drama is there and there will be plenty more where that came from.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Events, Speeches, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • August 29th, 2008

DNC: A wrap-up

by Chris Lato

History was made this week, and that alone is worthy of acknowledgement. Barack Obama is America’s first black major-party nominee for President. Respect and praise are due. Congratulations to Senator Obama.

As for Obama’s speech last night, was there ever any doubt that Obama could deliver the goods? The words were a combination of bromides, some substance, and a surprising number of shots across the bow directed at John McCain. The pressure to start hitting back at McCain has clearly rattled Team Obama. Politics is politics, after all – despite the claims by some that they are above political gamesmanship. At some point, Obama had to engage, and he chose to do so before an audience of 30 million. It will be interesting to watch the response, particularly in terms of the size of the poll bump Obama will enjoy.

If anything, it could be said that Obama was a victim of his handlers’ hubris. The stage from which Obama spoke, a sort of Parthenon-meets-West-Wing thing that, amazingly, erupts in fireworks at the end of speeches, was a glitzy and perhaps overreaching touch. The spectacle, with 80,000-plus in a big stadium, could be seen as a continuation of the ‘celebrity’ positioning that Obama enjoys, and McCain has criticized as being shallow.

Increasingly, the race is centering on a Big Theme: Change vs. Experience. By any reasonable measure, Obama has enjoyed a meteoric rise with a fairly thin resume but far less baggage as ‘just another politician’ (although a major party candidate, by definition, is a politician no matter how you try to spin it). Meanwhile, McCain has decades of experience as a legislator, but could be broadly painted with the ‘Washington insider’ brush.

Next up – the GOP gets its turn, starting today with McCain’s choice for VP. (CNBC says it’s Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska.) It will either be a brilliant choice or a huge disappointment. I don’t see much room for in-between on this one.

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