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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Views on News, public relations • February 28th, 2011

Double deception

by Chris Lato

Three months ago, everyone with a TV was breathing a sigh of relief that the elections were over and the political ads were going to disappear for a while.

Well, the ongoing battle royale in Madison has brought out big bucks and it feels like a week before the election all over again.

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Views on News, wispundits • February 22nd, 2011

The real Scott Walker

by Chris Lato

I was wondering when this was going to happen. This seems to be the ideal time for the GOP to run a whole lot of legislation through the Senate unimpeded. And now there’s talk of layoffs too. 

One larger question: has the Wisconsin Left found its ‘Obamacare’ – that is to say, the issue they can use as a rallying cry to drive supporters to the polls? How much of what has happened in Madison over the past week is true, grassroots reaction to Walker’s bill? Some GOP legislators may have something to worry about. Republicans in the more purple areas of the state are very likely vulnerable to recalls.

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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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Views on News • December 28th, 2010

The scanner situation

by Chris Lato

It seems the airport scanners that offer up a nice image of your naughty bits don’t work as well as advertised.

But do we still care? Or is the TSA successfully playing the waiting game with a public that will generally just come to accept this as the cost of getting on a plane? The TSA PR machine has been saying the right things about ‘listening to the people,’ yet officials have also indicated that nothing is really going to change.

I saw a TV news report over the holidays (I couldn’t immediately find it online) that suggested folks were calming down a bit over the prospect of having their business getting photographed at the airport by strangers. So maybe after the initial outrage and media hype, travelers are willing to give up this piece of personal privacy.

This issue came up not long ago when I was a guest on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Week in Review. At the time I suggested there was a chance that security workers might abuse the system, ‘virtual nude’ photos could end up online, etc.  Someone who identified himself as a pilot called in to basically say my assertions were ridiculous. But reports of abuse continue to surface.

Maybe it’s only a matter of time before the scanners prevent a terrorist attack. But unfortunately, if terrorists want to attack, where there’s a will, there’s a way. As for the argument that scanners are a deterrent – well, maybe so…but there’s no way to prove that, either. You’ll just have to take the government’s word for it.

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