2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Creative, Messaging, wispundits • March 18th, 2008

Who are you?

by Greg Batiansila

It’s a question the electorate asks of a candidate, a question campaigns work to answer. It’s a question Romney and Hillary haven’t answered clearly - and it’s cost them.

One local adman, Steve Eichenbaum, has shown proven excellence in showing his candidates as a man of the people. It was Eichenbaum who showed Democratic Senator Russ Feingold as a suburban underdog with little money but a lot of honesty and integrity. This election year, he’s developing similar folksy charm for Steve Novick, a Democratic underdog in Oregon.

Should every candidate be cast as a man or woman of the people? Hillary’s handlers have tried it with sometimes damaging consequences. Clearly Barack’s people are comfortable with depicting him as something beyond “everyday.”

In John McCain’s latest advertisement, his campaign has positioned him as a timeless figure – quite the opposite of the everyday man. In the ad, McCain’s words are intercut with images and speeches of some of the greatest leaders in Western history.

The advertisement is brilliantly crafted. Who is John McCain? The ad answers: McCain is Churchill of this era. Where Obama’s strengths focus on his oratory, this advertisement says much without words. Time flies by, the cosmos undulate, it says. Greatness transcends these things. The wonderful shots at the close of the advertisement shot - in lush, cinematic saturated glory, and then melting to what looks like the cosmos - are brilliant.

I give the ad tremendous props for swinging for the fence and answering the age-old political question with gusto. Sometimes when you swing for the fences, however, you just miss.
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Messaging, New Media, wispundits • March 11th, 2008

Hmmm…

by Chris Lato

If this is true, then why do we even bother? Because we love the sound of our own voices crying in the wilderness?

Yep. That’s probably it.

Anyway, 56 percent of the American people never read political blogs. 22 percent read them regularly, and 23 percent read them ‘several times a year.’ I would have thought the ‘never read’ number was actually a bit higher. Of course, those numbers will only increase as time goes on and blogs continue to gain acceptance in the mainstream of political news ‘n’ views.

What is the appeal of blogging? I’ve only been doing it for a short time, but so far I’ve enjoyed it. And, it is a great leveler. Anyone can have one. And if you have interesting things to say, then you too can generate some heat. You can post anytime, anywhere, and others have that same 24-hour-a-day access.

Blogs are good for disseminating news ‘the mainstream media doesn’t want you to see/hear/read about.’ (I use the quotation marks only half-jokingly.) Blogs have broken some big stories locally, statewide and nationally, that left some egg on the ‘mainstream’ media’s collective face. Some blogs, admittedly, are little more than gossip/innuendo/half-truths, but the observant among us are sharp enough to separate the good ones from the pretenders.

For campaigns, it is a great way to communicate without the media filter. Of course, you have to feed the beast and keep posting regularly, giving folks a reason to keep coming back. If you establish an audience, it is a tool that is definitely worth using.

Your thoughts? Do you blog on politics and issues, and if so, why? In the face of this new poll, will you just shrug and give up, or will you (I assume) hang tough and keep on bloggin’?

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2008 Primaries, Leadership, Messaging, Views on News, wispundits • March 5th, 2008

Tuesday’s big winner? McCain

by Chris Lato

Mike Huckabee is out of the race. Hillary Clinton scored enough of a comeback victory to keep the Democratic primary battle rolling along. And John McCain has sewn up the GOP nomination once and for all.

This is all very, very good news for the Republican from Arizona. It’s like a gift from the gods, and he can’t squander it if he wants to be president.

With the GOP field free and clear, the machine should now immediately kick into overdrive, organizing the troops with a grassroots field plan across the nation for their newly-minted nominee. McCain himself needs to take this quiet-time opportunity to continue mending fences with the conservatives, including reaching out to Huckabee. (Maybe even a role in the RNC, as I alluded to in an earlier posting.) And, as the Democrats remain distracted by all the in-fighting, the GOP should be working actively to define the Democratic competition’s weak points.
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2008 Primaries, Messaging, Speeches, Views on News, public relations, wispundits • March 4th, 2008

Is this race over yet?

by Chris Lato

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you already know Texas and Ohio vote today, and the stakes are high indeed for Hillary Clinton.

The interesting thing is that the polls suggest Clinton has a shot to pull both out. Particularly in Ohio, where Barack Obama hasn’t yet laid a glove on her. In Texas, Clinton’s numbers have been trending upward while Obama’s are taking a downturn.

As always, take the polls with a grain of salt. They’ve been wrong a lot in this cycle.

How have the messages changed, or stayed the same? By and large, Obama has been able to stick with the high-minded rhetoric, although the worm is turning as far as the press is concerned. It was only a matter of time, and I’m betting he’s not quite ready for it. Meanwhile Clinton is alternately playing the victim and the victimizer. And she’s no stranger to scrutiny and tough questioning. Right now, when the going gets tough with the press, Hillary has the edge.

We’ll know more tomorrow, but reports of the Clinton campaign’s death may be just a bit premature. I still believe it’s Obama’s to lose, but there’s still a chance of this two-person primary continuing after Tuesday.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Messaging, Views on News, wispundits • February 28th, 2008

Uh-oh

by Chris Lato

Barack Obama is moving ahead of Hillary Clinton in Texas.

This comes as I took a walk down memory lane today, listening to the Howard Stern Show on Sirius satellite radio (I’m a Stern fan – sue me!)

Turns out their guest was none other than Gennifer Flowers. Remember her? Well, she gamely answered any and all breathtakingly vulgar questions about, you know, The Affair With Bill. Without going into details, let’s just say I received as much info as I ever could have wanted.

If Hillary Clinton gets the nomination – and that is getting to be a bigger ‘if’ with each passing day – what does that mean for the next several months? Will we be partying like it’s 1992? Talk about going back to the future.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Messaging, Views on News, public relations, wispundits • February 27th, 2008

Hijacked: Third-parties rising?

by Chris Lato

I haven’t written anything yet about the state Supreme Court race, but this article serves as a timely reminder of the sway that independent, third-party groups can hold over elections.

In the upcoming spring election, Judge Michael Gableman faces Justice Louis Butler, a Gov. Doyle appointee.

(Disclosure: Gableman’s key advisor, Darrin Schmitz, was the guy who hired me at the state GOP back in Preview »2001.)

Let’s face it – the high court races are pretty much non-partisan in name only, and the overall tone seems to be getting nastier with each election. It has been trending this way for a long time. It is fair to ask the degree to which independent groups are ramping up the rhetoric and driving the debate.

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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Messaging, Views on News, public relations, wispundits • February 26th, 2008

Huckabee begs: Rip on me, too!

by Chris Lato

In the world of Mike Huckabee, there’s no such thing as bad PR. Huckabee is out there begging the New York Times to take a shot at him, similar to the Times’ hit on John McCain last week, which was widely derided by conservatives.

Maybe Huckabee said this with tongue in cheek — the article doesn’t make that clear. After his self-aware appearance on Saturday Night Live, who knows which angle he’s coming from. But it’s clear he recognizes his last best hope is getting as much free media coverage as he can. From any other way you slice it, it’s all over for the guy. But he’ll have an awesome clip file when all is said and done — which raises an excellent PR question about generating media coverage that matters.

It’s interesting to ponder what Huckabee hopes to gain from all this, beyond the ego boost. Does this build his credibility? Will people be impressed by all the coverage he’s received - or is he veering off into joke-of-the-campaign status? Will his relationship with the press be an asset to the GOP after 2008? Can Huckabee parlay this candidacy into a power-broker role after the elections? After all, four years ago, Howard Dean was considered a joke, too - a joke he parlayed into leading the Democrat party through an historic rout at the ballot box in 2006. Who’s laughing now?

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public relations, wispundits • February 20th, 2008

BlogNetNews adds Wispundits

by wispundit

BlogNetNews, an aggregator of blogs by state for easier access in a central location, announced it will add Wispundits.com to its blogroll. Typically, BNN requires 90 days of continuous blogging to qualify. We are grateful for the nod ahead of schedule.

In one place, in one minute, according the BNN’s site, you’ll get an update on what’s going on across the blogosphere. And your readers will be able to find the best Wisconsin content, not based on random voters or some editors choices, but based on the real actions of Wisconsin bloggers and their readers. Check it out.

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2008 Primaries, Views on News, wispundits • February 20th, 2008

Great minds think alike

by Chris Lato

Milwaukee talk radio’s afternoon chieftain Mark Belling has a new column up about the potential for Jim Doyle to cut bait and head for D.C. if Barack Obama is elected President.

Great minds think alike (Lato blogged with great humility).

Prospective Republican candidates for governor may want to brush up on their Barbara Lawton opposition research, just in case.

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wispundits • February 18th, 2008

Veteran editor joins Wispundits… Sykes, Shook top online poll

by wispundit

An online poll conducted at Wispundits.com shows Charlie Sykes and Dennis A. Shook leading speculation about who will join Wispundits.com. Sykes captured 56 percent of the votes with Shook registering 31 percent. James Rowen and Jay Weber shared equal parts of 12 percent. And, no one believed Bill Christofferson would become the next Wispundit.

For more than 30 years, our next Wispundit’s award-winning journalism on issues, politics and government has graced the pages of the Journal Sentinel, Wispolitics, Waukesha Freeman, Kenosha News, Racine Journal Times, Shepherd Express and numerous others. For 10 years, he worked at the Waukesha Freeman where he became part of the fabric of the western suburbs.

Now, Dennis A. Shook will be contributing to Wispundits.com, offering commentary on issues from the local municipalities of southeast Wisconsin to the state house to the White House. Wispundits.com provides insightful, interactive commentary on what is working to differentiate political and issues campaigns in a crowded field of ideas in Wisconsin.

Dennis has appeared on Charlie Sykes’ Sunday Insight television program, anchored radio news and served as a legislative policy analyst for state Sen. Robert Wirch, focusing on transportation and environmental issues. Dennis is described by notable media, politicians and policymakers as one of the most knowledgeable sources of information on Wisconsin politics, government and issues dating back to Gov. Patrick Lucey.

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