Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • December 8th, 2008

The game changer

by Chris Lato

It didn’t take long for some on the left to become disillusioned with President-elect Obama’s early policy shifts and Cabinet appointments (and for Team Obama to start pushing back).

A certain degree of this is to be expected. With Democrats making a clean sweep at the federal (and, in Wisconsin, state levels), plenty of Dems think now is the time to make the big, bold moves that couldn’t be done until now. Universal health care, pulling out of Iraq ASAP, and higher taxes, particularly aimed at businesses, to cite three examples.

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Branding Politix, Leadership, Messaging, Views on News • December 2nd, 2008

D’oh!

by Chris Lato

You just knew some enterprising reporter would start digging this stuff up. It doesn’t make much of a difference now, but candidates and potential candidates always need to remember that any public statements, including blogs and definitely remakes said during a campaign, can always bite the speaker in the behind later.

If Hillary Clinton had no substantive foreign policy credentials nine months ago, why has Barack Obama suddenly reversed course and decided Clinton is fully qualified to become secretary of state? Read the Washington Post link for an example of how Obama is now trying to brush it all off as the press ‘having fun.’ Apparently he was let off the hook after that, because the story doesn’t offer much more on Obama’s response.

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2008 Primaries, Leadership, Messaging, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • September 25th, 2008

The Clinton factor

by Chris Lato

There are a couple of ways to look at Bill Clinton’s recent statements on the presidential race. While Bill and Hill endorsed Barack Obama at the DNC, they have hardly been the attack dogs that some Obama supporters would like to see.

Why is that? Some believe the Clintons are going easy on John McCain in an effort to help him win, thereby positioning Hillary for another run for the White House in 2012. Is that overstating the Clintons’ perceived power? Perhaps not, considering a reasonably high percentage of Hillary supporters have yet to warm up to Obama.

I will say this: I was struck by the even-handed tone Bill Clinton has set this week. It has injected a much-needed dose of class in a race that has become increasingly shrill, with extremes on both sides shouting dopey slogans at each other.

For example, Clinton doesn’t read anything particularly nefarious in McCain’s call for Friday’s debate to be delayed. He is also defending his decision to not campaign on Jewish holidays.

I have not always been so willing to commend Bill Clinton – some of the things he said and did on the campaign trail when Hillary was still in the race were eyebrow-raisers, to put it mildly.

But Bill Clinton is nothing if not brilliant at political strategy. Clinton believes that now is not the time to ratchet up the rhetoric, and instead the campaigns should be talking more about solutions. That’s good advice. Heading to the high road at this stage of the game is a smart tactical move, changing the tone in a way that will speak to the middle. Clinton knows the first candidate to move in this direction will likely reap benefits.

With the troubling news about the economy and the potential for a huge bailout dominating the headlines, Clinton recognizes that people are truly worried about their financial future, and are looking to politicians to lead and not play games.

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2008 Primaries, Events, Leadership, Messaging, Speeches • August 28th, 2008

DNC: Days three and four (and a little bit more)

by Chris Lato

Day three of DNC went by without any apparent hitches in Denver Wednesday. Joe Biden and Bill Clinton delivered what they had to in their speeches, with Clinton offering a persuasive address that offered stronger words of support for Barack Obama than Hillary C. was able to muster.

Obama is seeing the expected bump in the tracking polls. His address tonight is being billed as The Speech of a Lifetime, one that has to seal the deal with disaffected Hillary Democrats, independents and Republicans who believe that change would do America good.

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2008 Primaries, Leadership, Messaging • August 27th, 2008

DNC: Day two

by Chris Lato

It needed to be a home run. It fell short.

As the world already knows, Hillary Clinton expected to be delivering a very different speech at the DNC. And with Barack Obama the all-but-confirmed nominee, Clinton needed to be unabashed in her support of Obama, to convince her 18 million voters that they needed to get behind Obama with the same level of passion they felt when supporting her historic run.

But something felt off last night. Perhaps the energy was different in the convention hall (and her line about ‘the sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits’ was a classic). Clinton said most of the right words, but the hollow, at times passionless delivery said a lot more. Clinton praised the idea of a Democrat President, but didn’t go too far in praising Obama, the candidate.

For once, Hillary Clinton was the puppet, not the puppetmaster. And it clearly doesn’t suit her.

(A side note: NBC kept cutting away to Michelle Obama, who appeared alternately tense and perturbed.)

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2008 Primaries, Leadership, Messaging • May 27th, 2008

The vast left-wing conspiracy?

by Chris Lato

The Clintons are crying cover-up again – this time, it’s the Democrats and their friends in the media that are working to take them down, not the vast right-wing conspiracy.

There aren’t a lot of ways that Hillary Clinton could actually become the nominee at this point. But for all his missteps on the campaign trail this year, Bill Clinton is no dummy and he understands the messages that resonate - the victim card, the underdog pose, and the notion of the party bosses denying a voice to the disenfranchised voters. It is one last desperate swing for the fences.

Any of this ringing a bell? It’s the same thing Democrats accused Republicans of doing in 2000 in Florida, in 2004 in Ohio, and in 2008 in goodness-knows-where. It is the same thing that Wisconsin Republicans have been dealing with for years in trying to require a photo ID when voting. That perfectly reasonable requirement is just common sense, and is supported by a clear majority of Wisconsin voters (including – horrors! – a fair number of Democrats). But Wisconsin Democrats, including our governor, have blocked it at every turn. It disenfranchises voters, opponents claim.

Watch the video that comes with the CNN story I linked to up top. Clinton takes a dig at the Florida situation – 2000 vs. 2008 - that will become a rallying cry as this thing plays itself out.

The Clintons are on the ropes, but they know how to play the game and keep on punching until they officially throw in the towel. Needless to say, the leaders of the Democratic Party have their work cut out for them.

From a messaging perspective, the Clintons also understand their last, best hope is to appeal to the sense of disenfranchisement and victimhood. And this time, considering all the ludicrous complications built into the system of selecting a Democrat nominee for president, the Clintons have a point.

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2008 Primaries, Leadership, Messaging • April 28th, 2008

The Bill Clinton legacy

by Chris Lato

This article crystallized some thoughts I’ve had about whether Bill Clinton is wrecking his legacy with his behavior on the campaign trail in support of Hillary’s run for President.

It’s clear he is really bitter, feels he hasn’t gotten his due as a ‘great’ President, and feels he was shafted by the press. That has all built up and now, in the heat of another campaign, Bill Clinton is letting loose and showing some of that famous temper.

But what about his legacy within the Democratic Party? Will the Clinton ‘scorched earth’ policy of campaigning mean he’ll have a lot fewer friends left, assuming likely nominee Barack Obama ascends to the throne? Or will everyone have a short memory about these things if all goes well for the Dems in November?

Because this race is going down to the wire, and is historic for a number of reasons, it will almost certainly be one for the books, a race that is talked about for decades to come. That cannot bode well for the Clintons.

Presidents care about their legacies. Richard Nixon went to great lengths to beef up his foreign-policy bona fides after his shameful exit from office. Jimmy Carter’s spectacularly mediocre tenure has been buffed up somewhat by his activities for Habitat for Humanity - although he still steps in it on a regular basis – just Google ‘Jimmy Carter Hamas.’ The whole Iran hostage thing must still chafe him because he’s busy trying to prove he can broker peace in the Middle East – and to hell with anyone who tries to tell him otherwise.

Ronald Reagan gradually disappeared from the public eye, due more to illness and the fierce determination by his handlers to protect the Reagan Legacy. Then there’s Bush 41, who recently scored points by pairing up with Bill Clinton to raise money for tsunami relief efforts. He also parachuted out of airplanes, in addition to racking up huge speaking fees.

Bill Clinton is making a post-Presidential mint, which is his prerogative. He raked in more than $80 million from book and speech income, according to the Clintons’ 2000-06 tax records.

In the wake of 2008’s bitter campaign, will the Clinton legacy be irreparably dented?

Put it this way. If we are all watching the comings and goings of President Obama a year from now, Bill Clinton will continue to fade away while his own legacy should remain relatively intact. He will still be a force. But unless Obama chooses to involve the Clintons in some meaningful way, a lot of pain is going to linger for a long time to come, and you can’t count on Bill Clinton to keep his thoughts to himself.

And really, at this point, Bill Clinton’s own worst enemy is himself - not the press or the vast right-wing conspiracy.

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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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