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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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Leadership, Messaging, Views on News, public relations • March 13th, 2008

On Spitzer, Obama, Clinton and Star Wars (not the movie)

by Chris Lato

I don’t want this space to become all Spitzer, all the time, but I will link to this one story from the New York Post, cataloging Spitzer’s string of bullying behaviors. Not that I had a lot of sympathy for him in the first place, but I feel less sorry for this guy by the minute.On another issue, check this out: MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann tees off on the Geraldine Ferraro flap and the Clinton campaign. It’s long, but worth dipping into.

While Olbermann works himself into a hilarious lather here, there is a kernel of truth to what he says. A pattern seems to be emerging, a willingness to allow surrogates to float trial balloons and plant seeds in the minds of observers, give those seeds a little time to germinate, then cut the surrogate off at the knees. Clinton herself can appear clean and above it all.
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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, Branding Politix, Leadership, Views on News • March 4th, 2008

Obama versus Clinton ………. Does a presidency by one stymie race or gender issues for decades?

by Karl Robe

The Obama versus Clinton battle has produced much media fodder. The question not yet posited, however, is what effect a presidency by one will have on race-gender issues in our country? Thus far, pundit programming nationwide has considered: Is one attempting to make this a campaign about choosing black over white or male versus female, or potentially a little bit of both? Is Hillary losing because of who she is or what she is? Is Obama winning because he is breath of fresh air or has his message truly mobilized constituencies that historically stay home during elections?

The yet-to-be-determined answers with the greatest impact on the future, however, will derive from questions, such as: Will one group rise exponentially? Will the losing group be set back, or, at least, stymied for decades? Will McCain be wise enough to navigate the race-gender issues, making this a moot point through a Republican victory for the White House?

My take… to the winner will go the spoils. Depending on who wins, stature of race or gender will gain tremendous momentum and visibility, advancing issues important to that particular group. The nation as a whole will see something we have not witnessed in this country. The impact to the power-sharing arrangement will be significant to whichever group’s image occupies the White House.

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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, Creative, Messaging, public relations • February 25th, 2008

Huckabee brings the funny

by Chris Lato

Mike Huckabee has suddenly raised his stock, just a tiny bit, after his amusing bit on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

At least he’s self-aware enough to do something like this, and as I’ve said before, as long as he’s enjoying the run of free press attention, the guy has no reason to drop out of the race (except for all the Republicans he’s annoying by not stepping aside).

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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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2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Messaging, Views on News • February 19th, 2008

Bowling for votes ………. Wisconsin’s national brand

by Karl Robe

Salon.com’s Edward McClelland reveals how the rest of America views Wisconsin in his post today entitled Bowling for votes in Wisconsin. For better or worse, this is the equivalent of our brand. Does this position us well in the grand scheme of things or not? Before you answer, a few quick notes on Branding 101.

What is a brand?
Sum total of all of an audience’s experiences.
Promise/commitment to produce a specific experience .

Brand Identity
What does an audience think of when they hear your name?
Do different people think the same thing?

Cheeseheads, let your voice be heard. How would you like to see Wisconsin branded?

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2008 Primaries, Events, Messaging, Views on News • February 15th, 2008

Debating the (lack of) debates

by Chris Lato

The Hillary Clinton campaign is on the Wisconsin airwaves, taking Barack Obama to task for passing on an offer to debate in Milwaukee.

The proposed debate sponsors included ABC, WISN-TV and Wispolitics.com.

I’m of two minds on this one. First, a disclosure: I have worked on campaigns that tried to make hash out of the opponent’s unwillingness to debate. It’s the classic underdog pose, and the argument — that citizens have a right to hear the candidates beyond the 30-second ads and 11.6-second soundbites (PDF) — is certainly reasonable under the right circumstances. more »

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