Leadership, Views on News, public relations • June 27th, 2008

Surveying the landscape

by Chris Lato

The weekend is almost here, and my short attention span won’t allow me to focus on any one topic – a few things grabbed my attention this morning.

First, were you listening to Wisconsin Public Radio at 8 this morning? If not, shame on you. Catch the Week in Review in the archives here. Thanks to Joy Cardin, her staff and Matt Rothschild for a fun and enlightening hour.

Next….is there any doubt that Scott Walker is going to veto this thing? It’s the tax idea that simply won’t die in Milwaukee County- and great timing to boot, what with the economy and all.

Supporters say the money will go to aid parks and mass transit, while cutting back on property taxes…whenever politicians start talking about tax shell games such as this, alarm bells should start ringing and you should put one hand on your wallet at all times.

Granted, this has a long way to go before it would get before the voters as an advisory referendum. One thing’s for sure: if this ever did go before the voters in Milwaukee County, it’s safe to say this would go down in giant, red-hot flames.

A suggestion: if revenue is needed, consider such moves as outlined in the story – privatizing Mitchell Field, competitive bidding for transit services, concessions at the parks, etc. Consider trying something new and different. Imagine the points that could be scored if some of the tax-supporting supervisors got together and put some new thinking on the table, instead of beating their collective head against the wall with this notion of raising the sales tax.

Next, we travel to UW-Parkside, where a PR nightmare is brewing over the selection of a Chancellor with a highly controversial past. Turns out Robert Felner had received a ‘no confidence’ vote back in 2006 from another university, and has a criminal fraud investigation pending against him. Oops! I know, I know, innocent until proven guilty, but really, let’s be real: this can’t be the best choice to lead UW-Parkside. If it is, then it doesn’t bode well for the UW System.

You can read all about it here, here and here. Felner has handed in his resignation already, but the common theme from the school’s muckety-mucks is troubling: a defensive posture, a ‘what, me worry?’ stance, a refusal to take responsibility, and concern over what this means to Felner’s career instead of trying to remedy this big blunder in future hiring moves. Not the course of action I would recommend.

This properly raises questions about the process of selecting these top dogs for the UW. One spokesman for Parkside says this presents an opportunity for a ‘teachable moment’ and that officials will take ‘a moment’ to review the process. That observation earns the Understatement of the Week award. Hopefully they spend a bit longer than that and reconsider their public approach to this flap.

And, last but not least, WMC is paying the price for its spending in the recent state Supreme Court races. This is hardly surprising, given the bitterness that surrounded this contest and the political leanings of those involved. Something tells me WMC weighed the pros and cons here, and decided it could survive. After all, Shirley Abrahamson’s race is right around the corner.

And, with WMC under heavy ongoing fire, will WEAC continue to get a free pass on the criticism? Hmmm….

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Promotions, Q & A, public relations • March 31st, 2008

Stepping into the lion’s den

by Chris Lato

Fellow Wispundit Karl Robe tipped me off to a fascinating interview segment on WISN-AM’s morning program today with state Sen. Lena Taylor, who’s looking to unseat incumbent Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker in tomorrow’s election.

It’s painful but worth a listen. (Scroll down to hour two, part two – it aired today). Things go downhill quickly due to a confrontational host who tries to step on Taylor’s answers, and Taylor swinging away, basically accusing the host of reading off the Walker campaign’s talking points.

Who thought this was a good idea? Obviously Taylor’s campaign was approached to appear on the program in the interests of providing equal time to both candidates. In general, WISN listeners are not part of Sen. Taylor’s support base, to put it charitably.

But most importantly, I took nothing away from the interview. What is the point of Lena Taylor running for this office? What does she want to do? What is her vision for Milwaukee County? I have no idea. Sen. Taylor had a prime opportunity to potentially connect with a group that normally wouldn’t be in her camp, and instead she took the bait and went rabid by trying to out-yell the host. If that was a voter’s first impression of Lena Taylor…not good.

I’m of the mindset that one should rarely, if ever, turn down media opportunities. Just about any mainstream media opportunity presents a potentially positive and even valuable outcome for a campaign…IF you are properly prepared for the appearance. If I was Sen. Taylor’s campaign advisor, I definitely would have told her to appear on WISN. And I would have advised her to handle herself in the exact opposite fashion, and extensively rehearsed her for that appearance.

Would she have listened? I don’t know, as I don’t know Sen. Taylor and how well she might have responded to media coaching. I can say that if she does pay for a media coach, that coach ought to refund her money.

Back in the day, I used to book media appearances for a top Wisconsin Republican who never looked forward to appearing on Wisconsin Public Radio programs, saying it was akin to stepping into the lion’s den. However, he recognized the value of taking on one’s ‘enemies’ head-on, not shying away from the challenge of confrontational callers who disagree vehemently with you.

Be disciplined, on-message, assertive when you need to be, clear-headed, and don’t let anyone bait you into losing your cool. If you are well-prepared in advance and feel secure in your answers, you should be able to handle yourself and get out of the lion’s den in one piece.

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Branding Politix, Messaging, New Media, Promotions • March 3rd, 2008

Walker on the web

by Chris Lato

Voters in Milwaukee County will be choosing their County Executive for the next four years April 1, and incumbent Scott Walker is using the Internet as a way to spread his message.

In a series of three no-budget ‘ads’, Walker covers taxes, transit and parks – three hot button issues in Milwaukee County politics.

It’s just Scott Walker standing on the sidewalk talking directly to the camera – no cutaways that I recall, all single-camera, very obviously done on the cheap. Walker even stumbles a bit once or twice, but the camera keeps on rolling.
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