The Day After

Welcome back!

The President's "Shellacking"

Well all you political junkies (including myself) must be a little bleary-eyed today after staying up late watching the 'Rebuke to Obama' as a number of media headlines have framed it.
Everyone has their political views on the good, the bad and the ugly of the campaigns - note the 's' in that word - but I like to focus on the communications aspects.
And because politics and show biz began to merge years ago, I thought I would do it in the form of:

 'The Campaign 2010 Awards'
1. The John Connolly Award for "most money spent in the pursuit of a political office to no avail" goes to...Meg Whitman for spending upwards of $190 million of her own money to come up short in the California Governor's race against the victorious Jerry Brown [53% to 42%]. The lesson here being that even one thread that is successfully pulled can be your undoing and no amount of money can overcome it. Her hiring, dismissal and handling of an 'undocumented' housekeeper left her on the defense, alienating Latino voters and throwing her campaign off its game plan at a critical time.

2. The 'who says getting your name on the ballot is important?' Award goes to Alaska write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski who looks safe to win the Alaska Senate seat against the Sarah Palin Tea Party candidate Joe Miller once the write-in ballots are opened and read. However with a 41% to 34% lead it means that: a) people in Alaska paid attention b) knew how to spell her name and c) took the time to go to the polls and cast their vote. Am I wrong, or is Alaska a model for all of us to be engaged citizens? Just asking.

Paladino (R) Beats Himself

3. The 'Be careful what you email, joke about, and who you threaten' Award goes to Tea Party-backed New York Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Joe Paladino, the upstate businessman who could write a textbook on how not to comport oneself as a candidate, and who was wiped clean by Andrew Cuomo, son of the former three-term Governor, Mario Cuomo, whose famous dictum was "campaign in poetry, govern in prose". Wasn't much poetry in Andrew's campaign but at least he didn't make himself the issue - his opponent did all the damage that needed to be done.

4. The 'who says it's over for career politicians and resume enhancing?' Award goes to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal who won a late round against WWE Owner Linda McMahon, the Tea-Party backed candidate whose (possibly too) hard-hitting commercials attacking Blumenthal for lying seemed to turn voters off.. [ He repeatedly claimed that he had served as a Marine in Vietnam when actually he was in the reserves stateside]  As well, exit polls indicated that they didn't like her, and they thought wrestling was too violent! Positioning herself as an outsider and Blumenthal as a career politician weren't enough to cover her own resume problems - laying off workers, dodging taxes, killing legislation on steroid use etc. that plagued her, thus preventing her from controlling the message in the campaign. [Note to Connecticut voters - wrestling is not real!]

I'm not a witch. I am you.

5. The 'don't use your opponent's 'bait' words to defend yourself on TV commercials' Award goes to...the one and only Christine O'Donnell in her Delaware Senate race. "I'm not a witch. I am you" will go down in the annals of political ads as the worst commercial ever in a campaign.

#h*! My Mayor Says...New CBC Pilot?

#h*! My Mayor Says 

Meanwhile, the election of Rodney Dangerfield look-alike Rob Ford as the next Mayor of Toronto rocked the pundits, media and the downtown Toronto urban sophisticates like nothing in recent history. I couldn't help poke some fun at it, in this satirical article, published in the Ottawa Citizen a few days ago.




Until next time!

Eight tips for every politician

Welcome back!
Well politics is in the air almost everywhere. Whether voting for mayor, city councillor, Congressman, Senator, Governor or Premier, there are some key communications concepts that every politician asking for your vote should keep firmly in mind.

Eight Tips that Every Politician Should Keep in Mind
1. Know what your message is. People have 'been there and done that' with blather. In one sentence, where do you stand on each of your key issues?
2. What do you stand for? In other words what is your positioning on the political landscape? For example, do you represent 'change vs. more of the same?' This should be wrapped into your 'doorstep pitch' or your positioning statement. If you can't say it in 30 seconds then you can't grab and hold the attention of the voter.
3. Always ask for their vote. Don't assume anything. Whether door-knocking, tweeting, at an all-candidates debate or at a speech, ask for their support, help, funds and VOTE.
4. Politics is about people. So don't hide behind technology. Get out and meet people. Be visible - even if you can't be there, make sure your surrogates are. I was in Palo Alto a few weeks ago, and Jerry Brown's team had a table at a street fair - signing up voters, selling campaign paraphernalia. Jerry wasn't around but that was okay. Meg Whitman didn't have a table there. Why not?
5. Make all your enemies deliberate. The above named Jerry Brown put his foot in it the other day - accusing Meg Whitman supporter Bill Clinton of lying about his record of cutting taxes. [Accusing Clinton of lying not only alienates Clinton supporters needlessly, but it's redundant!] Take a look at the video and read the critique by Time Magazine's blogger below it:  Jerry Brown's gaffe
6. Everything you say and do will be captured and multiplied in the media. Just ask Ottawa's Mayor Larry O'Brien who right in the middle of his election campaign had to deal with this story: Mayor O'Brien caught on cellphone while driving
7. It isn't about you: it's about the voter. Speak from the voters' perspective - not your own. It's a lot better to find out where your voters are going, and jump out in front of the line than trying to create your own line. [Just ask former B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm who has re-emerged from oblivion to lead the anti-HST tax campaign in British Columbia]
8. Try not to come across as a pure partisan. Most people don't wrap themselves tightly in a party banner. They get that you may represent a political party, but in the end you have to resonate with them.

So watch carefully to see if the politicians asking for your vote are paying attention to any of the above. And remember, ask them questions, demand answers and get out to vote. It's a privilege that we should all hold dear.
Until next time!

Hits and misses from media to politics

Welcome back!


With the incredible tragedy in Haiti, it makes it a challenge to blog on the usual media and political circuses that surround us. If you haven't got around to donating, click the Canadian Red Cross or  the American Red Cross. Or a charity that you trust to get all the money there and fast. While I'm at it, regardless of one's political leanings, you've got to admit that the Canadian and American governments kicked into gear in record time which is one of the few blessings out of the terrible disaster.


Then there's televangelist Pat Robertson, who never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Take a look at his comments on the Haitian disaster, and you'll see why. The really sad part is that Robertson's comments get a tremendous amount of media coverage instead of the enormous outreach efforts by the Catholic Church, Protestant churches and people of all faiths - as well as those who don't act out of faith - just plain old compassion for a nation in desperate need. Pat it's time to retire!
And now onto totally important inane matters that help to keep us sane.....


In my last posting I had blogged on the NBC late night fiasco. A few forests have been felled reporting on it but I haven't seen anything on the very clever PR move by Conan O'Brien.  Since he took over the audience has dropped from 5 million to 2.5 million and yet he is coming out smelling like roses since he released this statement.


How did he accomplish that?
First, he cloaked it in the right context - "no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky." PERFECT


Once he set the context he made clear his [unselfish] motive in fighting NBC for trying to push the Tonight Show's slot to 12:05 -  "Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future." BULLS-EYE


Finally, he makes his ask: "It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both." SIMPLE AND REASONABLE


By all accounts, he wrote it himself! Jay Leno's supporters are few and far between, making him look like he is only self-interested and going back on his word. I wonder who his advisors are?


Politics


How not to answer a question at a news conference. 

Check out California Republican Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's attempt to not answer the question at her news conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmI2z5PVYGQ&NR=1

As a rookie to politics she can be forgiven. However, the lesson here is that you have to address the question before you are given the license to bridge. Perhaps she thought that the answer would be far worse than the 'dodge'? Tell the truth even if it hurts. The public is more forgiving of the truth than of sounding like the 'same old/same old' politician.

Until next time....