More! More! More ‘Question Time’ With Barack Obama!
I love love loved the Obama-Republicans debate/question time last week. That was stupendous, a brilliant way to showcase the thoughtful and thorough president trying to craft solutions and the Republicans offering platitudes and talking points.
More — more! We need to see more of him using his brain and words to govern, not just to give [...]
Good Riddance, Lou Dobbs
Buh-bye Lou: The bombastic and misguided Lou Dobbs has finally given up his perch on CNN and quit the network, more than a year before the end of his contract. For now, he will spew his anti-immigration, white-privileged perspective on his national radio show. I haven’t looked up the odds, but if I were a [...]
Is it ever right to pick a fight with the media?
Great old saying about media relations: “don’t pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” Translation: usually, the media has a lot more firepower than you, so even if you’re both angry and right, in all likelihood you should restrain yourself from going after them.
There are exceptions, however, and one of them [...]
PR Rule #1: It’s About the Message, Not About the Methods
Generally speaking, it’s a bad sign when your PR strategy becomes the story, rather than the messages you are trying to send.
And so it was today, when the New York Times ran five nearly identical pictures on its front page of Obama giving health care reform interviews on five Sunday talk shows, accompanying a story [...]
It’s Been a Long Time A-Comin’
One of the most dispiriting things about the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 was that he brought in an anti-government mindset that demonized many aspects of government that were, in fact, doing good things for a lot of people. He and his crowd not only talked about “government being the problem,” but they also [...]
Does Obama Need a Hail-Mary PR Pass on Health Care Reform?
Back from Vegas, where the famously in-touch Vegas taxi drivers were 100% against Obama’s health care plan. Why? Who the hell knows. Probably because the right wingnuts on talk radio are tearing it down.
But there’s a serious grain of reality in these man-on-the-street insights. Eight months ago, Obama’s PR machine had created a feel-good climate [...]
Rachel Maddow Deftly Injects Anti-Racism Into the National Mainstream
Racism has been one of the greatest stains on the American experiment and remains an insidious and destructive force in today’s society. The election of Barack Obama has done two things: 1) it has shown that a majority of the electorate is now ready and willing to trust a non-white as the nation’s President and [...]
Obama Dumps the Phrase "Global War on Terror" (GWOT)
The Obama Administration is thankfully retiring the term “Global War on Terror” to describe the U.S.’s, uh, what was it used to describe again?
This was always the first problem with this misbegotten phrase — that it sounded all puffy and strong but it was about as strong as a souffle — that is, easily popped. [...]
Great PR Move by the Obamas
According to New York magazine, the Obamas are redecorating their private quarters in the White House using only their own money. They made $4.2 million in 2007, so they can afford the couple hundred thou such a redesign is likely to cost.
The government has an allotment of $100,000 per new prez for redecorating, but they [...]
Obama's Rhetoric Tops My 2009 Comms Wish List
It has been a long, long time since we’ve had a president or other national leader with the rhetorical skills of Barack Obama. It is going to be a treat to listen to him talk and use the power of communications to push his agenda.
So Obama tops my 2009 Comms Wish List. Here are my [...]