Senator Kerry Must Win the Post-Debate Spin
Posted : September 27, 2004 at 10:55 am [America/Los_Angeles]
[via Ben Brackley: Kerry Must Win the Post-Debate Spin]
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My biggest concern about the debates is the post-debate spin wars. I hope Kerry’s advisers fully realize that the post-debate spin will be more important than Kerry’s or Bush’s performance in the first debate. Public opinion initially said that Gore clearly won the first debate in 2000; after a successful Republican spin campaign assisted by a compliant media, that judgment was reversed within days.
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Below are some of the steps that the Kerry campaign should take to win the spin wars:1. Manage pre-debate expectations; so far, that is being done much better than in 2000.
2. Shame the media –mostly in private rather than in public– about its post-debate coverage in 2000 in which pro-Bush polemicists and Gore critics were “balanced” by non-partisan historians and journalists on cable and network panels after the debate. Let them know that if it happens again, the Kerry campaign and its surrogates will make a public issue of it.
3. Response teams should fully brief the media during and after the debate. Since much of Bush’s message is already known (and they will know what Kerry will say), the campaign needs to have pithy pre-prepared statements and responses for immediate media distribution. Figure out in advance what the three major messages from the debate will be and how to present them in the most convincing way to various audiences after the debate. During the debate, a team of knowledgeable Kerry staffers and surrogates with a wide range of competencies (including those with a punchy writing style) should be quickly dissecting and critiquing Bush’s comments and sending out commentary to the media.
4. Be prepared for post-debate spin from the Bush campaign. We know what’s coming: Kerry is a flip-flopper whose take on national security varies with the political winds, while Bush is stolidly consistent. The campaign need two or three alternative very brief retorts followed in the same response by aggressive attacks on Bush’s record and/or reinforcement of Kerry’s strengths.
5. Select surrogates who will appear as Kerry representatives on the network and cable shows; make sure they are well-informed, know the message, can convey it convincingly and will stay aggressive without appearing defensive or conceding points (please, no Dee Dee Meyers types).
6. Do everything the campaign can to ensure there is an all-out media blitz by Democratic surrogates with the desired message about the debate throughout the media. If the media doesn’t call them, have them call the media with their comments. Every possible Democratic Senator, House member, unsuccessful rival, former President and Vice-President should be enlisted to send and sell the message. This election is too important to lose.
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I will buy all of this. But that does not help. It’s the guys in Senator Kerry’s camp who’ve to know these and do something about it.
- Anand
Category: United (or not) State of American Politics 2004