Pigs flying. GOPUSA criticizing White House.

[tanyev]

Specifically, the mistakes in "message strategy". WHY do they all think fixing the message will fix the FUBAR they have created?

New Message Strategy Needed as Elections Near by Bobby Eberle

The White House has been taking it on the chin lately, and the reverberations are being felt throughout the GOP. From the Harriet Miers nomination to the Dubai Ports and more, the folks in charge of message strategy appear to be asleep at the wheel. Too many times Americans have been surprised by a statement or action, and Americans don’t like surprises. This is a crucial election year, and in order for Republicans to be successful, grassroots conservatives need a strong, consistent message around which we can rally.

The entire message strategy regarding the nomination of Harriet Miers was botched from the beginning. It should have been obvious that one of the issues of utmost concern to conservatives is that of nominating experienced judicial conservatives to the courts. With frustrations being felt over spending, immigration, and other issues, conservatives felt that this was the one area where they could find solace. Instead, the nomination of a judicial unknown to the highest court in the land took conservatives by surprise and smacked of cronyism.

In addition, the message strategy coming out of the White House was inconsistent at best. It was wrong to question then-nominee John Roberts about his religious convictions, yet lacking a judicial track record, the White House attempted to garner support for Miss Miers by touting her strong religious convictions. It was a PR mess that should have never happened. GOP senators were put in the awkward position of being pressured to rally around a nominee who had no grassroots support.

Then, most troubling in the White House message strategy was the deployment of spokespeople who went on the talk shows and claimed that America was being “Islamophobic.” It was very frustrating to hear administration officials lecture the public on being nervous about the UAE becoming involved in port operations when a British company was doing it before. Their message was… so, it’s OK for the British to do it, but not the UAE? The fact of the matter is that most people probably didn’t realize that the British, Chinese, or other countries were involved in port operations. They likely just assumed America supervised America’s ports. Again, the better approach would have been to step back and educate the American public on what’s involved in port operations and who currently participates rather than giving us a big helping of “the UAE is great.”

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=228

[formerrepuke]

1. Rats fleeing a sinking ship drown anyway......n/t

[trotsky]

2. "message strategy" = SPIN

They're not blaming the White House or certainly Dumbya for ANYTHING, just the spinners for not doing their jobs. So typical.

[wryter2000]

3. Heck, spin is so 9/10

They moved from spin to outright lies ages ago. :evilgrin:

[Quakerfriend]

4. That's actually a bit comical! No matter what their message

strategy- The American people seem to be on to their LIES, LIES, LIES.

The truth does not require a whole lot of strategizing!

[hippiechick]

5. Because 90% of America can't think critically ...

... they listen to the pre-packaged soundbites, and take it as gospel.

They don't stop to consider the possibility that the biggest marketing firm operating in this country at the moment is the White House.

They don't dare consider that all the mythology they're grown up with about the US being "the land of the free and home of the brave" is just a bunch of BS gift wrap covering some really ugly deeds that were purposely done by their leaders.

Most people don't (can't/won't, whatever) understand the TRUTH of what goes on behind the scenes.

[tanyev]

9. Maybe somebody needs to repair the catapult.

The propaganda seems to be misfiring a lot lately.

[central scrutinizer]

6. I love it when weasels fight each other

You can root for both sides and hope the battle is long and bloody. bwah hah hah hah

[existentialist]

7. It is weak criticism which focuses on communication rather than

underlying policy.

Therefore it does no more than the Bush Administration to deal with the real issues, and, indeed, falls into the same shallow trap of assuming that the underlying policies are good when sanity clearly indicates that the underlying polices are fundamentally wrong.

Still, it does indicate a measure of unease, a crack in the Republican base--one of an increasing number of such cracks, and as such must be a hopeful sign.

[peacetalksforall]

8. Just where has Eberle been burying his head? Questioning Meirs

about her religious convictions and saying it is wrong to question Roberts about his religious convictions is a precise example about their creating our reality (I call it dis-reality). This is so typical Republican under PNAC. Eberle is out of it. Someone should give him a lesson. The Republicans have been doing this type of thing from the beginning. Apples are steel girders and oranges are sea-horses and so it goes with them.