« December 2005 | Main | February 2006 »
January 24, 2006
Setting the stage for congressional elections
When people ask me for political predictions, most of the time I suggest that they should let the candidates run the race. It's a blinding glimpse of the obvious, but the outcome of most elections depends upon the execution of the campaign by the candidates and their strategist.
That really will be clear in this year's mid-term congressional elections. The Democrats believe that believe that public opinion polls demonstrate voters' unease with the Bush administration's policy of wiretapping citizens calls without a court order.
Bush brain Karl Rove made it clear in a speech to the Rpublican National Committee last week that the Democrats' position places them dangerously in the pre-9/11 world. He basically did what Republicans have been doing since Ronald Reagan -- he called the Democrats wimps.
So if Rove presaged the theme for this fall's election, we will see how Democrats counter. This is an issue that is hard to finesse. Either you believe that national security imperatives should allow the government to wiretap citizens to protect us from terrorists, or you don't. There's not much in-between.
Which political party will be on the offensive? And who will be on the defense? It's clear from Rove's speech that Republicans want to set the agenda. And with the president barnstorming the country this week, justifying his position, it will be fun to watch how the Democrats try to counter the bully pulpit.
Whoever defines this issue is likely to prevail in November. Control of the Congress may lie in the balance.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 07:32 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2006
Good riddance, David Barrett
This is unbelievable...the independent prosecutor, David Barrett, spent 10 years and $21 million investigating former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. The best he could get on Cisneros was a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement. Cisneros paid a $10,000 fine.
The unbelievable part is that Barrett wrapped up his investigation with a 474-page report blasting the Clinton administration for impeding his investigation.
Impeding his investigation? He would rather have spent more than $21 million and 10 years? He needed even more unbridled subpoena power?
Barrett is disgraceful. Just like the other rogue prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, who started investigating Whitewater and ended up issuing a report that descended into Hustler Magazine-type descriptions of body fluids and sex acts.
You may have heard it said that prosecutors have the power to indict a ham sandwich. In Barrett's case, he outran his headlights, and then spent half a career trying to justify his misadventure. He certainly tried to ruin Cisneros in the process.
Once again, the news media co-conspired with Barrett to the end. Many of them put Barrett's part shot on the front page, gleeful at the prospect of trashing the Clinton Administration once again.
This whole Barrett scenario is so painfully obvious: a billious rant made to cover up the stunning ineptitude of rank rogue prosocutorial politics.
Whatever partisan differnces we have in America, this junk should not be tolerated by decent citizens.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 06:40 AM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2006
Relevance and clarity
I woke up early this morning reflecting on my day yesterday -- a series of meetings and telephone calls with people who have a story to tell. I was struck by their frustration about their uniform inability to tell their stories to the audiences that matter most to them.
The laments went like this:
"...if they only knew..."
"...I don't know how we can get their attention..."
"...why doesn't the media care about the good news? They only focus on scandal and disaster..."
"...if we 'spin' this right, we can meet the capital campaign goal..."
And so on.
Two observations:
1. Communicators must be relevant above all else. The audiences are busy. Their lives are crowded with work, young children or elderly parents and sometimes both, church, civic duties, soccer practice.
To be successful, the communicator has to know what's important to the audiences that matter most. Then craft their communications around that important fact.
2. Many times, the communicator doesn't deliver a clear and compelling call to action. Let's face it. Most organizations want to tell their stories because they want to motivate their audiences to take action. "Buy this product." "Contribute money to our organization." "Donate blood."
Relevance and clarity. If communicators have even a chance of succeeding, they have to hit those two factors. Otherwise, it's a fool's errand.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 06:39 AM | Comments (0)