« Democrats make it safe for illegal immigrants to use Obamacare |
Blog Home Page
| Obama: 'Shut up and pass health care' »
July 22, 2009
Obama's top PR tricks
Rick Moran
President Obama has been in office for six months, and during that time, he has repeatedly used a set of PR gambits to sell his agenda to the public.
It helps that he's a celebrity beyond being president, of course. But the White House communications shop has leaned heavily on 5 tricks - none of which have anything to do with actual governing the nation or demonstrating leadership - to convince people to support everything from the stim bill to Obamacare.
Carol Lee in Politico writes:
He's been in office only six months, but already there's a strong sense of déjà vu around the way Americans are seeing and hearing from President Barack Obama.
The president keeps returning to the same communications tactics over and over, and all the pages of his PR playbook have one thing in common: a big dose of Obama.
His prime-time news conference Wednesday night, one of the standbys, brings his total to four. That's the same number that George W. Bush did - in eight years as president.
But as Obama's once-lofty approval ratings dip - and voters express skepticism over his plans for health care and the economy - the longevity of the White House's go-to techniques is being put to the test. One challenge for Obama's team in coming weeks: not overusing the president.
"They have to be careful about that," said former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry. "There are diminishing returns if you see the president too much. ... Part of this is just because he's fascinating and popular right now. Inevitably, they're going to hit some potholes, and they're going to have to adjust their strategy."
One troubling sign for the White House: TV networks were slow to sign on to Wednesday's prime-time news conference. And Obama's latest polls offer a strong reminder for the new White House that a president's popularity is perishable - and time is ticking.
The five strategies the Obama team has used include, Town Hall meetings, the "major address," solo news conferences, interviews - lots of them - and the sort of down home, personal touch, using his family to make himself appear to be just a regular guy.
I think these strategies are beginning to wear thin with the American people. Obama is everywhere - every day in a variety of places including pop culture references and even commercials. He's a very good speaker but what does that matter if people eventually tune him out as they would a bad ad or a show they don't really like?
If this is the best that Obama's PR people can do, I find it difficult to imagine him finding his way back to the lofty perch he occupied in the public's eye immediately after his inauguration.
Hat Tip: Ed Lasky
|
|
|
Share