Those Nattering Nabobs of Negativity Are At it Again

PR people watch all of the machinations in an election year very differently than the rest of the population.  We see missteps and don't say, "what was he thinking?"  We say, "why didn't his PR people protect him from himself?"  Seeing John McCain's decision, reported this morning in The Wall Street Journal, to ditch a softball interview with celebrity sycophant Larry King because he was unhappy with CNN Campbell Brown's persistent questioning of his representative about the fitness of his VP candidate is a great example of one of two things:  really bad PR counsel or, more likely, a stubborn candidate who doggedly holds to a bad course regardless of the counsel he receives.

I can picture the meeting McCain must have had with his PR advisors.

"But sir, Larry King likes Gov. Palin and will help us rally the support she is getting from the blue-collar voters and from some of the non-feminist Hillary supporters."

McCain shakes his head.  "No.  We are not subjecting ourselves to another attack.  Who are they to question my candidate or her fitness for office?  Just shut them down.  No interviews.  No way."

"Sir, Gov. Palin said she isn't worried about this current flurry of coverage and feels strongly that her record as a reformer will come through loud and clear.  She's willing to talk with anyone.  And also, sir, shutting down CNN could be viewed as defensive and cause further bad publicity."

McCain fixes the speaker with a steely gaze.  "I said no interviews with CNN and I mean it.  Keep it up and we won't talk with anyone."

Another member of the PR team pipes in, "Senator McCain, this morning's news indicates that Senator Obama has reached the 50% mark in the polls and is leading you by 8 points.  We really need to take advantage of the interest Gov. Palin is generating, even if it is skeptical right now, to get your views across and to have both you and Gov. Palin attacking Senator Obama's positions on taxes and lack of experience.  You have a strong share of voice in the media right now and the blogosphere is just buzzing about you and Gov. Palin, so to shut ourselves out of any high profile opportunities right now is not really the right course of action."

"Whatever is buzzing, it's your job to turn it off.  That's what I pay you for.  No CNN."

"Yes sir."

Meanwhile, at the Obama camp, peace is reigning and the Senator's PR people are smiling as they see the traction created by his latest well delivered sound-bite, which is being covered in the media and in blogs like CNNPolitics.com:

“Let me be as clear as possible,” said Obama, “I think people’s families are off-limits and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president.”

"It's like we have Spiro Agnew back as an opponent," one Obama PR person says to the other.

"I know.  And all we have to do is be quiet and watch the self destruction."