RSS Feed MenuAs a PR professional I have to salute Barack Obama’s campaign for president as a great PR achievement. His presidency? Not so much.
View Brian Williams’ recent NBC special Inside the Obama White House. Images of staff gorging on M&Ms, bouncing balls against walls and Obama heading to Five Guys to get burgers painted a cavalier attitude of this administration when America is in a deep recession and facing the highest unemployment rate in 25 years.
“It is young, it is fast it is loose,” declared Brian Williams. Staff frenetically running around conveyed a lack of control. President Obama looked more like a “rock star” than a president. Talk of “basketball life balance” and his comparison of cable news programs to WWF wrestling made him look very un-presidential. During his burger run to Five Guys restaurant, Obama joked with Williams “last time I did this with Biden and we didn’t coordinate, he took his detail and I took mine.” I wonder how much indulging in that frivolity cost taxpayers?
The president’s single biggest PR mistake is his over-exposure in the media. When anyone talks too much, president or celebrity, people just get tired of listening to that person. President Obama seems to be falling victim to this rule, with the most recent Gallup finding disapproval of his handling of the economy rising to 42%.
Obama’s second communications mistake is his desire to do everything big. When you go big on everything: healthcare, Middle East peace, economy, housing, auto bailout, energy, etc., you better be ready to deliver big results. In February, the president promised the American people the $787 billion stimulus would save or create 3.5 million jobs. The highest unemployment rate in 25 years doesn’t look like Obama is delivering big on the economy. And how about the $75 billion Homeowner Stability initiative, where the White House promised to help three to four million homeowners avoid foreclosure.
How many have been helped? Nowhere close.
President Obama’s third communications mistake so far is deciding to lead his foreign policy agenda with apologies for America’s actions under the Bush administration.
It was equally troubling to see the president speak from Egypt where many Muslim extremists thrive and many of whom were listening to his words while plotting new ways to kill Americans. It was the wrong speech for the wrong audience in the wrong place. This “greeting of peace” to the Muslim world made the president look naïve on foreign policy and weak on terrorism. It left many Americans asking themselves, “what is he doing?”
With the administration “test driving so many message points” without serving up results, there is a clear opportunity emerging for Republicans to turn things their way. But this will require abandoning rhetoric, mud-slinging and attacks. Republicans should start by simply inviting Americans to ask the president and members of Congress: Where is all the money going? Where are the jobs? Do you feel good about tomorrow?
Perhaps by simply answering the questions, voters may begin to think about the direction the country is headed and look for alternatives.
barker13 // Jun 15, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Re: BigShotBob; 2:52 PM –”…until the man is given the opportunity to deliver…”What you talk’n ’bout, Willis…?!?! (*GRIN*)Seriously… Obama had a PERFECT opportunity when Pelosi and Reid piled all that pork on top of the so-called “Stimulus Package.”Now Obama had PLEDGED… had PROMISED… that he wouldn’t allow such shenanigans if entrusted by the American People with the Presidency. He lied.(*SHRUG*)I mean… he lied. And frankly, I don’t understand why. I mean, he had more than enough political capital to tell the Dems in Congress to shove it, rewrite the bill with the pork taken out, and resubmit it.What… were they going to OVERRIDE HIS VETO of a pork-ridden bill…??? Regardless of how quickly Pelosi and Reid folded to a veto threat (or even in the case where they’d be insane enough to try and force an override of his veto) President Obama would have been in a win-win scenario where he plays the part of the hero defending the American Taxpayer no matter who actually “won” a fight; Obama would have won by losing, won just by trying, but again… in reality there’s little doubt he would have won for real too.You ask me… that was where Obama blew it. He could have been a hero. He could have been a stand up guy. He could have been a man of his word.(*SHRUG*)Instead… he folded. Sad. Sad for him. Sad for the country. BILL
sinz54 // Jun 16, 2009 at 10:27 am
BigShotBob: It’s real hard to show “humility” when some 3,000 Americans (and foreigners) were vaporized on 9-11 by some of those selfsame fanatics.We can disagree with Bush’s plan to invade Iraq. But let me remind you what we “humble” Americans did to avenge the 2,000 dead at Pearl Harbor:– Built the mightest war machine in all history– Fire-bombed German and Japanese cities, killing tens of thousands– Dropped the world’s first two atomic bombs on Japanese cities– Forced the unconditional surrender of the German and Japanese governmentsIf that’s what we did to avenge 2,000, what should we have done to avenge 3,000?You’re welcome to use a spreadsheet or calculator.
BigShotBob // Jun 16, 2009 at 11:56 am
Re: barker13 – Pres. Obama definitely missed an opportunity with the Pork-ulus package, both PR and substantive. But attempting to make sweeping judgments about a presidency’s success or failure based on the first 1/10 of that presidency (almost exactly – 147 days post-Annointment) is … a little premature.And besides. The GOP, with an able assist from the Democrats, gave us, just to name a few gems, 2 ill-advised wars, the Patriot Act, a torture scandal, diplomatic pariahdom, and overall out-of-control spending, civilian and military. Oh, and started us down the slippery slope to a centrally planned economy with increasingly massive bailouts. You might not like the direction the country is going (I don’t), and the spending issue seems to be getting worse (it is). But “we” (using the term very loosely) had our shot, and we blew it. All I’m advocating is waiting a reasonable amount of time before passing judgment – on a presidency.Re sinz54: Your patronizing remarks are noted, and given thorough and much-deserved lack of consideration. I cannot resist observing, however, that your historically illegitimate 9/11-Pearl Harbor comparison diatribe serves only to underscore your frankly nauseating brand of jingoism.
barker13 // Jun 16, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Re: BigShotBob; wrote 9 minutes ago –”Pres. Obama definitely missed an opportunity with the Pork-ulus package…”I’m glad we agree.”But attempting to make sweeping judgments about a presidency’s success or failure based on the first 1/10 of that presidency (almost exactly – 147 days post-Anointment) is … a little premature.”Yes. Fair enough. Still, there’s a huge gap between creating a thesis and proving or disproving it. Time will tell who has “jumped the gun” vs. who has been prescient. “And besides. The GOP, with an able assist from the Democrats…”Agreed! No argument there! (BTW, I’m a registered Dem and have been since early ‘06 as a protest to the incompetence, corruption, and hypocrisy of the RINOs.) (As to the Patriot Act, sorry, but I don’t have much of a problem with it. What I have a problem with is President as Warlord and I don’t recall Obama nor any other Democrat renouncing the types of presidential authority that Bush claimed for himself.)”You might not like the direction the country is going (I don’t), and the spending issue seems to be getting worse (it is).”Again… glad to see we’re in agreement.”But “we” (using the term very loosely) had our shot, and we blew it.”Fair enough, but the “we” you’re describing is a mixture of the Christian Right social engineers and the RINO “moderate” financial hypocrites and I’m in favor of limiting the influence of the former and getting rid of the later. Frum and others simply want the GOP to become more like the Democratic Party. (*SHRUG*) I don’t.”All I’m advocating is waiting a reasonable amount of time before passing judgment – on a presidency.”Depends what is meant by “judgment” and what we’re talking about. So far – and I used the Porkulus bill as an example – what I see is a burst bubble as far as it applies to President Obama’s right to the benefit of the doubt regarding keeping his word and defending the taxpayer against even his own Party when necessary.Does this mean I see Obama as the “Manchurian President?” No. (That was Bush!) But my basic worldview is linked to the old adage “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” One thing I can assure you of, Bob, is that I’ll use the same measurements regarding Obama’s achievements and failures as I did for Bush.BILL