Obama and Media Surrogates

There has been a definite change in tone between Obama and the mainstream media.  This is due in part to the incredibly successful Clinton strategy of framing the primary season to suit their campaign on any given day, the media biting back against the criticism that it has been soft on Obama, and the NAFTA/Rezko ridiculousness.  There is no juicier piece of meat to the media than tarnishing the political golden boy.  Some of this was bound to happen, some of it was manufactured, and all of it was gobbled up by the press.  Say what you will about Team Clinton, but they do know how to massage the media.

The absolute glut of media outlets is staggering in 2008.  Print, television, radio, the web, and blogosphere.  This is the first election I have seen that all of the sources quote each other liberally.  Websites and blogs now have gained a toehold in the conscious of the national media, and are being quoted and sourced daily.  This has been a wonderful development for the masses.  However, the crush of all of this media has created a problem.  Content.  The media is starved for content to fill time and space, and the Clinton machine is giving it to them in duplicate and triplicate.  Even the silliest of Clinton spin gets maximum coverage over and over despite it's fragile grip on reality. The more they pound the more the message resonates.

A major problem that I am seeing in the Obama campaign is its lack of surrogates in the media.  The Clinton campaign carpet bombs the media daily with Senator Clinton, former President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe, Howard Wolfson, Mark Penn, Harold Ickes, Kiki McLean, Lanny Davis, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.  This was a major problem for Clinton early on, but I know believe it has turned into a definite strength.  They are selling the message far and wide.  The Obama campaign rolls out Obama, occasionally David Axelrod, and Michelle Obama who gets very little coverage.  Simply put, Obama needs more water carriers.

Obama would do well by saturating the media with additional surrogates to pound his message. Terry McAuliffe made a rather successful appearance in the Hardball studio tonight, and it was very effective due in part that he was off the campaign trail in a one on one studio environment looking relaxed, and breezily confident. Clinton seems to have cornered the market with the free media in this respect, and the Obama campaign has more or less ceded it.  Obama needs to start working the refs as Clinton has done, and what better way to start than sending your people to the studios to charm the pundits.  Hey, it's free.  Take advantage of it.

Random Musings

"It's the math stupid."  Yes, we all know (or some of us at least) that the math for Clinton is nearly impossible.  However, "the math" isn't exactly an exciting strategy to sell for the next several months.  This must always be reinforced yet cannot be the central theme from here on out.  Obama needs to sell his platform and begin to debunk this big state strategy that Clinton sold.  In lieu of spitting out delegate counts and electorate math ad nauseam begin speaking of Obama states in a personal way.  Tout your fifty state strategy and begin calling these states by name.  Especially the Obama big states Illinois, Connecticut, Virginia to name a few.  Corner Clinton on how she is neglecting the idea of the entire United States by concentrating all of the power in a handful of big states.  Every state needs a seat at the table not just the anointed few.

Superdelegates.  This superdelegate situation is making me nervous.  If you do have 40 or 50 superdels in your back pocket I'd roll them out.  I hear the argument for saving them for after a win or to gain back momentum, but these people can switch at any time as we've seen.  Make them public so they have a difficult time jumping ship, and less time for Hillary to soften them up.

Stump Speech.  Add a new stump speech to the rotation.  We love the "Yes, we can", but we also need to hear the B side.  Yes, we can has become a bit desaturated, so if used sparingly it will have more power.

Attitude.  Detached coolness is great, but Americans like a little fire and brimstone now and again.  Hillary was visibly scrappy this week, and it was effective.  Show some fighting spirit, and enjoy yourself.

Take a nap.  Dude, you've got to be fried.