As of September 2008, I'm blogging at Open Salon. Below are some sample posts.
Blago's Jury: Are you listening?
February 3, 2009
While browsing through the CNN homepage this afternoon, I noted that former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will be interviewed by Larry King tonight. Having already been impeached by the Illinois Senate and removed from office, Blago plans to talk with Larry about his pending criminal trial and make another pitch for his innocence.
Though there's probably no limit to the cynicism one can bring to the Blagojevich case, let me test the boundaries. What we're seeing with this Larry King appearance is Phase II of a not-very-slick communications strategy aimed at influencing the jury that will eventually hear the disgraced former Governor's criminal trial in Chicago.
Phase I was likely cobbled together mere days before his impeachment trial, probably after Blago and his advisors (mostly attorneys by this point) realized that there was no way to keep him in office, or use his resignation as a bargaining chip with the U.S. Attorney's office. With the eyes of the country on the Senate chamber in Springfield, Blago took full advantage, embarking on a media tour to lay the groundwork for his defense, proclaiming his innocence and, even more incredibly, attempting to establish a kinship with the likes of other 'persecuted leaders' like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Though the comparison to MLK and Mendela resulted in more than a few chuckles and a continent-wide rolling of the eyes, Blago's banking on a Chicago jury that will consist of a majority of African-Americans.
Is this strategy a long shot? Of course. But given that the man was caught on tape trying to sell a seat in the United States Senate, he doesn't have many other options. Look for Blago to continue speaking to anyone with a microphone and camera, invoking the names of the great civil rights leaders of our age and praying that a select group of 12 people in Chicago are listening.
Mismanagement of GM's Reputation
November 19, 2008
GM's full page ad in today's Wall Street Journal is impressive. It speaks about the 'truth' of what's going on with the company. Structural costs have been reduced by $9 billion since 2005. Raises and bonuses have been eliminated for executives and salaried employees, and production has been shifted from trucks and SUVs to more fuel efficient vehicles. The ad avoids industry jargon in favor of everyday words. All very effective from a public relations perspective.
Unfortunately, the ad is too little, too late, and serves as a public relations lesson for big business about the importance of ongoing communication with the general public to manage your company's reputation.
If GM has been taking draconian steps to improve its competitiveness over the last few years, the company should have been aggressively communicating these facts all along. When it renegotiated a landmark agreement with the UAW to help close the expense gap with foreign automakers, it should have launched a media blitz. When it began to address pension and retiree health care costs, that was the time to take out full-page ads in newspapers across the country.
Moreover, these communications should have been made to a much broader audience, not just shareholders. Did current or prospective buyers of GM cars know about any of this? Were dealerships and auto parts suppliers recruited to act as surrogates to dissiminate the good news? Perhaps most important given the current request for a bailout, were members of Congress kept abreast of these developments? Unions had a stake in all this, so what were they doing to communicate GM's newfound competitiveness?
PR consultants working with the company will likely say that they were, in fact, trumpeting these competitive milestones from the rooftops, but no one was listening. Alas, there's no escaping the current perception the public holds about the Big 3: that Detroit is locked in the 20th century, mismanaged, beholden to unions, producing subpar vehicles and caught completely off guard by the rise in oil and the downturn in the economy.
Perhaps louder trumpets or higher rooftops should have been used. Had GM spent the last few years doing a better job communicating about the changes underway at the company to make itself more competitive, it might be in a better position today to ask for government assistance.
Follow the Ad Money
September 18, 2008
You can watch CNN's John King play around with his virtual election maps or listen to MSNBC's Chuck Todd muse about which states will ultimately be colored red or blue on Election night. But if you want to know which states the Presidential candidates think they can win on November 4th, and what their internal polls are telling them, you need to see where the ad money is being spent.
The Wisconsin Advertising Project has documented how candidates, political parties and special interest groups communicate with voters since 1998. Yesterday, they issued a press release showing where the candidates have spent ad money since the conclusion of the conventions.
Some of the highlights:
- Both campaigns have spent a total of $15 million on television advertising, spread across 17 states;
- The state receiving the most ad money from Barack Obama, $1.3 million, is Florida. John McCain's top state is Pennsylvania, where he dropped $1.6 million;
- Obama has outspent McCain in Virginia almost 3 to 1;
- Obama is actually airing more negative ads than McCain;
- Each candidate has spent roughly the same money in Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio;
- The candidates have spent a combined $1.6 million in Michigan, with Obama buying about $900,000 in ads there;
- Biggest shock - Obama has spent $22,000 on ads in North Dakota.
Despite the predictions of Messrs. King and Todd that Florida will be solidly red, Obama is clearly unwilling to concede and is attempting to move the numbers to put the state in play. But in the case of Virginia, the pundits and the Democratic candidate agree the state is a battleground.
Though Pennsylvania went for Kerry in 2004, McCain thinks it's a state he can flip. Obama seems to agree, dropping almost $1 million in the state since the Convention. Pennsylvania and Michigan are two states a Democratic should easily win in this anti-GOP environment. The fact that Obama is spending so much money defending them does not bode well.
And no, I doubt seriously that Barack Obama thinks he's going to win North Dakota. I have no idea why he blew $22,000 in the state.
OPEC and the Price of Oil
September 9, 2008
As this evening's meeting of OPEC oil ministers convenes, word out of Vienna is that the oil cartel will keep production at current levels. This is a foolish move, focused on maximizing short term profits at the expense of long-term demand for oil.
While world markets breathe a collective sigh of relief that the price of oil has fallen dramatically from its July highs, a barrel of crude still goes for more than $100, 25% higher than this time last year. OPEC would like nothing more than to see the price settle in the $100 range.
Greed is the likely motivator. Other than oil, many OPEC countries such as Saudia Arabia, Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela have little else of value to offer world markets. With their principal commodity selling at historic highs, times are good for petro-dictators.
But there is another possible explanation for keeping production at current levels: OPEC may be running out of oil.
Though they claim their oil reserves will last for hundreds of years, some experts estimate that the supply has already peaked. If that's the case, it would make sense for OPEC to keep production at current levels as long as possible, milking the cow while it's still breathing.
But keeping production at current levels (or lowering them) will only hasten the day when the world migrates to other sources of energy. If gasoline prices in the United States remain in the $3.50-$4.00 range, demand for oil will continue to decrease as American consumers seek more fuel efficient vehicles, or use public transportation. There will be a heavy incentive among automobile manufacturers and public utilities to develop new transporation and power alternatives that have little, if any, reliance on oil.
If OPEC really has supplies that will last for centuries, they would be wise to significantly increase oil production over the next 12-24 months, flood world markets and bring the price for a barrel back down to the $50-60 range. This would bring gas prices below $3/gallon and seriously undercut growing consumer demand for new cars that are either more fuel efficient or run on alternative sources.
Perhaps on their way to Vienna, some OPEC oil ministers stopped by the Republican National Convention in St. Paul and were enchanted with the chant of 'Drill, Drill, Drill' that arose for the Xcel Energy floor. Someone should explain to them that in America, campaign slogans rarely reflect reality.
Not Through with 'Through'
June 5, 2008
Last week’s National Spelling Bee brought out the annual protest of the American Literacy Council, a 130-year old group dedicated to changing the rules regarding how English words are spelled. If the ALC had its way, words would be spelled phonetically:’through’ would become ‘thru;’’sick’ would become ’sik;”happy’ would become ‘hapee.’
Opponents of spelling reform correctly point out that moving to a phonetic system of spelling would require one unified approach. But a consensus would be difficult to reach because of the different dialects of English that are spoken in the United States and around the world. Even the ALC has been unable to reach agreement on a single phonetic system.
Still, proponents of spelling reform are optimistic that the shorthand lexicon used by the Millennial generation in e-mail and text messages (R U Ok?) will eventually lead to broad changes in English spelling.
As for me, I’m a purist on the issue and wud nevr considr speling foneticly.
Vatican Astronomy
May 15, 2008
Earlier this week, the Vatican’s chief astronomer, the Reverend Jose Gabriel Funes, stated that there was no conflict in believing in God andthe existence of intelligent life on other planets. According to Funes, since God created other creatures on Earth other than humans, it is entirely conceivable that he also created life on other planets.
Funes thinks the bridge between science and religion could be strengthened if scientists learned more about the Bible and the Church kept more up to date on scientific advancements. He also believes the Big Bang theory is the most likely explanation for the creation of the Universe, agrees that it took place several billion years ago but that God was the instigator of the event.
We should know in a few weeks whether Funes was reading from the Vatican script or going off on his own. The Argentine Jesuit and expert in disk galaxies became the Vatican’s chief astronomer in 2006 after Pope Benedict sackedthe previous incumbent, Father George Coyne, for supporting Darwin’s theory of evolution. Benedict believes in intelligent design.
One has to wonder why the Roman Catholic Church even has an observatory. The observatory’s website states that the Church has had an interest in astronomy since the 16th century when it used astronomical observations to help fine tune the calendar. Given the Church’s historic hostility to science, perhaps they see a continuing need to conduct their own ‘research’ so they can debunk any astronomical theories that don’t chime with Catholic teachings. Or perhaps there’s some other reason? (Cue: dramatic background music!)
Comma Sutra
May 8, 2008
Long-time Washington Postcolumnist and Conservative Bon Vivant George Will outdid himself in today’s column. No, I’m not referring to his witty analysis on the current delusions of Hillary Clinton concerning her prospects for winning the Presidency. Nor am I talking about the various rhetorical flourishes contained in George’s analysis (”Obama’s rhetorical cotton candy lacks Reagan’s ideological nourishment…”). What the bowtie-wearing Mr. Will gave us today was a virtual tour de force in punctuation, deliving (by my rough count) a whopping 87 commas in a 734- word opinion. The 3rd paragraph alone, reprinted below, contains 24 commas squeezed into a mere 180 words, and is well worth the read.
After Tuesday’s split decisions in Indiana and North Carolina, Clinton, the Yankee Clipperette, can, and hence eventually will, creatively argue that she is really ahead of Barack Obama, or at any rate she is sort of tied, mathematically or morally or something, in popular votes, or delegates, or some combination of the two, as determined by Fermat’s Last Theorem, or something, in states whose names begin with vowels, or maybe consonants, or perhaps some mixture of the two as determined by listening to a recording of the Beach Boys‘ “Help Me, Rhonda” played backward, or whatever other formula is most helpful to her, and counting the votes she received in Michigan, where hers was the only contending name on the ballot (her chief rivals, quaintly obeying their party’s rules, boycotted the state, which had violated the party’s rules for scheduling primaries), and counting the votes she received in Florida, which, like Michigan, was a scofflaw and where no one campaigned, and dividing Obama’s delegate advantage in caucus states by pi multiplied by the square root of Yankee Stadium’s Zip code.
Yes, boys and girls, your eyes don’t deceive you. That 3rd paragraph is not only comma-heavy, it’s a single sentence. And, of course, because this is George Will, the entire piece, commas and all, is grammatically correct. Did you also notice that I just used 5 commas in a 17-word sentence. Not bad for an amateur.
Modern Day Pirates
April 20, 2008
For those of us who thought piracy on the high seas was a thing of the past, today’s New York Times has a piece on the pirate scourge currently plaguing the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. While the author of this op-ed, John S. Burnett, is primarily focused on the tepid response of the British government to the problem in the Gulf (they’re allegedly worried about violating the pirates' human rights), he also provides a great summary of current pirate activity in the world.
According to Burnett, 433 people were taken hostage, injured or killed by pirates in 2007, with more than 3,800 vicitimized over the past 10 years. Pirates seem to attack anything on the water, including tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships, and are well armed with RPGs and assault rifles.
The International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre issues a weekly report on pirate activity around the globe. They also have a map with the locations of all reported pirate attacks in 2007. For those of us living in the Western Hemisphere, our waters appear secure. However, if you live in Somalia, Nigeria, Tanzania, India, Indonesia, or the Philippines, watch your back if you’re on the water. And as for the British being worried about the human rights of pirates, I’d wait to hear their reaction to Burnett’s op-ed before condemning them.
Dues vs. Taxes
April 15th, 2008
Richard Conniff has an interesting piece in today’s New York Times about the negative connotations that the word ‘tax’ has taken on. He suggests we start using the word ‘dues’ instead, a move that would, in Conniff’s opinion, make people less hostile to paying for the services we need from government.
Conniff’s piece evokes the current trend on the political left to shed the word ‘liberal’ in favor of ‘progressive.’ Since the 1970’s, Conservatives have invested millions of dollars in turning ‘liberal’ into a synonym with pariah. Many of my friends on the left stopped referring to themselves as liberal years ago, but are slowly beginning to embrace the ‘progressive’ label.
Conniff and others who want to play these type of word games need to be patient. It takes time, money and a chorus of people consistently using the new term before one can see any measurable change in the labels used in political discourse. One also shouldn’t assume that Conservatives will sit silently on the sidelines and let their cherished bogeymen of ‘taxes’ and ‘liberal’ lose their political value. Given the Conservative success in defining political discourse, ‘progressive’ and ‘dues’ could carry the same negative connotations in 30 years that ‘liberal’ and ‘tax’ does today.
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