Politics & PR rumble, tumble, toil ‘n trouble

McCain’s Obama onslaught, launching negative ads that generate buzz in the pre-convention lull, is smart PR, what you expect from a wounded combatant. He’s using the media to generate media attention way beyond the ad buys alone. The first “negative” ad, which reportedly ran only six times in local markets, serves as the shot off the bow of a skirmish that will employ aggressive and creative PR tactics. It is proof of the power of PR – leveraged beyond its cost if employed correctly. McCain now has a Rove-trained attack dog who knows how to apply pain that reverberates through traditional and social media. Early advantage: GOP.

Barack Obama has so much money (his real advantage) that he can employ the best PR minds (sic) that money can buy.  Can Demos fend off the ‘wimp’ and ‘neophyte deluded celebrity’ tags the GOP is trying to pin on Obama? The answer to that could lead to victory in November. Lieberman and Kerry squared off on “Meet the Press” today to set the tenor of the escalating attack vs response cycle that will spin out as we head to the conventions. Obama can gain advantage by sticking Kerry in a corner and taping his mouth shut for the next couple of months. He seems to embarass Demos, and himself (not that he has that much self-awareness) whenever he speaks. He’s a loser – didn’t anybody tell him?

Mark Penn, head of Burson-Marsteller, is still smarting from the lashing he took as head Hillary Clinton pollster and message maven. Upfront it was obvious that Penn would go down in flames – you can’t head a PR agency involved in as much high level weirdness as Burson and not bring down a Presidential candidate. Penn has been on a mission since rejoining Burson to to present a non-partisian face to the public, most notably by hiring failed Republican spinner Karen Hughes to bolster business from both sides of the aisle.

Apparently, top-level Demo and GOP spinsters agree that money is infinitely more important than beliefs. And Hughes showed right off that she is perfectly suited for the PR agency business by dispatching an email to Bursonites full of hyperbole, obfuscations and excalmations that reads like a qualifying statement for $600+/hr PR consultant:

“today’s leaders in business and government face the challenge of thinking globally and acting locally, developing broad umbrella themes that shape perceptions of their industry, brand or product, while also customizing those messages for many different customers and cultures.” – excerpt from Karen Hughes email to Burson employees

This week 23/6 (Some of the news/Most of the time) launches its Get Your War On animated series by comic David Rees. First episode below, new episodes weekly. The political season is upon us.