Obama in the News
Honesty helps Obama separate past from future
Five reasons why it was good news for Sen. Barack Obama last week when The Washington Post published a front-page story about his use of cocaine when he was a teenager.
1. It was already old news about even older news.
2. The inevitable debate about youthful indiscretions and full disclosure can take place outside the heat of the campaign.
3. The debate is already settled.
4. The story has contributed to the bilious right-wing overreaction to Obama that will ultimately attract interest and support from moderates.
5. It’s a gut-check right when he needs one.
But it is the Democrats who carry the advantage of novelty going into the 2008 election, particularly Senator Obama. Mr. Luntz suggests that Mr. Obama’s 2004 convention speech offers a good example of the communication techniques he advises. In one passage of that speech Mr. Obama declared, “We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States.” Mr. Luntz gives Mr. Obama high marks for this speech for several reasons: Mr. Obama speaks to the 70% of nonpartisan Americans who hate both the blue and red states, he invokes God and Little League, and he paints memorable visual pictures.
The sentence where God is mentioned, Mr. Luntz says, “is designed for conservative independents and even some Republicans. That says Democrats are not Godless. That the Democrats have a sense of spirituality.” As for Mr. Obama’s Little League reference, Mr. Luntz gives him points because “What can be more Norman Rockwell than Little League?” One of the concluding sentences in Mr. Obama’s speech, “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America,” is particularly effective because Mr. Luntz notes that it is descriptive. “Stars and stripes immediately brings to mind a flag with beautiful colors,” Mr. Luntz says.
Republicans are not alone in their difficulty in clearly communicating their agenda to the public. Senator Clinton’s rhetorical technique is to divide the two parties into “us and them” whereas Mr. Obama’s speech brings people together. One of Mr. Luntz’s rules is that public officials speak “aspirationally” to the bulk of voters, who want to see themselves as patriotic and part of the mainstream, not partisan agitators. Mr. Obama’s “exact verbal opposite is Hillary Clinton. Left versus right, everyone else versus us, or wrong versus right. Her whole message is ‘we’re ok, they’re not.’ Barack Obama is the uniter. Hillary Clinton is the divider,” Mr. Luntz says.
Obama, Clinton Speak At Economic Forum In Midtown
Two of the biggest names considering a run for the White House spoke at a forum in Midtown Monday. NY1 Political reporter Rita Nissan filed the following report.
Illinois Senator Barack Obama was surrounded by African American leaders at an economic forum in Midtown Monday – the people he’ll need standing with him if he runs for president.
The Democrat spoke at the economic summit hosted by Reverend Jesse Jackson.
“Ultimately, you can have political equality, but if you don’t make progress on the economic front, then we’re just going to continue to have problems,” said Obama.
