Republican’s media strategy struggled to communicate the true face of America under Obama

November 15 2012

by Jodie Newell

Tucson Arizona

The counting of votes in the 2012 presidential campaign is almost complete with early and provisional votes drawing out the process. President Obama has another 4 years to continue his alleged program of change, the Republicans have another 4 years in the federal political wilderness. This is now a time of analysis and reflection on what went wrong and where the GOP will choose to head towards. One area that is in drastic need of an overhaul is the Republican media strategy.

For our part we experienced several instances during the 2012 election campaign cycle in which those responsible for the Republican media acted stupidly and were unreasonably hostile. Never mind the fact we are a conservative media outlet, we found this approach insulting and downright dumb. There were plenty of examples of the world according to President Obama, that were unacceptable, but were hardly spoken about or used to illustrate how the USA had worsened under his presidency.

Mass scenes of poverty on the beaches of Waianae, Hawaii. Thousands of empty houses affected by the mortgage crisis in Las Vegas, illegal immigration and an out of control drug trade of epic proportions in border towns of Arizona. Confronting scenes of mass stampedes in Dallas Texas, simply for rental allowance forms. There was plenty of material to work with, but was never clearly articulated by a Republican media strategy that appeared to be more focussed on telling their candidates who could and couldn't speak with them.

Let’s return to 2010 and the U.S. federal house and senate elections. There were signs of media strategy stupidity already being expressed by Republicans.

During a visit to Honolulu, we approached Hawaiian congressman Charles Dijou’s office. Dijou, had amazingly won a Republican seat in a special election in May.  We sought an interview with Charles and asked his staff if we could do so, We clearly stated we were a conservative media organisation. We initially were made to feel welcome, but soon Dijou’s staff became unreasonable. It began when we took a simple photo of Charles Dijou during a phone banking session. We were basically pushed out of his office by heavy handed staffers who totally ignored our conservative status.

Whilst we always understand the need for vetting and checks, it should have been painfully obvious that we wanted to hear and report on Dijou’s thoughts and policies. The congressman had some smart ideas, which included the organisation of an excellent jobs forum. We also wanted to discuss the confronting scenes of mass poverty in Hawaii that are to been seen on the beaches of Waianae, which is located some 33 miles out of Honolulu. Hundreds of folks live on the coast in shacks and tents and totally shreds the concept of Hawaii being simply an island paradise.

Since Hawaii is President Obama’s original home state, the situation is rarely discussed nor reported on by the leftist media who are more concerned with Mr Obama’s image and speech delivery. Mitt Romney’s handlers should have had him down there visiting these people and creating a national awareness about an unacceptable situation. But it was another missed opportunity to challenge the image driven mantra of the Democrat party.

Back to Charles Dijou, we finally got our interview with him and he spoke very well. For the record Dijou failed to retain his seat and again in 2012. We were impressed with his style and polices, yet we felt his message was being clouded by over protective media handlers who should have known better.

The other 2010 example was to be found in Las Vegas. Republican candidate Sharron Angle was up against senate leader Harry Reid. Public sentiment against the Obama administration at the time was huge, and Angle looked to have Reid on toast. According to an opinion poll of the day, Angle had a lead of some 50% to 39 % over Reid.

But did she talk to the media?? Did she offer herself readily for coverage?. We approached the Las Vegas Republican party and requested an interview. The media handler responsible told us there were to be no interviews and their approach was contemptible. There are reports that office staffers would use the phrase “Time to water the plants” whenever they suspected a reporter in their midst. What should have been turned into an advantage such as Angle walking the Vegas suburban streets full of deserted failed mortgage homes, Angle committed a fatal mistake of shunning national and local media.

Reid won, Angle lost what should have been an easy victory. The Republicans in Vegas thought it was a simple gimme and treated any media outlet with contempt. Those Republican office staffers now have plenty of time on their hands to water the plants instead of walking the corridors of Washington and making a difference to the USA.

Regardless of any media’s size, the Republican party should realize election results are made up of many 1% percenters. The Obama election team clearly understood this concept and whilst they have a natural advantage with the leftist press, they did not take any media coverage for granted.  This observation doesn't let the Obama media strategy off the hook. In terms of poor media liaison, we have found them to be the worst of offenders, with heavy handed staffers, possessing arrogant attitudes and a sense of privilege, which we found a total contradiction of their leader’s public policy. In 2008 we walked out of an Obama, Oprah Winfrey event in Des Moines Iowa after being pushed aside for supportive media by an Obama media staffer who told us in no uncertain terms “You are not important”. Again in Portland Oregon, an Obama staffer blatantly stood in front of our video camera and blocked our shot. When we politely asked this person to move, they rudely shouted back, “Get a bigger tripod”.

Come 2011 and the Iowa Straw poll signaled the beginning of the Republican primary cycle. Enter a resurgent Michele Bachmann who we found interesting. She was impressive with her pitch and she had momentum. We approached her and said hello at a public event in Winterset, Iowa and she was extremely pleasant. Sadly that’s where it ended. After the meeting we were confronted by another heavy handed Republican staffer who told us to stop filming a press conference which was being conducted in a public place. We asked them to identify themselves and they refused. We were not rude or arrogant. We were extremely offended by this approach and made it patently clear we were conservative. So much so we provided conservative credentials and media membership cards to establish our bona fides. This meant nothing in the eyes of the handler. It was offensive, stupid and absurd. Bachmann went on to win the Iowa Straw poll, but it all fell apart after that.Following her success in Iowa, Bachmann failed to register with voters in other primary contests. One wonders if her media team was partially to blame. The old adage you can never get enough coverage wasn't applied here.

Former Minnesotan governor Tim Pawlenty was extremely approachable, as was his staff who were friendly and helpful when we observed Tim speak at a meet and greet session in Iowa. There was no controls over the media in attendance. Tim spoke very well and presented some sound ideas, yet due to lack of support, he sadly pulled out of the race way too early in our opinion. Surely Tim Pawlenty must come into future reckoning for a possible Republican presidential candidate

So now comes the Tampa Bay Republican convention. We ran into another gem of a media staffer named Kathryn Lyons who was the convention’s media operations assistant. Ms Lyons claim to media fame was that she was formerly an office receptionist (hardly grounds for a posting in vetting media credentials and media related work at a high profile event). Her approach to our request and responses were amateurish to say the least. We approached the convention admin in early March requesting credentialling. Initially Ms Lyons fobbed us off to the US Capitol Hill Press gallery department. We thought why would a party such as the Republicans get a government department who oversaw press gallery passes, vet our application.

There is another story of arrogance and ignorance of the modern press to be found in that department. One fellow told us that they only gave out credentials to, get this, “Print & TV”. Never mind that it was 2012, where there are a multitude of websites and multimedia platforms of varying degrees. We couldn't believe the dinosaur approach held by the US government press gallery department.

So we return to Ms Lyons, who continually told us one story after another. We supplied ample material of our time on the campaign trail since 2007. In her eyes that wasn't good enough. We had met over that time, all of the key players in the presidential race from both sides,travelled thousands of miles, attended event after event, but that mattered little to Ms Lyons who was clearly out of her league and had no idea. It was insulting to read her letter informing us we were unsuccessful in obtaining credentialling for the Tampa Bay Convention. She cited an “overwhelming demand and lack of space” as one reason. One thinks of Ronald Reagan, a can do type of guy, who you could just imagine him saying, “Well build some more room and create space for those who wish to hear the Republican call”. Sadly Ms Lyon’s was another part, albeit minute, of the reason why the Republicans lost the election. It was very simple, They did not take care of their own.

Never once did we write a derogatory article about any Republican candidate, we were sincerely interested in getting their messages out, but time after time we ran into the Kathryn Lyon’s of the Republican media world.

Finally we decided to report from Tucson Arizona. It had been the perfect place to observe local, state and federal politics.  We had been visiting that state and city since 2007 and found the Republican Party of Pima County an excellent organization. They have produced some outstanding candidates and provide superb public forums, such as their regular Tuesday club luncheons where more often than not, you will hear opinion from a broad spectrum of the American community. We’ve heard former NRA president Sandy Froman give an excellent speech about the NRA and personal liberties that have been under attack from the Obama administration. Recently we heard a talk about the effects of Obamacare on the health industry.  PIma County Republican chairman Carolyn S. Cox is another very talented person. Carolyn handled the 2012 primary season with tact and good grace and is another reason why the Pima County Republicans are in healthy shape. Never once were we shunned from this fine organization, we were invited to attend “brown bag” lunches and pizza nights to hear candidates speak informally about their policies and views.

During the Pima Republican primary season, we gained access to most of the candidates. Jessie Kelly was a fine candidate in our opinion and Jessie always gave us his time when we requested an interview.Arizona State senator Frank Anternori impressed us as well, but unfortunately for Frank we are of the opinion he was poorly managed by his media staff. We found their approach to us rather puzzling. We were questioned about why Tucson and why were we there. Again it was rather insulting to be put through this line of questioning. Our response was : Why Not. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh continually spoke about the “drive by media”, something we didn't wish to appear to be. We wanted to fully understand a local conservative political environment and what better place than Tucson, which is a diverse, vibrant, modern city that is perfect for a political education.

There was an event prior to election day that illustrated the aforementioned media handlers ineptitude . All Republican candidates from all levels of government were on hand to discuss policy and views for employees of the Geico insurance company. It was a perfect opportunity for tweets, Facebook posts, Flickr photos and so on. We searched the twitterverse and other social media platforms and found scant to no coverage of the event on what should have been a stronger presence. For the record we posted several photos of the candidates on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter to get the message out about these fine candidates.

The point is this person chose to go through the motion of vetting and questioning, when their job should have been to maximize expose for their candidates. Make no mistake social media played an enormous part in the campaign of 2012. Republican media handlers need to lift their game and get with the program or continue to dwell in the political wilderness.

The NRA understands totally the new media environment and the Republican party could learn a lesson or three from this fine organisation. At the 2012 St Louis convention they readily granted access to web media and an army of bloggers who have solid audience numbers. The NRA knows this area is just as important as mainstream media. They were well organized, welcoming, helpful and totally had their heads around the cyber environment.

Finally to one of the hopes of the Republican side. Former U.S. Air Force colonel and Arizona Congressional District 2 candidate Martha McSally was a perfect example of how one should approach the media. Martha was more than happy to talk with us and offer her views. We weren't bullied by over zealous handlers. Martha’s team were pleasant and friendly and had in place a solid social media presence. All of our social media content of Martha that we posted received solid views and hits. It was patently clear, Martha McSally’s team “got it”. She ran a very close race to the favorite in Democrat Ron Barber. She surprised many who thought she didn't stand a chance. She finished way above the disgusting “war on women” smear campaign that  was engineered by desperate Democrats. They even had the gall to play the racist card, when a McSally backer made a legal challenge to votes cast in Cochise County (which is located outside of Tucson) Somehow the bizarre logic of the Democrats tried to imply this would disfranchise Latino voters. How in the heck that was going to happen was just another example of the grubby spin the Democrats were prepared to use. Martha McSally was all class and countered all of this nonsense, with calmness, a clear statement of facts and above all honesty.

In Australia there is talk of how the Gillard Government intends to use the Obama election strategy. The message for Tony Abbott is this, pay attention at how Martha McSally campaigned and countered the political tactic of spin and personal smear. It can be beaten.

As we publish, she is in a neck and neck race with Barber. We hope and pray Martha wins for the sake of Tucson, Arizona.

The loss in the 2012 election is a  sum of many parts. As discussed in this article, the Republican media strategy needs a complete overhaul. They need to realize that there is supportive media who seek to report on conservative polices and initiatives. The time for complaining about how the left always gets a run in the press is over. It’s about time the Republican media handlers started looking after their own, otherwise they will continue to wander the electoral wilderness which the USA and the free world simply does not need.