Another politics post: Hillary?
Hillary Clinton is a negative branding ninja. She and her advisors are demonstrating through their management of media cycles that they have the ambition and skills to tarnish Obama's brand and probably that any of any Republican who challenges her in the general election. Three recent incidents confirm for me her ability to kick ass.
The first incident involved Bill Shaheen, Clinton's New Hampshire campaign, repeatedly mentioning Obama's past cocaine use. Then former senator Bob Kerrey, who had recently endorsed Clinton, publicly described Obama as having been educated in a madrassa (muslim religious school). Finally, over the past few days, three members of Hillary's staff in Iowa have been fired for forwarding around emails claiming that Obama is muslim. In each case, Hillary moved very quickly to discipline the offending parties.
To understand why these are examples of Clinton kicking ass, you need to understand how modern politics works. First things first: Those incidents weren't accidents. Given the Clinton campaign's military-like insistence upon discipline in the ranks, I think we need to assume that stories emerging from the campaign emerge because she wants them to.
The second thing to understand is how important owning a media cycle is. When a story like the Shaheen story breaks, it fills a day's worth of campaign coverage. When Clinton apologizes and disciplines staff the next day, the story earns a second full day of coverage. Most people don't follow political news that intently. They just see the ticker on Fox or CNBC. So they just see the words "Obama" and "cocaine" and "Obama" and "muslim" repeated endlessly on the tube for two days.
And that, dear readers, is how you use media ninjitsu to tarnish your competitor's brand.
The first incident involved Bill Shaheen, Clinton's New Hampshire campaign, repeatedly mentioning Obama's past cocaine use. Then former senator Bob Kerrey, who had recently endorsed Clinton, publicly described Obama as having been educated in a madrassa (muslim religious school). Finally, over the past few days, three members of Hillary's staff in Iowa have been fired for forwarding around emails claiming that Obama is muslim. In each case, Hillary moved very quickly to discipline the offending parties.
To understand why these are examples of Clinton kicking ass, you need to understand how modern politics works. First things first: Those incidents weren't accidents. Given the Clinton campaign's military-like insistence upon discipline in the ranks, I think we need to assume that stories emerging from the campaign emerge because she wants them to.
The second thing to understand is how important owning a media cycle is. When a story like the Shaheen story breaks, it fills a day's worth of campaign coverage. When Clinton apologizes and disciplines staff the next day, the story earns a second full day of coverage. Most people don't follow political news that intently. They just see the ticker on Fox or CNBC. So they just see the words "Obama" and "cocaine" and "Obama" and "muslim" repeated endlessly on the tube for two days.
And that, dear readers, is how you use media ninjitsu to tarnish your competitor's brand.
posted by Moses Kagan at
2:58 AM
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