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Massaging the message Good ProductBy Rick Horowitz
Deep inside a large white house...
"...so you guys have the early numbers for me?" "That, and some of the anecdotals. It's looking OK, Karl." "Meaning?" "I don't think he moved lots of people one way or the other, but maybe he stopped the slide. He spent an hour with the guy and he didn't mess up, and that's gotta be worth something." "Our job is to make sure it's worth something. Russert's the best in the business, right? Our guy went head-to-head with him and never backed down. Line of the day?" "'A triumphant performance -- the president clearly showed that he's on top of his game.'" "Why wouldn't he be? You don't want to sound surprised." "'A portrait of principled and courageous leadership'?" "Too fluffy." "'The president took note of his administration's many accomplishments, and set forth a clear vision of where he intends to lead the country over the next four years.'" "'In a dangerous world.'" "'In a dangerous world.'" "That'll work. And the key words? How'd we do with the key words?" "Really well, Karl. We're getting 90-plus retention on 'madman,' and high 80s on 'dangerous' and 'dangerous place.' We're also doing mid-70s on 'judgment' and 'decision.'" "'History's call to America'? 'I accept the call'?" "Not much so far. I guess we'll have to push those a little harder." "I love that line." "It'll get there, Karl -- just like with the subliminals." "'Product.'" "Exactly. Good intelligence 'product' -- just jargony enough to sound like he knows what he's talking about, but not so far inside they start blaming him for the screw-ups." "And the tone? The body language? What are you hearing?" "Kind of low energy. Like he was holding himself back." "He was holding himself back! We told him to dial it down a little, show the humble side. It plays better with the soccer moms." "But not too much, Karl. The base needs him fired up if they're gonna get fired up." "I know what the base needs." "I just meant -- " "Now they're ticked off he didn't mention gay marriage. He was supposed to, but Russert kept pushing all that other stuff." "We're also hearing he's aged a lot. His eyes were baggy, the long sighs, the whole nine -- " "This president doesn't sigh." "I didn't mean any -- " "He might have taken a deep breath. Or let it out. But he never sighs -- got it?" "Got it." "The aging thing isn't all bad, though. 'Seasoned leader for serious times.' Besides, Kerry's got that 'We're a little older, a little grayer' bit -- can't have him cutting into the NASCAR crowd." "'Seasoned leader for serious times' -- we'll get right on it." "Back to the base for just a second?" "Maybe we can say he was being subliminal there, too -- you know, like he was blinking 'No gay marriage' in Morse Code?" "You think they'll buy it?" "Or we could get him another lapel pin." "Or what if we..." Posted 2/10/04. Make
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Rick Horowitz
