The other day I wrote a column called "Message Wars" in which I said the White House holds all the cards when it comes to defining the domestic agenda. Many of you thought I needed to have the prescription checked for my rose-colored glasses.
On Wednesday morning I was on MSNBC to discuss this very issue.
While I was sitting on the set, MSNBC carried a portion of the Democratic House leadership's press conference in which they unfurled their new slogan: "Securing America's Future for all our Families."
David Espo, AP's Special Correspondent, pointed out that House Republicans immediately complained they had been using the slogan "Securing America's Future" since 1999. "Contract with America" was apparently too much even for Dick Gephardt.
Anyway, Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Assistant to the Minority Leader Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) were droning on about why the Democrats' agenda will sweep them back into the majority. At one point Ms. DeLauro said she was "bewildered" by the Republicans' lack of funding for education programs.
Host Rick Sanchez came to me and I said I know how difficult this is, having tried to herd Republicans in Congress on message points for several years while Bill Clinton was President.
There are 262-or-so independently elected Democrats voting on Capitol Hill. Each one of them knows they have the VERY BEST formulation for presenting the Party's views to the public. Thus, the public hears 262-or-so different messages.
There is ONE President who sits in ONE White House atop ONE Administration which speaks with ONE voice. So much so, that when someone in the Administration drifts off the reservation that, in and of itself, is news.
So, we're having this discussion as DeLauro is whining about education and MSNBC cuts to the Rose Garden where the One President is presenting the award for Teacher of the Year.
In part, President Bush said:
"[This] ceremony not only honors a single individual; the ceremony honors an entire profession. Teachers make extraordinary contributions to the communities in which they lived and, therefore, make extraordinary contributions to our entire country. We give our teachers a great responsibility: to shape the minds and hopes of our children. We owe them our thanks and our praise and our support."
After carrying the President's remarks in full, MSNBC came back to finish the discussion. I said, "I rest my case."
That wasn't all. President Bush, on his way to Prairie Chapel Ranch for a meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince, made a detour to South Dakota the home state of one Tom Daschle. The visit raised a bunch of money for GOP Congressman John Thune for his Senate campaign against incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Johnson this fall. The President also visited an Ethanol plant as part of his energy push.
According to David Von Drehle's Washington Post reporting "Daschle hightailed it home in the company of Johnson, the targeted incumbent. They chartered a plane and flew roughly six hours round-trip, determined not to let Bush and Thune hog the day."
So this was the Democrats' day on Wednesday:
-- House Democrats held a press conference to define the agenda in their terms.
-- The debate immediately turned to the slogan, not the substance.
-- The President trumped them with a Rose Garden Ceremony.
-- The President went to South Dakota to show the GOP Flag.
-- Tom Daschle had to charter a plane and be photographed smiling and applauding the President.
By the way, on the front page of yesterday's Washington Post there were seven stories. Of those,
-- One was Von Drehle's piece including that picture of Daschle and Johnson smiling and applauding (Energy);
-- A second: "Bush plans to Endorse Mental Health Parity" (Health Care);
-- A third: "President Backs House Bid to Split INS" (immigration and homeland defense);
-- A fourth: "House Passes Accounting Reform Package" (retirement security).
Nowhere, in the entire A section of the Washington Post, was there a single word about the Democrats' new agenda initiative.
Cancel my eye-doctor appointment. These glasses are just fine.
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today the President's remarks in the Rose Garden, the Washington Post South Dakota story, as well as the usual stuff.
If you are working at a lobbying firm, a government affairs office, a coalition, or a PAC you should take a
look at this page to see how advertising in Mullings might serve your organization very well:
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