dueling endorsements

update: the McCain-endorsement story has legs 

I’m struck by some very different reactions to the major political endorsements of the last couple of days, both of which I would categorize as major PRopaganda^TM events.

When Barack Obama was crowned by the Kennedy family on Monday at a rally at Washington American University in Washington, D.C. (ETP’s Rachel Sklar delivered a flavor of the ambience here), I didn’t hear a lot of objections to the adulatory press coverage, of Google News offered one small sample:

Windsor Star

Sen. Kennedy endorses Obama for president
Kansas City Star, MO - Jan 29, 2008
By MARGARET TALEV With nostalgic references to his assassinated brother, President John F. Kennedy, liberal icon Sen. Edward Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama …
Video: Raw Video: Governor Speaks About Kennedy Endorsements Obama Hopes to Reap Benefits of Kennedy Presidential Endorsement Voice of America
Ted Kennedy endorses Obama Jamaica Gleaner
CNN - Reuters UK
all 1,302 news articles »

By contrast, on the next night, while anchoring Florida primary coverage on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann set the deeply disapproving—if not outraged—tone for liberals when he heard that Rudy Giuliani would be endorsing John McCain the next day. (I wrote about it here, as I watched K.O.’s creepazoid performance. He also dissed Hillary Clinton by saying that her primary victory in Florida was “meaningless.”)

I wasn’t around to watch the Republicans’ piece of political theater (live, from the Reagan Library) the next day (you can watch it here), but The Flack offered his professional color commentary:

He ran a losing campaign with more than his share of PR gaffes.

Yet, as I sit here watching Rudy Giuliani’s withdrawal and endorsement speech, I can’t help but think how he timed this anti-climactic announcement to run live on the local TV network lead-ins across most of the nation. Geesh. He finally did something right on the media strategy front. [e.a.]

The Flack is impressed professionally but appalled personally:

The nation’s local TV news directors took the bait — hook, line and sinker — to hand over to this right wing ideologue unfettered access to a large hunk of their news programming holes. The Giuliani withdrawal speech morphed into a several-minute commercial for that pasty, anachronistic candidate who has stood by this failed presidency more than any other. [e.a.]

I’m left with the impression that if local TV news directors had handed over unfettered access to a left-wing ideologue, everything would have been just fine and dandy—from both a professional and a personal point of view.

Because I wasn’t around to watch TV during either of those live events and I don’t have the time to research how much airtime either of them got and on which channels, I can’t parse which PRopaganda^TM event got “fairer” treatment by the media. Nor do I care.

I get the Rudy hatred.*** What I don’t get is the attitude that TV programmers somehow shouldn’t have given airtime to strategists who came up with a very effective PR campaign, regardless of its content.

“Free media” is free to those who can grab it, no? The competition’s PR “consiglieres” just have to try harder, that’s all. It’s the American way!

———-

*** Though I don’t share it. He did a lot of good things for New York while haranguing us with his in-your-face law-and-orderism, which during Election ‘08 has been characterized as “Rudy is a fascist.” Been there, done that. Whatever.

Personally, I welcome what I see as a trend toward moderation in the Republican Party that the rise of McCain and Giuliani signals—I hope it means a trend of having opponents across the aisle that Democrats can work with.

I also agree that Giuliani has run a campaign of ideas—and that unlike his opponents on the Republican side, he has ideas.

But I know that partisanship trumps everything right now. Oh well.