Only 38% approve of Bush's work on Social Security...

[Dawgs]

I like to see that. I don't get the 46% that expect major progress though. Either way, his marketing campaign doesn't seem to be working on most of Americans. I know, no big deal. With all of the bad news coming from Iraq, I see this as good news.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=419276, scroll to bottom.

[snippy]

1. The marketing campaign has barely begun.

Republicans just recently outlined their strategy for deceiving and manipulating the public about Bush's plan for changing Social Security.

Social Security Push to Tap the GOP Faithful
Campaign's Tactics Will Drive Appeal

By Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 14, 2005; Page A06

President Bush plans to reactivate his reelection campaign's network of donors and activists to build pressure on lawmakers to allow workers to invest part of their Social Security taxes in the stock market, according to Republican strategists.

White House allies are launching a market-research project to figure out how to sell the plan in the most comprehensible and appealing way, and Republican marketing and public-relations gurus are building teams of consultants to promote it, the strategists said.

The campaign will use Bush's campaign-honed techniques of mass repetition, never deviating from the script and using the politics of fear to build support -- contending that a Social Security financial crisis is imminent when even Republican figures show it is decades away.

. . .

In addition to their own efforts, White House and RNC officials are working closely with the same outside groups that helped Bush win reelection in 2004, especially Progress for America, a political organization with close ties to Rove. RNC officials have privately told top congressional aides they will work with Progress for America and others to provide political cover through television ads supporting the Bush position and condemning those who oppose it. To coincide with Bush's new drive, Progress for America is running a television ad on Fox and CNN that compares Bush to Franklin Roosevelt, the father of Social Security.

The group also phoned or e-mailed Republicans, culled from its list of more than 1 million supporters, to enlist their help in selling the Bush plan, either by donating money or talking up the plan to neighbors. Brian McCabe, a spokesman for the group, said it is applying the lessons it learned electing a president to selling a public policy.

. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7797-200 ...

Note that Bush and his minions now are so arrogant that they are openly boasting of intending to use "the politics of fear" to deceive and manipulate the public.

By the way, this article describes the democratic party as

"scrambling to organize in the face of a multimillion-dollar juggernaut, have yet to settle on any particular counterargument but said they believe Bush's rollout of the idea has been rocky and new details will give them more ammunition."

So while the republican party already has a well developed strategy and is doing market research, building teams of consultants to promote Bush's plan, and contacting Bush followers to help in "selling" the plan, the democratic party has yet to develop a strategy. Democrats need to make a much greater effort if they are to have any effect at all on Bush's plan. Democrats need at least a preliminary strategy which can be implemented immediately even if the entire strategy can not be fully developed until later.

At a minimum, Democrats should be educating the public about the actual facts concerning the financial condition of the Social Security program. An astonishing number of people, especially younger people, think that the Social Security program, if left unchanged, will be unable to pay any benefits at all in the future. Democrats need to correct that misimpression. Democrats also should be pointing out that Bush is keeping the details of his plan secret. Finally, democrats should be talking about the fact that the republicans have announced that they intend to use misinformation, campaign style rallies and tactics, and the "politics of fear" to persuade people to support Bush's plan.

Democrats also should be doing some market research, including some focus group research which includes both people who support Bush's plan and people who oppose it. Because Bush is keeping the details of his plan secret, democrats should be polling Bush followers and other supporters of private accounts to learn more about the expectations of those people so that the criticisms of the plan can be tailored to weaken support for Bush's plan. They also should be preparing to talk about the information concerning the performance of the federal government employee Thrift Savings Plan. Many of Bush's followers think that his plan will allow thenm to get rich. Democrats need to be prepared to crush those expectations when Bush finally reveals the details of his secret plan.