CORRECTED: Republicans Stage More Effective Convention-Experts

[hang a left]

CORRECTED: Republicans Stage More Effective Convention-Experts
Thu Sep 2, 2004 09:14 PM ET

(Deletes reference to Monday in 12th paragraph because Schwarzenegger spoke on Tuesday.)
By Mark Egan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republicans staged a more effective convention than Democrats because they portrayed President Bush as a strong leader and combined that theme with effective attacks on his Democratic rival, experts said on Thursday.

While both the Republicans and Democrats achieved their goals during their respective conventions, the Democrats focused on introducing Sen. John Kerry to the nation and convincing people he could be commander-in-chief. The Republicans set their sights much higher.

"The Republicans have done a much more proficient job of packaging the whole affair and making sure the message is salable, commercial and riveting," said Michael Wolff, media critic at Vanity Fair magazine.

Wolff said July's Democratic convention in Boston was "more risk-averse, cautious and even conservative."

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=6140657

[CalProf]

1. Bullshit. nt

[bemildred]

2. Bullshit. nt

[Leilani]

3. I heard some one say that the Repubs know how to stage things better

For example: on the nights of big speeches, they came right after each other.

Zell had no sooner finished speaking, then Lynn Cheney came out.

That is to prevent the talking heads from putting their own spin on things.

[mbperrin]

4. "cough"bu"cough"shit!

nt

[BootinUp]

5. I hear. and. obey. my. master...........

How the f do they justify that opinion!!!

[soothsayer]

6. Effective hate mongering, yes.

Effective campaigning? mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmNO!

[Catfight]

7. They are so transparent, I'm really convinced if people are so stupid

to fall for this crap, then they deserve what they get. It's like taking candy from a baby, what a bunch of none thinking followers of Bush, reminds me of Helter Skelter. Pretty soon, they'll have tattoo's on their foreheads of crosses.

[xxqqqzme]

8. well they ARE better

at name calling; finger pointing; obfuscating the truth; raising lame-ass trust fund children; collecting the 'biggest gathering of white people in Madison Square Garden since the last Ranger's game' (J. Stewart); scaring the shit out of people cuz they can; and slamming that 'open door' on some select minorities.

[sonicx]

9. "terror 9/11 terror 9/11 terror 9/11 terror 9/11 terror 9/11"

THAT's effective?

:argh:

[sniffa]

10. i'm an expert and i can teLL you

this convention wiLL resuLt in a negative bounce.

[Zorra]

11. "Experts say raw sewage is a health drink"

But I'm not going to buy it.

[truthisfreedom]

20. what about that Sludge article on drinking urine today?

not kidding. a cup a day.

[bagnana]

12. Unbelievable. Bush bashing is called Bush bashing

Kerry bashing is called "hard hitting criticism." This is so ridiculous! Our liberal media is just killing me.

[progressivebydesign]

13. Total fucking bullshit. Complete bullshit.

I had no idea that crack was available in the press boxes. Michael Wolff is an idiot... I'm not being partisan when I say this.. Their convention sucked big time! There was not one real riveting moment, except for Arnold's speech, which I have heard was popular. I was prepared to be depressed because their convention was good.. it sucked. It sucked in a painfully embarrassing way. When your keynote speaker is BANNED from sight.. then your convention SUCKED!!!

[0rganism]

14. Know what? With the media's help, they're exactly correct

I see a lot of denial in this thread. A LOT of denial.

The media set up the Democrats to "avoid bush bashing" or some shit like that. So the Dems tried to build up Kerry, via his war rep and his family.

Now look at what the Republicans have done to Kerry over the last week. Forget the swift boat liars, just take the composite of what Zell and Rudy and Ahnold and Cyborg and the rest have said about John Kerry. It's UNREAL how much they've struck at him, I don't recall anything like it.

The Democrats succumbed to the prodding of the media to "not bash bush", and now the republicans are getting free hits. It's pretty obvious what happened.

[KittyWampus]

15. It's Delusional To Think Kerry Held Postive Campaign Due To Mediawhores

how anyone could believe that is beyond me.

It was a great and it worked.

And Kerry essentially DARED the assholes to attack his war record.

[0rganism]

19. We'll see how it turns out; I certainly hope I'm Delusional

There was a LOT of pressure on the speakers at the Dem convention to hold back and not attack shrub. Much of the speach content was vetted for exactly this reason. Now we'll see how well the positive campaign start can compete head-to-head with the lowest bucket of slime I've ever seen tossed at a candidate.

If propaganda didn't work, no one would pay for advertising.

[sampsonblk]

18. Its more than just the media though

As far back as the Dem primaries, Dem leaders were saying that the public was not in the mood for negative campaigning. Some attributed Edwards' success to his positive campaigning style. Dem candidates who went negative took an awful beating from their own party.

Part of this is our own chickens coming home to roost.

[regnaD kciN]

24. You're right, it's not just the media...

Can you say "Democratic LOSERship Council?" Sure, you can!

The same crowd that gave us the 2002 debacle was quite loud during the primaries and their aftermath, generally bashing Dean, but also spreading the meme that "anger" and "Bush-hatred" would be a sure voter turn-off, and that Democrats had to avoid any negativity if they wanted a chance to win.

And while there's a kernel of truth to the notion that hope and a positive vision are helpful in attracting voters, they neglect one obvious point: the reason that harsh negative campaigning has been the hallmark of Republicans for the past fifty years is simply because it works. Had it proven ineffective, the tactic would have been abandoned long ago. But it has helped the G.O.P. turn from a mere minority party into the vehicle that controls all branches of U.S. government.

As long as Democrats continue to meet Republican mudslinging with a Caspar Milquetoast determination to "not be unsporting," they will continue to wake up with a headache the day after elections, asking themselves "What happened?" Hopefully, that attitude came to an end tonight.

[sampsonblk]

29. Amen!

You said that much better than I did.

[fujiyama]

27. .

[young_at_heart]

16. It's just a big "TV show", nothing more

Packaging just doesn't sound like a proper word for a convention, but it's all done for the cameras. They are highly scripted and the days of platform struggles are over.

[TahitiNut]

17. And Junior FlyShit doesn't give a damned if he speechifies past 11pm ...

... since he KNOWS the networks damned well better cover him. The media is used (willingly) like a fascist club.

During the Dem Convention, the media was plastered from top to bottom with reichbot propagandists. That, of course, was "balance."

Then, during the Repuke Convention, the media has been plastered from top to bottom with reichbot propagandists. That, of course, was "fair."

:puke: It does me little good to block Pox News .. since they're all in bed with the pimps of greed.

[truthisfreedom]

21. if they were trying to destroy the party, they certainly accomplished it.

only they blew their own brains out.

[Democat]

22. Some of you can't handle the truth

Attacking the other guy while building up your guy is more effective than just building up your guy.

It's not rocket science and the Kerry campaign made a stupid mistake with their "positive" bullshit.

It doesn't mean Kerry is going to lose, but it means he threw away some great chances to take Bush down early on.

[sandnsea]

23. Oh it sucked

I turned Bush on for 5 minutes about 30 minutes into his speech. The crowd was lethargic. They think he can stand up there and say "I'm a leader" and that makes it so??? This was the worst convention in decades.

[VolcanoJen]

25. Bullshit. (cough) Bullshit.

:dem:

[BrotherBuzz]

26. Well, they did have more flags....

That's gotta count for something. :crazy:

[Piperay]

28. It's lose lose

for the Democrats, if we had bashed the repukes the media would have hammered us. :-( Democrats have a positive convention and get hammered for that. In the end the Democrats have to do what they feel is best and not let the repukes force them into being what they are not because we get criticized no matter what. :shrug: