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BP - Absolute Worst Public Relations Savvy in History of Human Enterprise

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Point of Order, Jun 19, 2010.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I understand it's not the same thing.

    Where did I say it was?

    Why is everyone so defensive?

    Did you really expect your President to go eight years and receive no criticism?

    It was a couple of simple questions. There's no reason to act like I accused him of kidnapping and murder or like I asked anything tougher than was it a good PR move for Rahm to pile on and for Obama to play a round of golf.

    You answer that it's not the same thing. I know that.

    Now try to actually answer my question. Was it good PR for Obama? It's not hard.
     
  2. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    It's utterly meaningless, indifferent PR to 98% of the country. He's the president. No one reasonably expects him to sit at his desk in the Oval Office, wringing his hands over the inequities of the world 20 hours a day every single day of his term. He gets to golf now and then. He gets to go to ball games. We get that.

    The other two percent of the country is desperate to score points by "proving" that BP is Obama's Katrina and will scream about everything he does. To them, it's bad PR... and anything else he close to do would be bad PR with that group, too.
     
  3. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    You should apply to be a moderator. You always so helpful.

    And we're not discussing politics. We're discussing the PR savvy of BP and the President.

    It's not the same thing.

    I haven't commented on or criticized his politics or any political decision.
     
  4. sportsguydave

    sportsguydave Active Member

    YF: We all know your leanings, so to be fair, your own questions don't exactly spring from a foundation of intellectual honesty. Admit it. Your interests here lie in painting Obama in a bad light.

    As to your questions:

    1. I'm not sure there are any hard and fast standards for situations like this. Like Harry Blackmun (I believe) once famously said of pornography, you know it when you see it. And good PR certainly doesn't include jetting off to nice clean waters to enjoy a boat race, when your company has fouled thousands of square miles of beaches and water, depriving millions of others of both their livelihood and the chance to enjoy similar receational opportunities. And yeah, as head of the company that caused the problem, the standards certainly apply to Heyward.

    2 and 3. Good PR move for Emanuel to attack Heyward? Absolutely. Pretty much a can't-miss situation when tone-deaf dolts like Heyward and his cohorts keep lobbing hanging sliders at you. And as for Obama's leisure activity: I think most Americans are intelligent enough to separate the two. We realize that even when he's on the golf course or at a Nats game, the President is still on duty. I don't think reasonable folks are going to begrudge the President his personal time, unless it's seen to be extreme.
     
  5. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I disagree with you and I think time will tell.

    Criticism is certainly mounting & I think it will get worse -- especially since it doesn't look like the oil spill will end any time soon.

    And I don't think you want to give your opponents ammunition.

    But at least you answered the question(s) honestly.

    Thank you.
     
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Back page of the New York Post this morning, huge "Captain Clueless" headline with photo of the BP CEO.

    Of course the story of the day had nothing to do with Obama. And that is the gauge.

    The NY Post will trip all over itself to take a shot at Obama if it can, and him playing golf was a non-story to anyone not stretching themselves farther than even the Post will to try to make every story into a strained indictment of Obama (Apparently Matt Drudge and YF form that club).

    The populist story of the day (the NY Post will tell you the populist story of the day if it's a national story) was the dick CEO whose company caused an oil spill, and who has displayed just how out of touch with the world he is and just how sheltered the lives of most Fortune 500 CEO's are.

    And YF, few people know who Rahm Emanuel is or give two shits about what he has to say. Even if they did know who he is, Rahm Emanuel poking fun at the BP CEO sparks zero outrage right now. That CEO is about the easiest target on the planet right now.

    No matter how much opinion of Obama has suffered over this whole thing, even the people who expect him to personally clean the oil spill with a wet-dry vac by next week have way greater contempt for BP and this CEO (FWIW, the CEO is inspiring hatred from the masses because of class jealousy, but in this case, that CEO is so clueless, he has brought it on himself by giving people a reason to actually know him by name, because he is such a doof), which means when he goes yachting (what a contrast to the Gulf Coast right now!) while his oil well is destroying an ecosystem, yeah he attarcts some notice. When the president -- who even the irrational masses know didn't cause the oil spill -- plays golf, it isn't any more of a story than any other non-story people want to use to find fault with a sitting president.
     
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I think questions 1 & 3 are fairly up to debate.

    On question 2, I think it's an unmitigated error by Rahm to criticize Hayward. He should have known better, but he just couldn't help himself.

    His criticism didn't help things and it only opened Obama up to similar criticism.

    This is really a cardinal rule.
     
  8. sportsguydave

    sportsguydave Active Member

    It opened Obama up to criticism mainly from the people who criticize him all day every day, anyway. Not much to be lost among that crowd.
     
  9. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Ragu & Dave, did you watch the Stewart clip?

    Have you seen some of the jokes the late night talk show hosts have been telling?

    How Obama is spending his time is already an issue -- and not just on FoxNews.

    It's crossed over into the public consciousness when Comedy Central & the Tonight Show are making fun of him.

    And this was all before this weekend.

    Now, it will be an issue every time he plays golf or hosts some celebrity or team at the WH.

    I'm not saying that one ball game or one round of golf is a crime, but they're adding up and people are paying attention.

    And Rahm might not matter to most people, but when they play his clip next week on Meet the Press and ask some prominent Dem to comment on Obama's activities, the Dem is going to squirm.

    And it's Rahm who will have contributed to the press going after Obama in this vein because of his comments. It doesn't matter if 99% of the public doesn't know who he is.

    The press knows who he is and he's given the press fuel for their fire.
     
  10. sportsguydave

    sportsguydave Active Member

    With all due respect, YF, I think you're putting just a bit too much hopin'/wishin' into this.

    Late-night talk show hosts and the Jon Stewarts of the world get much of their material from the president - whether it's a Democrat or Republican. Clinton got beat up by the Lettermans and Lenos for most of the second half of his second term. And when all was said and done, Clinton left office with pretty darn high approval ratings.

    Obama's turn was going to come eventually.

    Frankly, YF, this is a tempest in a teapot, despite your best efforts to make more out of it. The only folks who really care about this are the foaming-at-the-mouth, hate-Obama right and the chattering class in Washington, who can't exist without ginning up phony inside-the-Beltway controversies on a regular basis.
     
  11. Flying Headbutt

    Flying Headbutt Moderator Staff Member

    Fact of the matter is YF is going to take his shots at Obama every chance he gets. And no matter how false and misguided the analogies he wants to make are, he's going to try to make some of you argue against them, whether there is legitimacy or not. If you want to play the game, fine. There are times he's well-meaning and all, but when an issue even drifts near the political sphere, his default mode is find a way to criticize Obama and then come up with some nonsense to argue over. Later he'll have Joe Barton apologize.
     
  12. Point of Order

    Point of Order Active Member

    Just saw video of Obama on the driving range and, no, he shouldn't be golfing. It has nothing to do with the oil spill, though. His swing is awful.
     
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