Make sure that surrogate speakers agree with your "mission"
In a recent speech given my Senator John McCain in Cincinnati, Ohio, the man who was to introduce him was considered to be completely on McCain's "side." Bill Cunningham, A Cincinnati talk radio show host of The Big Show With Bill Cunningham, a Republican at heart found it an honor to be introducing the potential presidential candidate for the republican party. He began his introduction speech speaking about what will happen a year from now if Barack Obama is sitting in the White House, and goes into detail that he will be having several people who are not in favor with many republicans to be with Barack "Hussein" Obama during his presidency. He speaks out in a crude fashion, and doesn't necessarily introduce McCain as much as he introduces the fact that he does not agree with Barack Obama.
The point of having a surrogate speaker is to have someone who is appealing, or to have someone who is in good favor of the public eye introduce or speak about the candidate in a positive light and really not associate bad things with their name. What this introduction turned into was the fact that McCain not only had to denounce the speaker, but take up for Barack. This case of having a surrogate speaker, a radio personality, actually caused more harm than good because of the immediate damage control that McCain had to do when he should have just been able to speak in Cincinnati.
Now candidates have to be worried not only about speeches, appearances and debates, but they have to be worried about those who are supposedly speaking on their behalf. Because Senator McCain had to take up for himself and Obama, the Cunningham is not telling the media that "McCain threw him under a truck" and is forcing McCain to deal with such an irrelevant problem that Cunningham caused.
The point of having a surrogate speaker is to have someone who is appealing, or to have someone who is in good favor of the public eye introduce or speak about the candidate in a positive light and really not associate bad things with their name. What this introduction turned into was the fact that McCain not only had to denounce the speaker, but take up for Barack. This case of having a surrogate speaker, a radio personality, actually caused more harm than good because of the immediate damage control that McCain had to do when he should have just been able to speak in Cincinnati.
Now candidates have to be worried not only about speeches, appearances and debates, but they have to be worried about those who are supposedly speaking on their behalf. Because Senator McCain had to take up for himself and Obama, the Cunningham is not telling the media that "McCain threw him under a truck" and is forcing McCain to deal with such an irrelevant problem that Cunningham caused.
posted by elopez | 10:20 AM
6 Comments:
It is a great topic to bring up surrogate speakers and their effects on the candidates they speak for -- particularly when what is intended to be a positive campaign tool, turns into a more hurtful strategy.
In the case of Bill Cunningham and Sen. John McCain, it is unfortunate that the "introduction" was less than ideal for the McCain campaign. However, what turned out to be more work on the campaign may have actually helped increase popularity with Sen. McCain.
The way in which he immediately responded and recognized the problem, as well as apologized for it is an admirable quality. The American people want a leader who can recognize wrongs and address it specifically -- and it doesn't hurt when there is an apology that goes along with it.
The way in which McCain was introduced was what could have been a campaign crisis, but may have turned out to be a light shining on the character of the candidate.
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Good point, Lynda. McCain did the right thing and probably won't suffer any long-term damage from Cunningham's remarks. Although as Elyse points out, now Cunningham is slamming back at McCain for making him a scapegoat. I don't think McCain will be using Cunningham as a surrogate any more.
We have often talked about in class how sometimes it is difficult for a communicator who is good on radio, for example, to jump mediums and still be as effective. On the radio, Bill Cunningham maybe a bit over-the-top and still be able to get away with it because political radio is very opinion driven. But when introducing a hopeful presidential candidate, like McCain at an important venue for gathering campaign support, it is a better move to play things more "straight." Cunningham introduced McCain as his "radio-self," and overstepped a boundary.
It seems like an obvious thing to ensure that surrogates are compatible with your vision, platform, and overall campaign aesthetic. However, it seems like none of the candidates are able to do this well at all. McCain did handle it well, unlike either Democratic candidate.
It just goes to show that when it seems as if everything is going smoothly, something can go out of control.
The problem surrogate speaker pose is a complex one. As a democratic society, we hope that the views being communicated are representative of the desire of the people, but I feel surrogate speakers have the potential to be as self-serving as the politicians themselves. One would hope that a surrogate's agenda would correspond to that of a politician. But I suspect that surrogate speakers have their own agenda and they will pursue that first.
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