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To: Oral Roberts who wrote (271016)	9/28/2008 7:48:48 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 793739

September 28th, 2008 4:20 PM Eastern Obama Hits McCain for “Katrina Like” Response to Economic Crisis by Bonney Kapp DETROIT - Alongside his running mate and his wife, Barack Obama addressed some 35,000 at an outdoor rally in Motor City today, focusing his prepared remarks on the economy. Congratulating both Republicans and Democrats for coming together to come up with an economic “rescue plan.” “It looks like we will pass that plan very soon,” he told the crowd. “But our job is far from over. Because now that we’re fixing the mess on Wall Street, we need to move with the same sense of urgency to help families on Main Street. While John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington to help with negotiations, Obama actively worked the phones from the campaign trail, only flying to Washington at the President’s request last week because he didn’t believe infusing the negotiations with presidential politics was helpful. But that didn’t stop the Democrat from accusing his GOP rival of doing nothing - or worse than nothing - following the crisis. “He doesn’t understand that the storm hitting Wall Street hit Main Street long ago. That’s why his first response to the greatest financial meltdown in generations was a Katrina-like response. Sort of stood there. Said the ‘fundamentals of the economy are strong.’ That’s why he’s been shifting positions these last two weeks, looking for photo-ops, trying to figure out what to say and what to do,” Obama said, mocking his opponent’s decision to return to Washington. Obama intends on campaigning for the next 36 days leading up to the election, but will return to the Senate to vote if necessary. “If we get a consensus and everybody is popping champagne – then I will probably be going back to campaign with folks who are having a tough time in places like Ohio, and Michigan and Pennsylvania. If this ends up being a close vote or a vote where the outcome is an open question then obviously this is a top priority,” he explained to reporters last week. embeds.blogs.foxnews.com

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (271016)	9/28/2008 8:44:08 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 793739

<These conservatives quickly grew wise to the problem, broke up the $792 billion tax relief package into smaller chunks and labeled them the “Marriage Penalty Relief Act,” “Child Tax Credit Plan,” and “Death Tax Relief.” These bills were easily sold to the public in 2000 and it was difficult for Democrats to fight the marketing of these plans. Every tax relief bill except for the death tax was signed into law.> Welcome to the 700 club By RON BONJEAN \| 9/28/08 8:14 PM EDT Henry Paulson Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at first sent to Congress a two-and-half page memo that came across like an ultimatum. Welcome to the 700 Club. In recent days the headlines across the country in newspapers, cable channels and the web published headlines, “Bush asking for 700 billion dollar bailout package.” How did anyone think that using a number close to one trillion dollars and use the words “bailout” would be effective marketing? While I am not an expert on global credit markets, the communications strategy on such a radical transformation of national economic policy must be clearly defined from the start. When you fail to communicate these policies effectively, you allow the other side to demagogue the issue. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at first sent to Congress a two-and-half page memo that came across like an ultimatum. Either they pass the $700 billion package within a week or the markets would tank. The White House focused on only one audience, Wall Street, and used the $700 billion as the message itself in order to impress industry executives and large investors to keep the stock market steady. It was successful in keeping panic at a minimum while Washington Mutual became the largest bank failure in American history. In the process of broadcasting this number to New York, the administration ignored the other audiences that were crucial to ensure passage of the plan. They forgot that the American people and Congress were watching, too. The “$700 billion bailout package” became the piñata and centralized focus by Congress and the media. NBC “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno quipped last week, “A failed President and a failed Congress invest 700 billion of your money into failed businesses. Believe me, this can’t fail!” House Republicans quickly revolted and bashed the Paulson plan in order to rebuild their fiscal responsibility brand. There wasn’t a comprehensive communications initiative designed to reach out to every audience that would ensure passage by Congress. The president should have addressed the nation first to set the stage for tackling the problem. It would have been extremely effective to describe how the crisis on Wall Street would impact every American at all income levels. It would have been wise to announce that he was dispatching his economic team to meet with Congress and together Washington would solve the problem. But only after the $700 billion bailout package was introduced and thrashed in the public relations arena, the president reluctantly decided to address the country last Wednesday with even weaker credibility. History has shown what happens when a number becomes the central communications theme. Before President Bush was able to announce the now widely successful military surge in Iraq, the actual number of troops leaked out to the press from the Pentagon. America was grimly focused on another 20,000 troops going into Iraq. This created problems for the selling of the strategy to the American people. Instead of talking about what the surge would accomplish first, the administration was forced to respond to leaks over troop levels. In 1999, when House Republicans tried to pass a $792 billion tax cut, moderates in the conference bolted away from the plan and eventually President Clinton vetoed it. The effort was never focused on describing what the benefits were that the bill offered. Instead, the message became the number itself. This allowed President Clinton to say that, “The bill is too big, too bloated, places too great a burden on America’s economy.” These conservatives quickly grew wise to the problem, broke up the $792 billion tax relief package into smaller chunks and labeled them the “Marriage Penalty Relief Act,” “Child Tax Credit Plan,” and “Death Tax Relief.” These bills were easily sold to the public in 2000 and it was difficult for Democrats to fight the marketing of these plans. Every tax relief bill except for the death tax was signed into law. A lot of pain could have been avoided by thinking through multiple levels of communication instead of concentrating on a singular focus. House Republicans are using the lessons of the past and positioned themselves to overhaul and remarket the Treasury plan effectively while bolstering their own brand. In a matter of two days, they successfully created a dynamic that forced Republicans and Democrats to burn the midnight oil and hammer out their own solutions over the weekend. And guess what they are calling it? “The Economic Stabilization Plan.” Ron Bonjean worked as the top spokesman to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and served as chief of staff to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl. He is now CEO of the Bonjean Company, a full services public affairs firm.