Karl Rove and the Wizards of Oz
There is one thing on which all political consultants of all political stripes agree: the importance of perpetuating the myth of political consultants.
And there is one thing on which all political candidates agree: the importance of minimizing the myth of political consultants.
As a recovering political consultant, I consider myself an expert on both phenomena.
Exhibit One is the continuing commentary on Karl Rove’s legacy. Rove is largely getting trashed – by both Republicans and Democrats. For he committed to ultimate Political Consultant Sin in 2006: losing.
One of his few defenders was a Democrat, James Carville, no stranger to the ups and downs of consultant reputations.
Rove clearly had some skills. He knew how to raise money. That’s Job One in politics. Bush won the nomination in 2000 because his fundraising blew every opponent out of the water.
Rove also understood the fundamental communications lesson: Keep it simple. Rove’s 2000 message was Compassionate Conservatism, just as Carville made his name in 1992 with The Economy, Stupid.
In 2002 and 2004, Rove switched to a new message: Terror. It worked. So he stuck with it in 2006. It didn’t work.
But he hasn’t completely lost his touch. His attacks on Hillary Clinton have riled up Democrats. They’re trying to figure out whether his comments mean that Republicans want to run against her or fear running against her.
As the Wizard of Oz says in the movie, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
The truth is, we consultants like to think we’re steering the ship. But we’re more like ants riding a log down a raging river, thinking we’re in control. We’re not. Events are in control.
The politicians we work for believe they must downplay the role of their consultants, so as not to look like manipulated dummies. Like George W. Bush, in other words.
John Edwards, for example, boasts that he no longer listens to consultants. But he’s still riding an issue today that a bunch of us consultants persuaded him to try 10 years ago, when he started running for the Senate: He pledged then not to take money from lobbyists. Today, his main attack on Hillary Clinton is that she takes money from lobbyists. It worked then, and it works today.
But, ultimately, politicians are on their own. They get a lot of advice, and they can take it or not. Sometimes consultants give great advice, and sometimes they bomb. All of them do both at one time or another.
The best consultant comment I’ve seen came from a good one who died recently. Michael Deaver said, “I didn’t make Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan made me.”
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Karl Rove and the Wizards of Oz
There is one thing on which all political consultants of all political stripes agree: the importance of perpetuating the myth of political consultants.
And there is one thing on which all political candidates agree: the importance of minimizing the myth of political consultants.
As a recovering political consultant, I consider myself an expert on both phenomena.
Exhibit One is the continuing commentary on Karl Rove’s legacy. Rove is largely getting trashed – by both Republicans and Democrats. For he committed to ultimate Political Consultant Sin in 2006: losing.
One of his few defenders was a Democrat, James Carville, no stranger to the ups and downs of consultant reputations.
Rove clearly had some skills. He knew how to raise money. That’s Job One in politics. Bush won the nomination in 2000 because his fundraising blew every opponent out of the water.
Rove also understood the fundamental communications lesson: Keep it simple. Rove’s 2000 message was Compassionate Conservatism, just as Carville made his name in 1992 with The Economy, Stupid.
In 2002 and 2004, Rove switched to a new message: Terror. It worked. So he stuck with it in 2006. It didn’t work.
But he hasn’t completely lost his touch. His attacks on Hillary Clinton have riled up Democrats. They’re trying to figure out whether his comments mean that Republicans want to run against her or fear running against her.
As the Wizard of Oz says in the movie, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
The truth is, we consultants like to think we’re steering the ship. But we’re more like ants riding a log down a raging river, thinking we’re in control. We’re not. Events are in control.
The politicians we work for believe they must downplay the role of their consultants, so as not to look like manipulated dummies. Like George W. Bush, in other words.
John Edwards, for example, boasts that he no longer listens to consultants. But he’s still riding an issue today that a bunch of us consultants persuaded him to try 10 years ago, when he started running for the Senate: He pledged then not to take money from lobbyists. Today, his main attack on Hillary Clinton is that she takes money from lobbyists. It worked then, and it works today.
But, ultimately, politicians are on their own. They get a lot of advice, and they can take it or not. Sometimes consultants give great advice, and sometimes they bomb. All of them do both at one time or another.
The best consultant comment I’ve seen came from a good one who died recently. Michael Deaver said, “I didn’t make Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan made me.”
Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles