Behind Every Bad Politican

Had I been Ron Blagojevich's PR specialist, I would have advised him to not respond to Roland Burris' appointment as Senate due to his already tense relationship with his fellow Democratic senators. The amount of furor that would abound after his speaking on or confirming Roland Burris' election would be detrimental to his success in disproving the rumors of him selling the U.S. Senate seat especially after other senators had warned him of his actions. While his trial was pending, I would have advise Blago not to make any public statements regarding the case or to make any public statements about his character or the character of Roland Burris. I would have advised him to step down from promoting Burris and to focus more attention on minimizing media spotlight and disproving the rumors. His insistence in the matter was his downfall  because his insistence on pressing Burris as Senator caused others to believe that he may well have had a hand in getting Burris the seat.

It's a Fact He's a Fake

I would have advised Giuliani that the most important aspect of citing facts in PR usually is most effective when external sources are cited. Giuliani's failure to include external sources led others to scrutinize his words which led to his resignation. He also should have anticipated others looking to check into his claims because he was the one making them. His erroneous statements led people to believe he was lying which caused his loss in the court of public opinon. The Giuliani experience indicates that constituents are not mindless idiots. When a politician makes a claim and asserts it to be fact, people now with the Internet are going to work to prove it wrong or right. Giuliani's facts lost him a battle in the court of public opinion and set a precedent that would be hard to overcome in the future. Giuliani should have understood that any politician who is using objective facts to solidify his position in a campaign should do so mindful of the scrutiny that is sure to come from constituents and opponents alike.

Opportunity Knocks

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Had I been Senator Craig's PR advisor, I would most certainly have made him aware that the opportunity for him to get out of the PR crisis he created for himself unscathed lied in his resigning. What Senator Craig failed to realize is that he not only didn't win in the court of law, he also lost in several courts of opinion: his colleagues, his administration, and his constituents. By pleading guilty of his illicit actions to a public audience, Craig crystallized the opinion of all of those watching into believing that he was a sexual deviant not fit to serve a people as senator. By quietly dismissing himself with whatever dignity he had left, he would have saved himself from a world of PR hurt. The PR arguments were that a man who stands and delivers a public address to an audience and then then recants his words must either be lying or have something to hide. The legal arguments in Craig recanting his statement is that the evidence for his crime stood. His opinion or his words held no weight in court especially with the police officer who was involved.

Penned In Dishonesty

In the case of Mark Penn's conflict of interest, his first move should have been to understand fully all of the policies that Hillary Clinton was supporting and to also understand the ethical stances of his public relations firm. His second move should have been to communicate those stance before accepting the role of chief advisor for Clinton's campaign. This lapse in judgement no doubt severed the credibility that Clinton shared for Penn and unfortunately cause an avoidable political rift between Clinton and Penn's employer. This illustrates the danger of a PR firm endorsing a political candidate; future clients who witnessed Mark Penn's  fiasco will be less likely to look to him or his company for their services. Also, clients whose interests may not be aligned with a particular candidate will be less likely to continue business with a firm whether that firm has performed consistently well or not.