Daschle Bows Out; Obama takes Responsibility

Come on. Did Tom Daschle, even with all of his Senate connections, think that he could be a credible Secretary when he not only failed to pay taxes but took so much money for speaking before health care organizations that he was supposed to regulate? I remember NPR's Coke Roberts trying to protest that taking money from companies for a speaking engagement wouldn't influence her reporting. That type of response doesn't pass the red face smell test. Too bad. Most observers think that Daschle would have been a good HHS Secretary. But no person should be above the standards and there was no choice but to withdraw.

As a communicator, I appreciate President Obama taking responsibility and saying, "I screwed up." It's better than the "mistakes were made" response other Chief Executives have hidden behind. If the President is asking all of us to take responsibility for our actions, he is taking the responsibility since Sen. Daschle was his appointment. In communications, if there is fault or responsibility, we counsel to own up for the fault. Then most of us care about what are you doing to fix the situation.

Is the Honeymoon over for President Obama in the Washington, DC Metro Area?

It was a toss up yesterday in local Washington media with 3 big stories: The stimulus package passing the House of Representatives, the weather and President Obama's comments on the weather and DC school closings.

Talk about a sound bite. The President complained during a public photo op about his daughters' school being closed. He basically called the decisions to close schools a bit wimpy and quoted the resident experts, "As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled. In fact, my 7 year old pointed out, you'd go outside for recess in weather like this."

I can vouch that with less than 2 inches of snow it was the worst driving conditions I've experienced in 15 years. It wasn't the snow, it was the ice and the fact that DC isn't Vermont. We don't have equipment, crews or ice to treat the first or last snow flake.

So back to the media. The story was perfect. It had virtually every element that makes for news. Conflict, local color, children, pictures of people falling, car accidents, new guy telling the older residents what he would do, and not much else going on in the news except for a recession. Every TV and radio station had it, talk show phone lines burned up and even the Washington Post chimed in with an icy editorial.

Last week, everyone thought Obama walked on water. This week, he can only slip on the DC ice. PS, the roads last night weren't much better, but the Obama-kins' school is open.

Obama Press Secretary Briefing Skills

The reviews of the first press conference by President Obama's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs were generally favorable. After all who wants to blast the person who will feed you every day for possibly the next four years.

One columnist, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, chided Gibbs for being too cautious, instead of being more open and transparent.

I rarely get a chance to quote comedians. But let me invoke Steve Martin. "Excuuuuuse me!."

What was Milbank hoping for, a ranting scree of day one of news conferences? Falling for the sarcastic questions? Changing an answer just to give a better quote?
Milbank objected to the number of times that Gibbs stuck to his message and used the phrase "Abundance of caution." Gibbs first used the phrase to describe the second administering of the Oath of Office. "Out of an abundance of caution, Chief Justice Roberts came last night to readminister the oath."

In the same answer, Gibbs added, "There are at least two examples in history where words have been misplaced in the oath, and again, out of an abundance of caution, a similar abundance of caution, the oath was readminstered."

You know that wacky White House press corps smelled a possible gotcha. So, NBC's Chuck Todd asked if the executive orders were going to be resigned out of "an abundance of caution."

Ok, maybe Gibbs needs a couple of synonyms for "AOC" phrase. But I'm all for consistency and not changing an answer just because a reporter asks the same question in a slight different way. Way to go Gibbs.

Gibbs was also cautious in not going beyond the facts or making policy from the White House press room (which historians will remember was originally built over a swimming pool). When asked a couple of financial mess questions, Gibbs was on firm ground saying: "Let me not get ahead of our economic team."

Way to go Bob. It's not inconsistent to be open and transparent about those subjects that you are authorized to speak about. Last I checked, a press secretary is not a subject matter expert in very many things. He/she is "a spokesperson."

Pleasantly surprised

In victory, President-elect Obama was gracious and looking forward. In defeat, Sen. McCain was positive and bipartisan. Both showed leadership with messages to supporters and to those who did not vote for them. We asked the question last week about what each needed to communicate in acceptance and concession speeches.

So the first post election communications were strong and positive. Obama appeared sober, deciding that he would leave it for others to chest thump and avoiding an in-your-face or "look what we did" posture.

Can he keep up this positive, collaborative, "we have a lot of work to do" communication while taking advantage of the spoils of victory? Will McCain come back to Washington and help?

Advice for the incoming Communicator-In-Chief?

With just a few days left before the presidential election it's time to consider one of the most important tasks facing the President-Elect: taking on the role of Communicator-In-Chief.

Barack Obama and John McCain have revealed different styles, attributes and messages in a tough campaign.

How either Obama or McCain presents himself in their victory speeches, during the transition and at the inaugural speech will make a big difference in how a new admistration will be able to lead and govern. Its difficult to imagine a time when more Americans will be scrutinizing every word, nuance and gesture of a president-elect

Given what we know how do you see the communications challenges facing the winner? What advice would you give? Should they stick to what got them here, or adjust and adapt their communication strategy, tactics and tone? And what about the loser? Will boilerplate congratulations and pledges of bi-partisanship suffice, or is something more and different required in these times?