Monday, August 16, 2004
Bush's "adoring audiences"
It's interesting to note that the media has begun picking up on the Bush's campaign's pre-screened events. Just today, the AP , the NY Times, and Columbus Dispatch (subscription required) all had stories on the phenomenon.
This is great fodder for letters to editors. (The full Dispatch text appears below, for those of you without a subscription.)
Screening can ensure adoring audiences
Monday, August 16, 2004
Darrel Rowland , Alan Johnson and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
When John Kerry comes to Steubenville for a town hall meeting Friday, anybody can get tickets until the place is full.
When George W. Bush traveled to Columbus earlier this month for an "Ask President Bush" session, admission was limited primarily to staunch Republican supporters.
Ohio has been inundated with visits from the presidential candidates this year, and these two examples illustrate the contrasting styles of the Bush and Kerry campaigns as they try to pry loose the Buckeye State’s 20 electoral votes.
Of course, the contestants are making their pitch not only to those attending the events, but also to a much broader audience of television viewers watching carefully prearranged camera angles of candidates in front of strategically placed backdrops.
Although both presidential candidates travel with heavy security, Bush visits are more tightly controlled with limited access to the general public.
The Kerry camp is much less picky about who can attend ‘ and has on occasion paid the price when protesters attempted to disrupt the Massachusetts senator’s appearances.
Should voters care about the difference?
"I think it does matter because John Kerry wants to have the opportunity to listen to all kinds of voters in Ohio," said Jennifer Palmieri, his Ohio campaign spokeswoman.
"We’re not going to win this state if we just turn out Democrats. We’re trying to move undecided voters. . . . It’s our belief that undecided voters have already made up their minds about George Bush, and now they want to know more about John Kerry."
Bush campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said the president’s events are small by design, such as his Aug. 5 appearance before 2,500 supporters at the Aladdin Shrine Temple.
"If you look at Franklin County alone, we have 5,000 volunteers. We distributed tickets to everybody who wanted to see the president, volunteers on the campaign who’ve worked hard knocking on doors and stuffing envelopes. The tickets went very quickly," Madden said.
"It seems the Kerry campaign has a really tough time building crowds. They do their ticket distribution publicly. You can download a ticket on the Internet. We actually have to turn people away."
Palmieri, noting Kerry has attracted 20,000 people to some of his rallies, said, "If all you’re concerned about is making sure your guy looks good on TV, their strategy works.
"I think they’re afraid of a real engagement on the issues. I think when President Bush comes to Ohio, it’s like he’s a president from a different planet."
Paul Beck, chairman of the Political Science Department at Ohio State University, said each side is trying to play to its candidate’s strengths.
"Bush is very scripted and always has been been. His advisers, going back to his gubernatorial campaign, don’t want him to speak extemporaneously," Beck said.
"That’s not a strength for Kerry either, but he’s more comfortable than Bush."
In addition, the Bush campaign, having gone through the 2000 election, is a team of veterans, Beck said.
He also noted built-in differences.
"A president is different than a presidential candidate. The president commands more security and more careful scheduling and screening. That’s clearly the case here."
Even so, when a campaign limits access too much, the public can get a skewed opinion of the candidate, Beck said.
"If the general public sees that, they’re put off by it," he said. " . . . People don’t like to feel they’re manipulated."
Several reports have surfaced recently about tight controls at Bush campaign events.
In New Mexico, supporters at an appearance by Vice President Dick Cheney were forced to sign a loyalty oath.
In Phoenix, an official from the Kerry campaign was denied admittance to a Bush speech even though she had a ticket.
During Bush’s Columbus visit this month, a select group of people was chosen to ask him questions, many of which were prearranged. The participants included Phil Derrow, the president of Ohio Transmission Corp. ‘ who also hosted a May 21 event with U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.
At a Dayton appearance by Cheney last week, the invited audience of 1,000 people included veterans, firefighters and "favorable friends of the campaign," said Carl Wick, Dayton area coordinator for the Bush-Cheney campaign.
Screening by the Bush campaign and Montgomery County Republican Party ensured Cheney would have a respectful, enthusiastic audience free from distractions and hecklers.
During Cheney’s July 3 bus trip through northeastern Ohio, all aspects were tightly controlled. The main event, a rally in Parma, was an ticket-only affair. At a stop later in downtown Lisbon, only supporters were told about the event beforehand.
In contrast, when Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, appeared at their first campaign rally together July 7 in Cleveland, it was held in a downtown park open to the public.
As usual, local Democrats and Kerry campaign supporters got special tickets to get in the gated area closest to the stage that day, but a crowd estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000 braved threatening skies and stood in line to go through security screening to fill out the rest of the space in the park.
Perhaps because of the Kerry campaign’s greater openness, hecklers frequently show up at his events. During an April 6 stop in Cincinnati, for example, a couple dozen people started clapping flip-flop sandals together during his speech as a reminder of his alleged changes in position on several issues.
At a June 15 rally in Westgate Park on the Hilltop, demonstrators in a nearby house played the theme song from the old television show Flipper so loudly that many in the audience couldn’t hear Kerry.
Lately, however, the Democratic campaign has been trying to turn the tables on the protesters. At a July 31 visit by Kerry and Edwards to Wheeling, W.Va., Edwards used a relatively minor disruption in the crowd to deplore the negativity in the presidential campaign.
"Aren’t you sick of it?" he said to loud cheers.
Dispatch reporter Catherine Candisky contributed to this story.
This is great fodder for letters to editors. (The full Dispatch text appears below, for those of you without a subscription.)
Screening can ensure adoring audiences
Monday, August 16, 2004
Darrel Rowland , Alan Johnson and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
When John Kerry comes to Steubenville for a town hall meeting Friday, anybody can get tickets until the place is full.
When George W. Bush traveled to Columbus earlier this month for an "Ask President Bush" session, admission was limited primarily to staunch Republican supporters.
Ohio has been inundated with visits from the presidential candidates this year, and these two examples illustrate the contrasting styles of the Bush and Kerry campaigns as they try to pry loose the Buckeye State’s 20 electoral votes.
Of course, the contestants are making their pitch not only to those attending the events, but also to a much broader audience of television viewers watching carefully prearranged camera angles of candidates in front of strategically placed backdrops.
Although both presidential candidates travel with heavy security, Bush visits are more tightly controlled with limited access to the general public.
The Kerry camp is much less picky about who can attend ‘ and has on occasion paid the price when protesters attempted to disrupt the Massachusetts senator’s appearances.
Should voters care about the difference?
"I think it does matter because John Kerry wants to have the opportunity to listen to all kinds of voters in Ohio," said Jennifer Palmieri, his Ohio campaign spokeswoman.
"We’re not going to win this state if we just turn out Democrats. We’re trying to move undecided voters. . . . It’s our belief that undecided voters have already made up their minds about George Bush, and now they want to know more about John Kerry."
Bush campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said the president’s events are small by design, such as his Aug. 5 appearance before 2,500 supporters at the Aladdin Shrine Temple.
"If you look at Franklin County alone, we have 5,000 volunteers. We distributed tickets to everybody who wanted to see the president, volunteers on the campaign who’ve worked hard knocking on doors and stuffing envelopes. The tickets went very quickly," Madden said.
"It seems the Kerry campaign has a really tough time building crowds. They do their ticket distribution publicly. You can download a ticket on the Internet. We actually have to turn people away."
Palmieri, noting Kerry has attracted 20,000 people to some of his rallies, said, "If all you’re concerned about is making sure your guy looks good on TV, their strategy works.
"I think they’re afraid of a real engagement on the issues. I think when President Bush comes to Ohio, it’s like he’s a president from a different planet."
Paul Beck, chairman of the Political Science Department at Ohio State University, said each side is trying to play to its candidate’s strengths.
"Bush is very scripted and always has been been. His advisers, going back to his gubernatorial campaign, don’t want him to speak extemporaneously," Beck said.
"That’s not a strength for Kerry either, but he’s more comfortable than Bush."
In addition, the Bush campaign, having gone through the 2000 election, is a team of veterans, Beck said.
He also noted built-in differences.
"A president is different than a presidential candidate. The president commands more security and more careful scheduling and screening. That’s clearly the case here."
Even so, when a campaign limits access too much, the public can get a skewed opinion of the candidate, Beck said.
"If the general public sees that, they’re put off by it," he said. " . . . People don’t like to feel they’re manipulated."
Several reports have surfaced recently about tight controls at Bush campaign events.
In New Mexico, supporters at an appearance by Vice President Dick Cheney were forced to sign a loyalty oath.
In Phoenix, an official from the Kerry campaign was denied admittance to a Bush speech even though she had a ticket.
During Bush’s Columbus visit this month, a select group of people was chosen to ask him questions, many of which were prearranged. The participants included Phil Derrow, the president of Ohio Transmission Corp. ‘ who also hosted a May 21 event with U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.
At a Dayton appearance by Cheney last week, the invited audience of 1,000 people included veterans, firefighters and "favorable friends of the campaign," said Carl Wick, Dayton area coordinator for the Bush-Cheney campaign.
Screening by the Bush campaign and Montgomery County Republican Party ensured Cheney would have a respectful, enthusiastic audience free from distractions and hecklers.
During Cheney’s July 3 bus trip through northeastern Ohio, all aspects were tightly controlled. The main event, a rally in Parma, was an ticket-only affair. At a stop later in downtown Lisbon, only supporters were told about the event beforehand.
In contrast, when Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, appeared at their first campaign rally together July 7 in Cleveland, it was held in a downtown park open to the public.
As usual, local Democrats and Kerry campaign supporters got special tickets to get in the gated area closest to the stage that day, but a crowd estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000 braved threatening skies and stood in line to go through security screening to fill out the rest of the space in the park.
Perhaps because of the Kerry campaign’s greater openness, hecklers frequently show up at his events. During an April 6 stop in Cincinnati, for example, a couple dozen people started clapping flip-flop sandals together during his speech as a reminder of his alleged changes in position on several issues.
At a June 15 rally in Westgate Park on the Hilltop, demonstrators in a nearby house played the theme song from the old television show Flipper so loudly that many in the audience couldn’t hear Kerry.
Lately, however, the Democratic campaign has been trying to turn the tables on the protesters. At a July 31 visit by Kerry and Edwards to Wheeling, W.Va., Edwards used a relatively minor disruption in the crowd to deplore the negativity in the presidential campaign.
"Aren’t you sick of it?" he said to loud cheers.
Dispatch reporter Catherine Candisky contributed to this story.
