Politics

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was interviewed by Chuck Todd, who sat in for Chris Matthews yesterday afternoon on MSNBC's Hardball. Gibbs came to the interview in a joking manner, laying out some light hearted comments about him and Todd being out of shape.

One of the hot topics covered in the interview was the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which some have said the administration have changed their stance on. They at first opposed it and are now being a bit more vague by "saying they want Congress to do it," according to the Huffington Post's Nicholas Graham.

On a more macro-level, Gibbs did re-enforce the Obama campaign message of change when he said, "the easiest thing for this town to do is the same old thing."

Press Secretary to the President (or PS2POTUS) Robert Gibbs took a bath last night due to the ace throwing arm of Bill Plante of CBS News.

The dunking tank at the White House luau is just another way the Obama administration is bringing humor and humility to its relationship with the 4th Estate.

[via Fishbowl DC, photo from Mark Knoller's Twitter feed]

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford illustrated to the PR world again yesterday that politics is the wildest and wooliest area of communications, and many in it are in great need of expert council.

PRNewser solicited analysis of the elements of Sanford's press conference, including style, substance, delivery and length. Only one expert gave him a passing grade, barely. None were fans of the length, details of his state of mind, and lack of preparation, though one found him attractive.

Agency head Dorothy Crenshaw called it a study in narcissism, and that it made John Edwards' confession look like a masterpiece of self-restraint and candor. Attempting to compare the level of drama with the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Crenshaw settles on Evita, "you know, crying & Argentina".

Top crisis guru Eric Dezenhall went with nuts & bolts advice--get off the stage, achieve the goal of making the situation less bad.

Andy Plesser went the post-Blago route, and found Sanford's performance excellent...if he wants a book & movie deal.

Fraser Seitel, the man who literally wrote the book on PR, grades it an N/A in the wake of such a huge lie.

Jay Strell graded on a curve, giving the "biblical" meltown a D--no message, no clear idea of audience, an unforgivable dereliction of duty to voters

Full responses are after the jump:

continued...

[image cred]

One typically associates the role of White House media relations with the Press Secretary, and for this administration that man is Robert Gibbs. However, while Gibbs is sought after during his daily briefings and for on the record remarks, another prominent member of the administration, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, is doing his fare share of media relations work, both on and off the record.

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz writes: "Perhaps no White House chief of staff in modern history has worked the media as aggressively and relentlessly as Emanuel. Drawing on his long-standing relationships with journalists, Emanuel serves up on-the-record quotes, background spin and the sort of capital gossip that lubricates relationships. The former Chicago congressman also seeks their take on events and floats possible administration tactics."

"A conversation with Rahm can be as little as 30 seconds...He calls, drops a few F-bombs, makes his point and hangs up," CNN commentator Paul Begala told Kurtz. Said the NY Times' David Brooks, "With some people you just get the spin; he does go beyond that."

Is John Edward's political career completely over? All signs point to yes after he admitted an affair last year with an aide from his presidential campaign. The media are still focused on the affair, in part due to his wife Elizabeth's recently released book.

An interview with Edwards was published in the Washington Post today, his first since news of the affair broke. So why is he talking now? Edwards insists it's not about PR or fixing his reputation. "The only relevance of it at all is my ability to help people. That's the only reason it matters. I'm not engaged in, or interested in, being in a PR campaign," he said. Color us skeptical.

[Kiki McLean on MSNBC, via Newsbusters]

Catherine "Kiki" McLean jumps ship from the WPP-owned Dewey Square Group this week, to join Omnicom's Porter-Novelli, as global head of public affairs, and head of the agency's Washington, DC office.

McLean was a cable news regular as an adviser to Hillary Clinton's presidential run, and then as an Obama surrogate after the nomination.

According to the press release, she replaces the retiring Carolyn Tieger and will start in mid July. Prior to working with Clinton, she was the go-to Veepstakes communicator: "In 2004, she helped develop the acclaimed vice presidential announcement strategy for the John Kerry campaign. She served as national press secretary and spokesperson for Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign, and was spokesperson for Joe Lieberman as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 2000 general election."

Beet.TV publisher Andy Plesser grabbed an interview with former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino to talk new media yesterday, and find out how a firm like her new employer Burson-Marteller can get ahead of, and "stamp out" bad news cycles before they happen through good council and having talented teams at the ready.

Perino gives a lot of credit to the blogosphere for their support and symbiotic relationship with the mainstream media in such big cycles as the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. And, she stated that HuffingtonPost is "rebuilding its reputation and doing a pretty good job."

Related: Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino Joins Burson-Marsteller

[image cred]

Maybe. But we do know he has elicited a lot more laughter in the White House press briefing room than his predecessors. As Politico's Patrick Gavin points out:

There have been more than 600 instances of "(Laughter.)" during his regular press briefings - an average of more than 10 laughs per day.

Dana Perino, George W. Bush's last press secretary, got all of 57 laughs in her first four months. Scott McClellan, another Bush press secretary, got just 66 laughs in his first four months.

Gibbs even bests the late Tony Snow, whose jocular performances - dubbed "The Tony Snow Show" by some - drew a relatively paltry 217 laughs during his first four months on the job.

Longtime CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller said that Gibbs is "more inclined to make a wisecrack than any press secretary" he's covered. Is this an issue, given the domestic and foreign challenges we currently face? Gavin mentioned it, but none of the sources he spoke with brought it up.

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino has another title to add to her resume, the Huffington Post first reported on Friday: Fox News contributor.

Perino joined Burson-Marsteller as chief issues counselor in April. Also joining Fox News: former CNN and MSNBC host Tucker Carlson. TVNewser has more. No word yet on any specific programs on which Perino may appear.

Joe Householder, the man who advised Roger Clemens on media strategy in the winter of 2007-2008 is joining the newly-formed political consultancy Purple Strategies in D.C. according to a bcc email from Householder to his friends and colleagues.

Householder worked with Clemens while in Texas as Managing Director of Public Strategies Inc. Prior to that job, he was Communications Director to Senator Hillary Clinton in 2003-2004.

According to the email:

The bipartisan firm led by veteran Democratic strategist Steve McMahon and veteran Republican strategist Alex Castellanos offers business clients strategic counseling, positioning, communications and public affairs support. It's a perfect fit for me and the type of work I do for trade associations, corporations, senior corporate executives and other high profile individuals.

McMahon and Castellanos have a ton of campaign and advisory experience between them including work for the Howard Dean, Mitt Romney, and George W. Bush presidential runs. McMahon was also a Ted Kennedy staffer. Both are regular guests on cable talk shows.

Related: Roger Clemens in Crisis Mode; 60 Minutes + Press Conference