Politics

Sarah Palin's Twitter Problems

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Sarah Palin again left us scratching our PR noggins this week. Fan or not, she's crushing it in terms "Going Rogue". So why did her people outright kill her sizable AKGovSarahPalin Twitter account and open SarahPalinUSA to promote the book? Are they people who run the 7-figure Facebook Fan page? The new feed has been languishing all week at between 24,000 to 25,000 followers. You can maintain a following with a simple Tweet announcement after simply changing one's screenname.

We thought it had something to do with public offices or PACs needing to migrate to a personal brand for legal reasons. We checked in with Nicco Mele, founder of poli-digital consultancy EchoDitto in Washington who is nearly as confused:

Continued after the jump:

continued...

Fox News To Interview President Obama Next Week

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One day after news broke that Communications Director Anita Dunn would be leaving the White House, the administration has granted an interview to Fox News' Major Garrett, Matt Drudge reports.

Dunn led administration attacks against Fox News in recent weeks. No doubt many will be asking if the two moves are connected. More to come...

UPDATE: Sources tell TVNewser the interview isn't confirmed as of yet. The administration had told Fox News not to expect an interview until 2010.

Sarah Palin To Begin Book Tour; Oprah Scheduled As First Stop

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Sarah Palin's book tour for "Going Rogue" begins next Monday with an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." From there, Palin will stay away form major cities and instead focus on stops in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Florida.

"I've decided to stop in cities that are not usually included in a typical book tour," Palin said this week on her Facebook page. Tina Andreadis, Director of Publicity at Harper Collins is handling all press. She has not responded to requests for comment as of the time of this post.

Why Did Anita Dunn Step Down As White House Communications Director?

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The role in the Obama administration with the highest level of turnover is that of Communications Director. As news broke today that interim Communications Director Anita Dunn would be stepping down, the question remains: why?

Several scenarios have been tossed around: Did she have to clear room for her husband to join the administration and remove any potential concerns about conflict of interest? Did her attacks on Fox News have an effect? Or, was the move simply what was expected, as Dunn was always "interim" Communications Director?

continued...

Anita Dunn To Step Down as White House Communications Director

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Breaking: White House communications director Anita Dunn will step down from her post at the end of the month and Dan Pfeiffer, her deputy, will take over, reports the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza.

Dunn, who had taken the job on an interim basis earlier this year, will remain with the White House as a consultant. She is most known for recently leading the White House attacks against Fox News. On October 11th, Dunn appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources" and stated, "The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." More to come.

UPDATE: ABC News reports, "There have been discussions at the White House about Dunn's husband, Bob Bauer, replacing White House counsel Greg Craig. Today's move presumably makes that switch more likely."

[image: Dunn speaking with White House senior advisor David Axelrod.]

Spinning Election Night Results

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Communications teams are still spinning results from last night's elections, in which Republicans won governor's races in New Jersey and Virgina. Republican Michael Bloomberg was re-elected as New York's mayor, in a race that was much closer than expected. In a highly publicized special House election in upsate New York, Bill Owens defeated Doug Hoffman, who had drawn support from Sarah Palin and other conservative leaders.

Some media reports say the losses in New Jersey and Virgina are a "setback" for President Barack Obama, especially in New Jersey where Obama campaigned up until the last minute with incumbent Jon Corzine. "Neither race should be viewed as strictly a referendum on Obama. But if there is a danger in overinterpreting off-year elections, it is also a mistake to underinterpret," wrote Politico's John F. Harris & Jonathan Martin.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs defended the administration this morning, saying that the losses in VA and NJ, "didn't involve the President," and that results showed it was "pretty clear people went to the polls and voted for local issues." The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz thinks we're all overreacting. "...let's face it, there's a huge hype machine out that's been pumping up the national significance of these off-year results," he wrote today.

[Image: New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie]

Howard Wolfson, The Bloomberg Campaign's "High-Profile Attack Dog"

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Michael Bloomberg won a third term as New York City mayor tonight, defeating Democratic challenger Bill Thompson in a race that was much closer than his last campaign against Fernando Ferrer. This despite Bloomberg being predicted to spend almost $100 million on his campaign, which is already, "the most expensive self-financed campaign in United States history," according to NY1.

The New York Times reports that when first planning Bloomberg's re-election, his top guru Kevin Sheekey, "urged him to quickly send a warning to potential challengers. He suggested recruiting a high-profile attack dog for the campaign and disclosing it to the press. The choice was obvious: Howard Wolfson, the combative former communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential run."

Indeed Wolfson had a busy day in the press, forcing updates to Daily News stories at 7pm and appearing on NY1, in addition to his multitude of other duties running PR for the mayor's campaign. Wolfson made waves last July when he joined Fox News as a contributor. He also had somewhat of a fallout with Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn in the wake of the aforementioned Clinton presidential campaign. Can Wolfson count Bloomberg squeaking buy as a win? No doubt he'll try.

Survey: One in Five Political Staffers Have Changed Policy Positions Based on Info Found Online

How big of an effect does your organization's digital work have when it comes to shaping public policy? The answer is maybe more than you would think. Edelman today released its Capital Staffer Index, a five-country survey of almost 400 senior staff in the U.S. Congress and European Parliaments. The results:

96% use online resources for public policy research

54% reported learning of policy issues for the first time online

19% actually changed policy positions based on information and opinions they found online

On the other hand, 60% of staffers reported that they use Facebook more for personal usage than professional reasons. Complete survey results are available at the agency's website.

Campaigns Race To Get Word Out in Final 24 Hours Before Vote, Twitter Included

Election day is tomorrow, and the press teams of several of the high profile races are working overtime to make sure not a minute of time is wasted. Particularly, gubernatorial campaigns in New Jersey and Virgina have attracted attention. In New Jersey, incumbent Jon Corzine (D) is up against Chris Christie (R). In Virgina Robert F. McDonnell (R) is up against R. Creigh Deeds (D).

Corzine press secretary Elisabeth Smith's last Twitter update states, "Lots o polling. All gonna come down to turnout tomorrow." Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella posted this morning, "Last day of the bus tour. New polls out today show Chris with lead, but this is still a close race."

In the Virginia race, McDonnell press secretary Taylor Thornley's last tweet is from 10/27, where she highlighted favorable polling results for her candidate. Deeds Communications Director Jared Leopold's feed is heavy on re-tweets, the last of which is a picture of a campaign stop in Hampton Roads.

At a White House press briefing last week, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, when asked about the governor's races, said, "I don't think they portend a lot." However, President Obama spent yesterday at two major Corzine rallies in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. New Jersey is the closer race as the Quinnipiac poll this morning shows it is in a "statistical tie."

White House Counters Car Blog's Claims; Why Are People Surprised?

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First it was Fox News. Now the White House is getting attention for going after a much smaller, albeit influential media outlet, car blog Edmunds.com. In a White House blog post yesterday, titled, "Busy Covering Car Sales on Mars, Edmunds.com Gets It Wrong (Again) on Cash for Clunkers," Macon Philips said Edmunds.com released "faulty analysis suggesting that the Cash for Clunkers program had no meaningful impact on our economy or on overall auto sales."

The blog shot back, stating, "instead of shooting the messenger, government officials should take heart from the core message of [our] analysis: The fundamentals of the auto marketplace are improving faster than the current sales numbers suggest."

Our question is: why are people surprised they are using the blog to communicate in this manner, when they claimed they would do so from the beginning? In the first post on the blog, Phillips wrote, "Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement." We've reached out to the White House media affairs team but have not heard back as of the time of this post.

Previously

Did Robert Gibbs Broker Peace with Fox News?

Glenn Beck Publicist Matthew Hiltzik: 'My Job Is To Look Out For His Personal Business Interests'

Mark Penn on Hillary Clinton: 'One of Those People That Every Word Has Been Parsed'

Washingtonian Editor on Moving from PR to Editorial: 'The Most Valuable Journalism Training That One Can Get'

Robert Gibbs on 'Today' Show: NBC's Chuck Todd Denied Pardon, Must Shave Goatee

Clinton Campaign Still Owes Mark Penn's Firm $1M

Fox News, White House Feud Continues; White House Says Officials Will Appear on Fox Programming

Obama Endorses Some Guy for Mayor

PRs on GQ's 50 Most Powerful People in DC List

Google's New D.C. PR: As A Kid, I Watched White House Press Briefings Over 'Saved By The Bell'

What Do You Think of the White House's Attacks on Fox News?

White House's Anita Dunn on CNN: We Will Push Back

Robert Gibbs on New Comm. Strategy: 'The Only Way to Get Somebody to Stop Crowding the Plate is to Throw a Fastball at Them. They Move.'

"Speech-Less" Author Blames Bad Communications and Blind Loyalty for Bush Problems

D.C. Lobbying Firms Merge to Form Burson-Marsteller Subsidiary

Which Press Secretaries Will Have the Hardest Jobs Come Midterm Elections?

White House Posting "Talking Points" on Blog Daily; What Are The Implications for PR?

CNN Reporter to Robert Gibbs, "Did You Listen to What I Was Saying?" Gibbs: "We Had the Sound Off."

Blago's Magical Media Tour Continues With Extended Daily Show Appearance

Gibbs Keeps Quiet as Obama Scores on Letterman

LinkedIn PR Visits the White House

Obama To Appear on Five Sunday Morning Shows; Is He Overexposed?

President Carter Press Secretary Jody Powell Dies at 65

Healthcare PR Pros React to Obama Speech

Pelosi's Comm Director Has a Twin at the AP

White House Switches from On-the-Record to Background-on-Embargo Today

The New York Times Goes "One-on-One" With Robert Gibbs

Van Jones Resigns at Midnight During Slow News Cycle

Jon Stewart's Advice to Robert Gibbs, Obama: Stay On Message

Robert Gibbs on Healthcare Debate: Media Tend to Cover "X Said This, Y Said This"

Barack Obama's "Publish First, Filter Later" Presidency

MSNBC Will Continue Booking Richard Wolffe

Ex Cigna PR VP, "Ammo for the Elephant Gun" in Healthcare Fight

What Kind of Beer Will Obama Drink at Thursday's Meeting?

Hillary Clinton Finishes Paying Off Campaign Debt, Last Check Goes to Mark Penn

Robert Gibbs and Dana Perino Reflect on Grueling White House Schedule

Dana Perino Remembers Tony Snow, One Year Later

Robert Gibbs On MSNBC: "Easiest Thing For This Town To Do Is The Same Old Thing"

Shoot Dunk the Messenger

Experts Give Failing Grade to Gov Sanford Presser, with a Chance of Book Deal

Rahm Emanuel: A Master of Media Relations in the White House

John Edwards: "Not Interested in Being in a PR Campaign"

Hillary Strategist Kiki McLean Joins Porter Novelli

Dana Perino: HuffPo and Other New Media the Filling Void

Is Robert Gibbs America's Funniest Press Secretary?

Dana Perino Joins Fox News

Joe Householder, Former Crisis Counselor to Roger Clemens Joins Purple Strategies

Robert Gibbs Confiscates Noisy Cell Phone

Ari Fleisher, Proud to Testify on Torture if Subpoenaed

Gibbs on Being White House Press Secretary "Funnest, Most Rewarding Job I've Ever Had"

Ellen Moran Leaves White House Communications Post

Obama Stategist on Use of New Media: "There Wasn't Some Big Sexy Idea Behind It"

Join the "I Knew Robert Gibbs Back When..." Facebook Group

What's Your Take on President Obama's "PR Barrage"

President Obama's Very Special Gaffe on Leno

Ari Fleischer's Bizarre Revisionist History on Hardball

Facebook Founder Chris Hughes to GMMB

Robert Gibbs vs. CNBC, Part II

New CBS SVP of Comm. Draws Attention for GOP Ties

Robert Gibbs on White House Press Briefings: "There is a Pretty Big Adrenaline Rush When You Are Out There"

Robert Gibbs Profile Coming in Tomorrow's TIME

Obama First President To Call on Blogger During Primetime Press Conference

Gibbs, Tapper and Transparency

Hillary's Press Secretary Moves to Shangri-La

Portland Mayor's Spokesman Resigns Amid Sex Scandal

Did "Hired PR Gun" Eliminate Caroline Kennedy's Chance for a Senate Seat?

Blago's Magical Media Tour Booked By Drew Peterson's Publicist

First White House Press Briefing, Today at 12:45

Twittering the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States

A Day of Change

NY Times Mag: Meet Obama's Communications Team

Klores the Belle of the HuffPo Pre-Inaugural Ball

CNN.com GM: Obama Innauguration Likely To Be "Most Watched Event in Internet History"

NASCAR's King Richard Wants Veterans to Remove the Pedal from the Metal

President Bush's Final Press Conference

Dana Perino Bids Farewell on the Daily Show

Israeli Consulate's Twitter Presser, Today at 1 PM Eastern

Mark Penn's Firm Drops Pakistani Account

White House Counters NY Times Article Blaming Bush for Mortgage Meltdown

Edelman Adds "Political Heavyweights"

Obama Press Secretary: "You Could go to Cedar Rapids and Waterloo and Understand That People Aren't Reading The Washington Post"

TIME's Jay Carney Now Biden's Director of Communications

Robert Gibbs Practices for Day One

The Howard Kurtz Two-Fer With Dana Perino

Shoot the Messenger: Quinn & Gillespie To Bash Flaks Tonight

Obama on YouTube; FutureWorks CEO: "Treat us like customers"

Shoot the Messenger: Dana Perino Takes Aim at Stephen Colbert

Obama's First Presser as President-Elect

At the End of an Era, Dog Bites Man

Robert Gibbs To Be Obama's Press Secretary

What Went Wrong with Hillary's Communications Team

The Flawless, Disciplined, On -Message Barack Obama Campaign

Obama Comm. Director: "I Think We've Attempted, To the Best of Our Ability, to Have a Good Relationship With the Press"

Mark Penn Predicts Obama Landslide

As Candidates Give Final Spin, It's Time To Vote

Joe the Plumber's Publicist: "Today Was One of the Busiest Days I've Had"

Pulling Bush from the Weeds

McCain Adviser on Palin: "She Gets on Her Email and Deals Directly With Press"

Scott McClellan Endorses Barack Obama

Charging Media For Access: Bad PR Move?

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