May 10, 2003
Rove's September Strategy
This is the first installment in a series on the role of propaganda in the political tactics and strategy of Karl Rove and his candidate of choice, George W. Bush. Click here to read the second installment, The Dawn of American Fascism?
In case you missed the message that this photo from the White House website (and similar images playing on the nightly news) are meant to convey, let me spell it out for you: Bush is not just our civilian leader, but a military hero in America's great war on terror.
This is propaganda, pure and simple. And breaks a long tradition of American Presidents not dressing up in military garb. They are civilians, not military leaders, and it betrays the public trust for them to pretend otherwise. It also conveys the image that one political party has the military on its side, not the other, something we have not seen since the Civil War.
BASIC ELEMENTS OF PROPAGANDARepetition - owing to the infantile limitations of collective memory, a message must be continuously propagated in order to take hold within the collective consciousness.
Simplicity - The message must be designed in such a way that it appeals to or is quickly understood by the lowest common intellectual denominator of the collective. This is not only true because of the vast ignorance of the masses, but also because the collective attention span is virtually nonexistent. We now live in a world of sound-bite discourse. The simple lie always conquers the complex truth.
Imagery - The most powerful propaganda is embedded within appealing imagery. This imagery could be pictorial or descriptive. This is why movies and music are such potent forms of pr propaganda.
Sentiment - The message must contain as little detail as possible, and instead be designed in such a way that it appeals to some strong emotion or sentiment—such as sex or sympathy.
The exclusion of detail allows for the quicker processing of the message, while the underlying sentiment reinforces it. The message need not be logically or factually based, this only clouds the affective force of the message. If any logic or fact is included, it must be very simple and plain, requiring virtually no processing time — the use of cliches and platitudes is quite effective
This insightful commentary from Paul Krugman of the New York Times:
Some background: the Constitution declares the president commander in chief of the armed forces to make it clear that civilians, not the military, hold ultimate authority. That's why American presidents traditionally make a point of avoiding military affectations. Dwight Eisenhower was a victorious general and John Kennedy a genuine war hero, but while in office neither wore anything that resembled military garb.Given that history, George Bush's "Top Gun" act aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln — c'mon, guys, it wasn't about honoring the troops, it was about showing the president in a flight suit — was as scary as it was funny.
Mind you, it was funny. At first the White House claimed the dramatic tail-hook landing was necessary because the carrier was too far out to use a helicopter. In fact, the ship was so close to shore that, according to The Associated Press, administration officials "acknowledged positioning the massive ship to provide the best TV angle for Bush's speech, with the sea as his background instead of the San Diego coastline."
A U.S.-based British journalist told me that he and his colleagues had laughed through the whole scene. If Tony Blair had tried such a stunt, he said, the press would have demanded to know how many hospital beds could have been provided for the cost of the jet fuel.
Step one was exploiting a war in Iraq to repeat the message that Bush is our heroic military leader in America's great war on terror. The imagery of Bush in a full flight suit, helmet under arm, was priceless imagery. As the banner on the USS Lincoln put it, "Mission Accomplished!"
Step two is to exploit 9/11 during his re-election campaign to remind the American people that Bush is still our heroic military leader in America's great war on terror. Witness his plans to hold the latest Republican convention in history, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, just one week before the third anniversary of September 11th.
Here are some more details from News24 in South Africa:
United States President George W Bush's bid for re-election will start late in 2004 and coincide with the third anniversary of the September 11 2001 attacks, with organisers spending twice as much as during his first campaign, said the New York Times on Tuesday.Focused on national security and combating terrorism, Bush's campaign will start with his official acceptance speech on September 2 2004, Republicans close to the White House told the daily.
Starting on August 30 - one month after the opposition Democrats choose their contender - the Republican convention for the November 2004 presidential elections will be held in New York and Bush will shuttle between the convention centre and Madison Square Garden, where a commemoration of September 11 will be held.
The venue will highlight Bush's commitment to national security and the fight against terrorism, said party officials.
Several states are complaining the September convention does not leave enough time to print absentee ballots, and misses their official deadline for a party to declare it's candidate. As a result, Bush may have to be a write-in candidate in a few states, unless their state legislatures change the law to accomodate Bush's September 2nd acceptance speech. So far, several states have changed the law specifically to accomodate Bush's plans. When has Rove let something like a few silly election laws get in his way before? From the Washington Post:
First came the news that officials in Alabama may have to put President Bush on the ballot as a write-in candidate. It turns out Alabama isn't the only state scrambling to figure out what it needs to do to ensure that the president's name will appear on the state ballot next year.The GOP's unusually late nominating convention -- it does not begin until Aug. 30 -- is the problem. Bush is not scheduled to accept his party's nomination until Sept. 2, 2004. That falls after the deadline for certifying presidential candidates not only in Alabama, but also in California, the District of Columbia and West Virginia. There are bills in the Alabama legislature to move its deadline from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5. But if, for some reason, they don't pass, the president would be forced to run there as a write-in candidate.
In other states, along with the District, the situation is a bit more murky. The D.C. City Council will need to change its Sept. 1 deadline to accommodate the convention, said Alice Miller, executive director of the Board of Elections and Ethics. She declined to speculate on what might happen if that deadline isn't changed. Cindy Smith, an elections official in West Virginia, can probably sympathize. Her state requires candidates to file by Aug. 31. Smith said she does not know of any effort to move that deadline -- and is unsure of what might happen if the president misses it.
But the biggest question may be in California, where election officials plan to begin printing about 15 million ballots almost immediately after its Aug. 26 deadline -- and begin mailing its absentee ballots Sept. 3. A spokeswoman for the secretary of state said she did not know of any effort to move the deadline or how the state might accommodate the Republicans. "It's not clear at this point," Terri Carbaugh said. "It certainly poses a dilemma."
Several other states have already moved their deadlines. The Idaho legislature moved that state's by five days for the president, according to information from the National Association of Secretaries of State. Indiana lawmakers have approved a similar change, which is awaiting the governor's signature.
Bush's acceptance speech will be September 2nd, and the news lead into September 11th memorials could deprive his opponent of any news coverage at all for weeks. With the first Tuesday of November 2004 falling on November 2nd, this leaves exactly two months between the start of Bush's campaign and the election. I can hear Ari Fleischer now, "With only eight weeks between the convention and the election, I think there is simply not enough time to organize more than one, maybe two, Presidential debates." If you don't think Bush is capable of that degree of chutzpah, witness his rhetoric on the failed 2001 tax cut, and why he says we need even more tax cuts now.
Rove's September strategy not only exploits a national day of mourning, but conveniently enough leaves just eight and a half weeks for Bush to spend up to the $75 million limit from his campaign war chest, plus RNC soft money. Although Bush will not be opposed in the primary, he can fund his campaign up to September 2nd with a separate set of funds, pretending as if he were opposed in the primary. Soft money restrictions that were recently overturned in court will no doubt help the Bush campaign considerably. So expect to hear a lot about 9/11 during the Bush re-election campaign, despite the fact that Bush is still fighting to keep a Congressional report on the attacks secret.
Rest assured, myself and millions of my fellow New Yorkers. Those who protested the War and Iraq, and those like me who agreed with it in principle, will be out in large numbers protesting from August 30th to September 2nd, 2004. Then again if Bush's strategy at his 2001 Inaugural is any guide, and it will be, those who wish to protest better bring foldable, rollable signs that can be concealed from the wary security personnel. I spent hours at the Inauguration trying to get within a half mile of the swearing in ceremony or parade route. Every officer who saw my sign told me "Sorry, you can't go in there" while thousands of others were able to pass through, no tickets required. The offensive message on my cardboard sign? Gore's number of popular votes in blue, and Bush's number of popular votes in red. Later in the afternoon, I tossed the sign and walked to the parade route unobstructed.
This means if you want to protest at the 2004 convention you had better have signs you can hide. Expect them to be confiscated, even if you are only carrying them on a public street. Have a backup plan, blank signs and markers are a good idea, or a place near by that you can stash extras. You may think this sounds silly, but ask anyone who was there in January 2001. There is no such thing as freedom of speech at a Presidential event. That was even before September 11th! It might be risky to be there in 2004, too, given that Usama is still on the loose, and has vowed to exact his revenge in a personal suicide attack. Regardless, I hope I see a sign in New York that says two things.
HEY BUSH, 9/11 IS NOT A SLOGAN
GO EXPLOIT SOME OTHER TRAGEDY
Madison Square Garden. August 30-September 2, 2004.