Hardball Communication Strategies Are in Play as Election Day Nears
5/10/24 – – With the presidential election just six months away, we’re learning some very strange things about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kristi Noem. Who knew that a parasitic worm had eaten part of RFK Jr.’s brain and that the Governor of South Dakota shoots dogs and goats?
The timing of these bizarre revelations is not a coincidence. We’re witnessing high-stakes political gamesmanship at its best.
Recent polls are finding that independent presidential candidate RFK Jr. is popular with meaningful percentages (high single digits) of both Democrat and Republican likely voters. And Governor Noem is rumored to be on Donald Trump’s short list of potential V.P. running mates. So, both are in the crosshairs of friends and foes.
The New York Times, in a May 8 article headlined “RFK Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain,” reported that they had obtained the transcript of a 2012 divorce deposition during which RFK Jr. complained about “previously undisclosed” health issues he was having. He explained that his doctors concluded that a dark spot in his brain scans “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” Yesterday, he posted this comment on X:
I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate. I feel confident in the result even with a six-worm handicap.
On Sunday, Margret Brennan, host of CBS “Meet The Nation” didn’t need a deposition to put Kristi Noem on the hot seat. Holding up a copy of the Governor’s own book, released this week, Brennan quoted from a chapter titled, “Bad Day for Goats”:
And then after you shot the dog, you quote “realized another unpleasant job needed to be done walking back up to the yard, I spotted our billy goat.” You said he smelled and would chase kids. So you took him to the gravel pit and shot him twice. How- how do you justify that? How was the goat a threat? And I’m asking you this because it seems like you’re celebrating the killing of the animals.
Why would Governor Noem want this story to be told? Here’s what she said to Brennan:
This has been a story that my political opponents have tried to use against me for years. It’s well known in South Dakota, and it has been to other people. And I want the truth to be out there.”
Deploying an Inoculation Strategy
Deliberately getting embarrassing news about yourself “out there” is what communicators call an “inoculation strategy.” Beating the media to the punch takes the sting out of negative revelations. At least that’s the theory. As Noem explained, the whacking dogs and goats story “is well known” in South Dakota and was sure to be used against a Trump/Noem ticket. Bad news becomes old news.
Some quick presidential history: The unfortunate fate of Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton, who spent only 18 days as George McGovern’s running mate in 1972, convinced both parties to pay a lot more attention to vetting VP candidates. Eagleton resigned from the ticket when “previously undisclosed” revelations about Eagleton’s mental health history surfaced in media reports. Richard Nixon soundly defeated McGovern and his replacement V.P. Sargent Shriver, winning forty-nine states.
The Role of Opposition Research
As for the “worm ate my brain” story — probably uncovered through what’s known as “opposition” or “oppo” research — RFK Jr. detractors likely handed it to the Times to break his momentum. If he were the candidate for either major party, this would have been held until closer to election day, creating a debilitating “October surprise.”
The Times defended its decision to publish the story (more in keeping with the editorial standards of the New York Post), explaining: “The 70-year-old Mr. Kennedy has portrayed his athleticism and relative youth as an advantage over the two oldest people to ever seek the White House . . . His intensive efforts to gain access to more states could put him in a position to tip the election.”
Oppo research is a nasty business. Legendary political strategist Hank Sheinkopf, in an April 15 interview with City and State NY Deputy Managing Editor Holly Pretsky, offered this profile of his trade:
Research, by definition, has one single purpose: to destroy the person you’re running against, or the person that you’re in a battle against … to get rid of the enemy. Sometimes, if you’re smart, you get in front of it early on before campaigns take off. You show somebody some research, they disappear, which has happened in my career. The other alternative is to play a game – which is so that consultants can make money – which is: get the person in the race and kill them, so that everybody can, you know, have a gleeful battle like in a Roman arena.
Things are just getting interesting. Hug your dog, hide your goat, don’t eat anything that could harbor parasitic worms, and keep an eye out for the cutthroat strategies that define campaign communication. And take to heart this wisdom attributed to Harry Truman: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
Crisis Quotient Blog 