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Category: General

Advertising and campaign tactics

Advertising and campaign tactics

What is dictating McCain’s media strategy? In the advertising war waging across the water, John McCain is positively hammering Barack Obama. The Arizona Senator has ploughed significant money into attacking his counterpart from Illinois on a number of fronts; from his advice on inflating tyres to his ‘celebrity’ status, apparently comparable to that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Two elements of his campaign’s assault on Obama have raised eyebrows. Firstly, why is McCain criticising Obama on such spurious grounds…

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What’s the truth behind this picture?

What’s the truth behind this picture?

Is it just a photo-shop job? The above picture has appeared on the FiveThreeEight site and seems to show Obama’s campaign jet with the name of Ann Veneman as the running mate. Whether this is a clever photo-shop job or the real thing I do not know. Ann Veneman is a former member of Bush’s cabinet and is currently Director-General of UNICEF. In 2004 the first indication that John Edwards was going to be Kerry’s running mate came when someone…

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Why not hold Glenrothes on the US election day?

Why not hold Glenrothes on the US election day?

Is this the way to minimise another humiliating defeat?   The Guardian writer Martin Kettle is one of many commentators to say that the timing of the Glenrothes by-election would be a major factor in determining whether or not Brown lives to fight another day. Since the death of John MacDougall, the Labour majority of 10,664 has been assessed and found to be unsafe in the face of the likely challenge of the SNP. It requires a smaller swing than…

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Should an opposition leader be doing this?

Should an opposition leader be doing this?

Or will the move just highlight the slowness of the government’s response? In what appears to be a highly unusual move for an opposition leader it’s been announced that David Cameron is to fly out to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, tomorrow to meet political leaders. The move seems designed to show solidarity and international support for a government and country that must have felt very isolated in the past few days. On the domestic front Cameron’s move will highlight the…

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Should Barack be “watching his back” in Denver

Should Barack be “watching his back” in Denver

Could the Clintons “hog” the convention limelight? The big overnight news is that Hillary’s name will be going forward to a roll call vote on the Tuesday leaving open the remote possibility that she could still win. The Obama team has agreed to this as a means of keeping some of the most ardent Hillary supporters on board. About 45% of the delegates are for Hillary and the big danger for Obama is that the media could build this up…

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Do the voters always get it right?

Do the voters always get it right?

What do we think of “The Fink’s” thesis? There’s an interesting piece on Times Online today by Daniel Finkelstein who argues that in every general election over the past 80 years the voters have chosen the party that was most right to run the country at the time. He writes: “The proposition is that in every contest in these last 80 years the party that was more fit to govern has been victorious. Sometimes both of the main offerings were…

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Should Gord dump any Glenrothes hopes here?

Should Gord dump any Glenrothes hopes here?

Is there any chance of holding on in the seat next door? Above are some recycling bins in Glenrothes – the Fife constituency next to Gordon’s where Labour’s next by-election nightmare looks set to take place. This follows the death, reported earlier in the day, of John MacDougall who had been an MP for seven years. With Labour getting 51.9% of the vote last time to the SNP’s 23.4% the election would in normal times be a Labour hold on…

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Does Bayh’s Iraq war vote rule the favourite out?

Does Bayh’s Iraq war vote rule the favourite out?

How could Barack choose someone with this record? With the announcement of Obama’s V-P choice said to be getting quite imminent big question marks have been raised over the current strong favourite – Evan Bayh – the telegenic senator from Indiana who was a strong Clinton backer. As the New York Times puts it: “Bayh’s support of authorizing force in Iraq stands in sharp contrast to Mr. Obama’s oft-stated view that he showed the good judgment to oppose the conflict…

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