Kerry should buy 30 minutes on all the networks after the RNC

[xray s]

Witnessing the "press" coverage of Kerry's speech today, it should be pretty obvious by now that the corporate infotainment monopoly on the public discourse will not allow John Kerry to get his message out to the public in a pure, unfiltered way. They have converted a vicious smear campaign against Kerry and the men who served with him into a "he said/she said" ping pong match, giving equal time and meritto both the truth and the lie. The media wails that John Kerry is not talking about the issues, and yet they lead their newscasts with coverage of three(!)different sex crime court cases.

They are despicable. They are unworthy of the designation "news journalist".

John Kerry has to take a page out of Ross Perot playbook and go direct. Buy 30 minutes and speak right to the voters. Do it right after RepublicanLieFest in NYC.

If we rely on the current state of journalism in this country to fairly report on John Kerry's programs, cover his press releases or investigate and expose those who smear the honor of thousands of Vietnam vets, we will be sorely disappointed this November.

[Blue_Roses]

1. do you know how much 30 minutes would cost?

n/t

[rsmith6621]

2. A Lot

Perot was paying 5-10 million a night to talk to us it was a very expensive campaign idea and it almost worked.

I dont think that Kerry/Edwards could do that I think the $$$$ is better spent providing us with resourse so we can do battle properly.

[xray s]

3. it would be expensive, but effective.

Frame it this way. The Kerry campaign thinks the issues facing Americans today are far to important to just discuss in a 30 second sound bite ads, so we are making a commitment to present to you our program for America, in detail, in John Kerry's own words.

People are hungry for more than they are getting from the media. Kerry needs to give them a big meal.

Somebody has to find a way to get the money. I have heard estimates that about $1 billion will be spent on the race between the two parties. We should take the initiative here and change the way campaigns talk to the voters.

[rocktivity]

4. 30 minutes on Air America would be cheaper.

He could do a web feed from his web site, too. MoveOn.org could set it up with parties like they did with Outfoxed!

:headbang:
rocknation

[WI_DEM]

5. does anybody remember when candidates bought blocks of time

on election eve for like an hour on some network to make a final appeal. In '68 for instance, Humphrey held an event where people called in to ask him questions and the people manning the phones were Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and other celebrities. Nixon had a similar event and had Jackie Gleason sitting with him. Campaigns dont' seem to do this sort of thing anymore.

[xray s]

6. yes I do

there were far fewer 30 second ads back then too

[tedoll78]

7. Actually,

I think Kerry should set-aside $5 million and do it towards the end of October, right before the election.

By then, Kerry's campaign will know:
- Kerry strengths and weaknesses
- Bush strengths and weaknesses
- issues that swing voters care most about

The Kerry campaign will then be able to tailor the infomercial's message with those facts in-mind. With a well-written infomercial, the campaign could reinforce our own base's turnout and convince last-minute undecideds to go out to the polls (instead of staying home, as many do). It could also serve to demoralize the GOP base: if they see this infomercial as a great boost to Kerry, and if the race is nearly tied, they may well think to themselves, "well.. this is going to bounce him past the victory line. No bother voting this year.."

And the timing would be important also:
If there's an infomercial bought, say, on Halloween night (Sunday before the election), the Bush campaign and the media would then have less than 28 hours in which to smear and twist Kerry's words in the infomercial. A 9PM CST showing (right after most trick-or-treating is done) would be nice for reaching those crucial swing states in the middle of the country.

What's more.. Kerry would probably get a nice uptick in the polls from a well-crafted infomercial - like the one that gave Perot his lead over Bush & Clinton in 1992. Sure, it would be a short-lived boost, but we'd only need it to last through election day.. a mere 50 hours.

I've been advocating the last-minute infomercial even since Perot demonstrated that they do indeed work. It'd be at least as effective as spending the $5 or 10 million on TV ads in scattered states, and there'd also be the possibility that the nationwide rising tide would raise all Democratic boats down the ticket. If the Kerry campaign ignores this advice, it does so at its own peril..

[xray s]

8. If they can swing the money I would do both

Right after the RNC, to contrast what is sure to be a shallow and hateful message with Kerry's hopeful vision and his specific programs to make his vision a reality. And right before the election, to feed the hunger out there for substance. The main point is this has to be Kerry, in his own words. Make it personal. Make it a live presentation.

That might even force Bush to respond in the same way. And everytime Bush has to go live on TV, especially for an extended length of time, we win.