Me#1You#10 Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 6503
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:28 pm Post subject: "IAFF ads can't burn Giuliani's campaign" |
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Now here's a surprisingly shallow commentary from a "Townhall" scribe no less, Matt Lewis, who appears to be a bit tonedeaf to the REAL difference between the Swiftees and their contemporary wannabes...TRUTH...
Quote: | IAFF ads can't burn Giuliani's campaign
By: Matt Lewis
Jul 17, 2007 06:47 PM EST
The Politico
When the International Association of Fire Fighters recently released its video, "Rudy Giuliani: Urban Legend," criticizing the former New York City mayor's performance before and after the Sept. 11 attacks, the 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads came to mind.
After all, both ads attack candidates' perceived strengths -- Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry's military service and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's response to horrific terrorist attacks on his city. Both feature sincere people with credible biographies, talking directly to the camera.
Yet while the Swift Boat ads against Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee that year, went largely ignored for months, the media has been quick to cover the IAFF's attacks on Giuliani. Immediately upon its release, the IAFF story received coverage from CNN, CBS News, The Washington Post, The New York Times and USA Today, among many others.
While many of my conservative friends cite media bias as an explanation, a less cynical view is that the mainstream media were surprised by the significance of the Swift Boat ads and have learned their lesson.
The Politico - cont'd |
Mr. Lewis will forgive me if I strongly subscribe to the former. Nor were the ads themselves "ignored for months" (can Mr. Lewis' recall be THAT bad?) as they created a firestorm from DAY ONE.
Mr. Lewis seems a bit mesmerized by the power of media and punditry to shape events and his analysis is locked into that prism. While media manipulation is surely a force to be reckoned with, sometimes...yes, sometimes...substance manages to triumph over form.
P.S. If you haven't had the occasion to visit Townhall.com of late, stop by and check it out. It's evolved into a one-stop shop for all things conservative as a look at their smorgasbord of contributors will quickly reveal. |
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