At least we know what to listen for. . .
From State House News Service:
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 7, 2006 .Offering a potential glimpse into the themes they hope to reinforce following tonight’s gubernatorial debate, the Gabrieli camp is emailing “talking points” to supporters, with telephone numbers for suggested talk shows.
In an email dated today and credited to his address, Gabrieli aide Michael Moschella suggested that callers to shows like WBZ’s Paul Sullivan’s nighttime show or WTKK’s Eagan and Braude noontime show mention that “Gabrieli has a common sense approach that will get results; while his opponents bicker about partisan politics, Chris rises above the fray.”
Supporters are also prodded to delineate between Gabrieli’s background as a businessman, while Deval Patrick and Thomas Reilly are both lawyers accompanied by “legal jargon.”
On issues, callers are encouraged to talk about Gabrieli’s tax rollback proposal, plan for “cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants,” and “support for renewable energy.”
Apparently looking to bolster the idea that the former venture capitalist and lieutenant governor candidate is an outsider, Moschella encourages callers to note, “We can trust Chris Gabrieli because he doesn’t owe anybody, which is why he’s leading the polls and will win on Election Day.”
Asked if the missive provided insight into tonight’s strategy, Gabrieli spokesman Daniel Cence declined to comment.
Please share widely!
“We can trust Chris Gabrieli because he doesn’t owe anybody, which is why he’s leading the polls and will win on Election Day.”
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Uh, really? Did Gabrieli stand up to the legislature when they wanted to change the pension rules for one of their own, who in his time in office had opted not to?
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As I recall, a certain hackish Rep in my town switched his support, away from Reilly, to Gabrieli, because of that.
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And it’s easy to see Gabs owes DiMasi quite a lot. Else he wouldn’t even be IN this race to begin with.
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Hope that comes out tonight in the debate. I would love to see politics as usual be a subject.
Or had the endless and mindless repetition of “gets results” moved from tedious to insulting to our intelligence? I think I understand campaigns, and I believe in message discipline as much as the next guy, but they’re carrying this to the point of stupidity.
If we play our cards right, he can email his debating points to Kerry every day! /snark!
The Gabs campaign is run by consultants who play the same old games in losing campaign after losing campaign. Sending out talking points is great as long as they are suggestions on how to engage people (which is what you can expect from the Patrick campaign). Telling supporters to use common smear tactics is just plain disgusting. I hope these continue to hit the print media. They show the difference between a hopeful and encouraging campaign and bidness as usual. We deserve better from a Democratic candidate.
and this could apply to any campaign. . .
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Who will be the first debate “viewer” to post a glowing account of their candidate’s performance within seconds of the debate’s conclusion?
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It always cracks me up when a lengthy, well-crafted diary appears within moments of the debate’s conclusion. It’s almost as if some of these were written in advance, right?
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OK, OK, maybe I’m jealous that I can’t type 500 words/minute with impeccable grammar, but I can’t be the only one noticing these things.
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So, who will be tonight’s winner?
I think tonight is wiiiiiiiide open. Could be pivotal.
Reilly supporters may not go to the Boston Magazine site but it appears they frequent boston.com
Though I can write at over 60 words/minute with no errors. It’s one of my special talents, along with the ability to speak gibberish and other semi-useless things.