Posted on 08/19/2005 10:18:02 AM PDT by LibSnubber
Memo to governor's office outlines partisan Internet site
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A confidential memo addressed to Gov. Kathleen Blanco's communications chief outlined a strategy for developing an anonymous Web site that would espouse the politics and positions of Louisiana's top Democrats, according to copies of the four-page document circulated Thursday.
The proposed Web site would be used to counterbalance Republican messages becoming more organized and prevalent around Louisiana, according to the memo, which is addressed from John Copes to Bob Mann, a friend of Copes' and Blanco's communications director.
"Currently, Democrats have no comparable structure from which to return fire, or even to begin correcting the calumnies hurled against us daily," Copes says in the document, sent to The Associated Press via e-mail and posted on several conservative Web sites.
Mann, who confirmed that Copes wrote the memo, refused to comment on it, beyond saying that he often receives suggestions and advice from people. Copes also declined to talk about the four-page document...
"One thought is to try to masquerade as some sort of anonymous non-partisan do-gooder group. That just won't pass the smell test, especially after two or three months of consistently talking smack about Republicans and talking sweet about Democratic policy and never whacking a Democrat," Copes says. "The point is, we're going to have to come up with some kind of story about who's doing the site and why."
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
http://www.fcc.gov/ib/pd/
Caught with their pants down!
Paid for with government funds?
Add this to the Louisiana's Joe Cook/ACLU scandal of Cook comparing our school prayer supporters to the 9/11 terrorists and I'd say Louisiana's liberals are about to totally self-destruct. I love it!!!
(225) 342-7015
Blanco's phone number.
"Paid for with government funds?"
Oooh, very good question. I have no idea. Guess we'll have to wait for the AP to fill us in on that one! /sarc
I kind of got the impression from yesterday's post that a message board like FR is what they have in mind.
That might not be too safe, with all the trolls out there. I think JimRob spends most of his budget on a staff of admin mods to keep order.
Seems the DNC talking point is that republicans are all "well organised" and get the message out.
NEWSFLASH TO DEMOCRATS: You message go out very well. It was rejected.
The DNC might as well be saying they can literally sell snakeoil as long as "magic words" get the message out.
To prevent duplication, please do not alter the heading. Thanks.
Was this posted yesterday? I did a search but came up empty...
I don't know what interests me the most with this. The fact that a lib with the FCC Policy Division is in bed with Blanco, the fact that the AP completely kept that fact out of their reporting, or the fact that libs still think they can actually BUY what we have?
If they put it up, it has to be headquartered in N.O. The liberal bastion of La.
The alleged memo itself was posted yesterday.
Many people thought it was some kind of parody or joke. It seemed too good to be true.
I just found the memo. Here it is. Enjoy!
MEMO
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
TO:
Communications Director
Governor Kathleen Blanco
FROM: John Copes
DATE: August 4, 2005
RE: web site project
It’s been a long time since my last memo, Bob, and it’s not like riding a bicycle, so I’ll simply try to restate and expand upon our conversations concerning various ways to more vigorously advance a coherent strategy to promote the governor’s (and, by extension, Democratic) policies, while blunting the increasingly intense attacks upon her and upon her administration.
As we have often discussed, the most serious problem Democrats in Louisiana now face is a Republican Party apparatus – including Republican elected officials – that becomes more organized, more belligerent, and more nakedly partisan by the day.
Just as worrisome is the relentless daily message-peddling by GOP surrogates operating in the traditional mainstream media, on talk radio, and through a collection of web sites on the Internet.
The “right-wing destruction machine,” as President Clinton has termed it, with its goal of personal ruin through vicious attack politics, has finally arrived in Louisiana.
So what are we going to do about it? Currently, Democrats have no comparable structure from which to return fire, or even to begin correcting the calumnies hurled against us daily. It is clear that we must develop and wield an offensive capability of our own, as well as develop a much more agile and effective defense.
This would, of course, include our own web site. Such a site will allow us to quickly and cheaply reach several distinct audiences with an entertaining, informative message of our own design.
Overall, the target audience could be described as people who pay close attention to politics in Louisiana: elected officials; government employees, civil servants and bureaucrats at the local, state and federal level; individuals and businesses that rely on various levels of government for a substantial portion of their livelihood; the mainstream media, and more particularly the “opinion shapers,” such as editorial writers, columnists and political reporters; and your generic “concerned citizens.” Through these groups, the message filters out to the general public.
What we’re talking about could be more accurately described as a web log, or “blog,” but since Andrew doesn’t like that term we’ll use “web site” instead.
How would such a web site work?
In operation, it’s pretty simple and not all that different from what we’re already doing in other aspects of our workdays. All we do is look at what’s available to us online or in public appearances or in the record or wherever -- we cast a wide net, regularly -- and that’s essentially our starting point.
We use this material as a starting point from which then we highlight their inconsistencies, or deconstruct their policies and reframe them to our advantage, in our own language. Or we point out where they’re engaged in folly or mendacity or just plain old greed or meanness. Sometimes we just poke fun.
All of this, however, while availing ourselves of the opportunity to exercise our wit. Such as it may be.
There also could be a daily roundup of links to online stories of interest, national and local. These links would help us get through those rare times when more suitable material is scarce, and also give readers a reason to visit the site every day.
At some point we also would open a comments section.
There are a couple key points to this operation, Bob, and No. 1 is that we all should be absolutely clear that entertainment is what engages people and keeps them coming back to the site. People don’t want to be harangued; they don’t want to be preached at. They want to be entertained, and if you can make them laugh or even chuckle, all the better.
Entertaining the reader – and us – is Rule One.
The other key point is this web site cannot be a one-person deal. It just will not work that way. There should be a consistent tone and direction, which I will help us achieve, but the site must have a variety of voices. We must have broad, consistent and engaged participation from a specifically designated group, which we will call the Working Group.
I suggest the Working Group, at least in the beginning, include representatives from the political operations of the governor, the senior U.S. Senator, the lieutenant governor, the state party, maybe the state Treasurer and/or Attorney General, and possibly someone either representing or familiar with the workings of the Legislature.
This group would conference once a week at a specific and regular time of day to discuss the issues and situations to be addressed on the site that week. You and I can establish the mechanics of the conference if you wish. For now, the key point is that everyone contributes to the discussion, and everyone posts to the web site.
On the geek side of this deal, I think at first we should go small, cheap and easy. A ready-made solution, something like Movable Type or Blogger, is pretty much all of those things. Should the site become popular and traffic exceed the limits of the first solution, we could always move to something larger, at which point the site could well become financially self-sustaining.
Also, as we discussed, there is an email component to the project that is just as important as the web site. In a perfect world, each member of the Working Group would bring their office’s file of email addresses, and we would use them to launch the site. I realize we do not live in a perfect world, but it’s something to strive for, don’t you think?
There are a couple of legal issues. Someone or some entity will have to sign up and pay the bills for the site and related costs. (For the reasons we discussed, it cannot be me. I am happy to be of whatever service I can to you and to the governor, and I look forward to whatever future use to which you may be able to put me. I can help you get the site off the ground and get it going in the right direction. But I cannot be out front with this project.)
It has been suggested to me that we consider forming a 527, a 501c7 (which I am told is a “social club”) or a state PAC, and operate the site through it or under its auspices. I am ignorant of the advantages and disadvantages of them all and cannot advise. But this might be something to consider.
The other operations issue: pretty much every site I’m familiar with has a section titled “about us” or something of that nature, where the people who actually do the site tell the reader something about themselves, or something calculated to project the image he/she seeks. We’re going to have to decide exactly how we’re going to handle this.
One thought is to try to masquerade as some sort of anonymous non-partisan do-gooder group. That just won’t pass the smell test, especially after two or three months of consistently talking smack about Republicans and talking sweet about Democratic policy and never whacking a Democrat.
The point is, we’re going to have to come up with some kind of story about who’s doing the site and why. A plausible story in which the posters have a believable reason for wanting to remain anonymous.
A few other final items:
· If you want specifics on cost, both for the site and for me, I have them.
· It sure would be nice to sell this idea in person with each potential member of the Working Group, especially if they’re going to help pick up the costs.
· It might also be helpful in selling them to have a site already up and running, with content already posted.
· We need to develop a protocol for the Working Group meetings, and for how we’ll use the information we talk about during the weekly conference. Would we do multiple posts on a single topic? What if the governor and the senior senator happen to hold divergent views on an issue?
· How do you think we’d handle, say, the feds raiding Jefferson’s car and homes?
You and I understand web sites, Bob, and so possibly in this memo I’ve unknowingly skipped over big portions of this project, or left big blanks. Which is why I’m considering this thing just a draft. After revisions, we might want to use this as a tool to help get folks interesting in both the site and the Working Group.
Finally, just between us, I think the project is doable, and I think it has a fair chance of success. But there are a number of tricky little aspects to be navigated here, and we should keep in mind that what we envision now might bear little resemblance to what we eventually develop.
I’m always available to discuss this or any other project you may have in mind, Bob. As for this document, mark it up, send it back, and we’ll start again!
Ruh Roh! Here's my source: http://www.moongriffon.com/memo.doc
Translation..."I ain't throwing my own money away on a losing project."
Coming soon to a state near you...
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=58453
The 2004 Senate victory in South Dakota of Republican John Thune over then Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle did not end the bitter election campaign. Since the election, at least five South Dakota blogs have appeared with the only apparent purpose of attacking Thune.
Former Daschle staffers openly run two of the blogs, and two others are anonymous. A fifth is run by Todd Epp, who did part-time legal work for Daschle’s campaign. Epp told this column that Steve Hildebrand, Daschle’s campaign manager, learned from Thune’s use of paid bloggers in 2004 and now “is kind of behind some of this.”
A footnote: In its July quarterly report, the Daschle campaign reported more than $1 million in post-election spending, including a $2,000-a-month salary for Hildebrand and thousands more for his consulting firm. The campaign still has $545,000. Because Daschle has exceeded $5,000 in spending, the Federal Election Commission under its rules asked him if he is a candidate against Thune in 2010. Daschle replied officially that he is not.
November 5, 2001
Copes Is Coping...Many of the foremost political junkies in the state were surprised to see written on the front page the website Deductbox.com the words: "There will be no Deductbox for the foreseeable future...Thanks for your forbearance." The only other thing on the page was the signature of the site's editor John Copes.
Deductbox stands as the foremost location on the internet for Louisiana political news and comment. Every day, Copes digests the important articles of the major state newspapers and compares the reporting on various stories.
Friend Bob Mann said...
John says he expects to have the website back up in the next couple of weeks to continue the battle to "bring truth, justice and the American way to the Third World potentate of LA."
Send e-mail to johncopes@deductbox.com.
******
"The Plot Against Talk Radio and Internet Kooks"
MEMO
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
TO: Bob Mann
Communications Director
Governor Kathleen Blanco
FROM: John Copes
DATE: August 4, 2005
RE: web site project
Did you try that link for deductbox? I tried a lot of things. It's a dead link.
Yes, it didn't work for me either.
Pinged for wider circulation in post-Katrina America.
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