Posted on 11/26/2002 1:00:29 PM PST by What Is Ain't
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - In hindsight, their first mistake may have been holding a memorial service in a big basketball arena.
Under a bank of Jumbotron screens.
Live on C-Span.
The Oct. 29 service held for Sen. Paul Wellstone after he was killed in a plane crash turned into a raucous political pep rally that turned off many voters. Some analysts say it not only led to the defeat of Wellstone stand-in Walter Mondale but also may have contributed to the Democrats' setbacks nationally.
In studying the anatomy of a debacle, many critics have focused on the blunt-edged speech of Wellstone's close friend Rick Kahn. But the event was designed from the start to be boisterous and, yes, political.
"The problem was the labeling," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. "The mistake was in labeling this as a memorial instead of a celebration of the lives of these individuals, which is what it was."
She said people tuned in expecting a funeral and instead got a rally.
Others said that holding the event in a sports arena that seats nearly 15,000 all but predetermined the tone.
"To expect that 15- or 20,000 Wellstone supporters would be quiet as pictures of Trent Lott and others flashed on the screen was too much to expect," said Steve Smith, director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis.
The crowd's booing of Lott was difficult to hear on television but obvious to reporters there. The event was featured prominently on the national news, and conservative pundits seized on the spectacle.
"The problem here was that this was an event controlled by a family that was grieving and a campaign staff that was no longer in the campaign," Smith said. "So, there were errors in judgment."
Wellstone campaign manager Jeff Blodgett apologized for the event the next morning but declined to revisit it in a recent interview, saying: "We've paid the price for the memorial many times over. We're moving on."
The event almost happened in an entirely different way.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source familiar with the planning meeting the day after Wellstone died said the small group considered holding the service in a more somber setting such as a cathedral. But that idea was rejected for a variety of reasons.
One reason was that the senator was Jewish. But organizers also believed that any tribute to Wellstone had to reflect the populist bent of the man. Thus the big arena.
To those paying close attention, the intent of the memorial was clear in the advertised theme: "Stand up, keep fighting."
During the event, Wellstone's wife, daughter and three campaign staffers were given tearful eulogies. But when Kahn, chosen by sons Mark and David to speak of their father, took the podium, he almost immediately changed the tone.
"We are begging you to help us win this election for Paul Wellstone," he told the crowd. "We can redeem the sacrifice of his life if you help us win this election for Paul Wellstone." Kahn also singled out some Republican lawmakers in the crowd to ask them to honor Wellstone by supporting a Democrat for his seat.
Mark Wellstone spoke later and started a finger-jabbing chant of "We will win!" When the video monitors in the arena focused on Mondale, then Wellstone's presumed replacement, the crowd began chanting, "Fritz!"
Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Terry McAuliffe recently told a group of editorial writers that the big-screen close-ups were the biggest mistake of the event, which he said could have cost Democrats nationwide.
Afterward, the event's organizers were in shock, one person present said, and some immediately realized it was a public relations disaster.
Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a political independent, said the very next morning that he was so disgusted he walked out. Republican challenger Norm Coleman was essentially given a fresh start.
"Up until the event, the Coleman people were scared out of their minds," said GOP strategist Sarah Janecek.
Neither Kahn nor the Wellstone brothers would comment for this story. But Kahn said in a radio interview the week after the election he intended his speech to be a personal expression of grief. He said he had no regrets: "I didn't say anything bad at all, and I wouldn't. It's not in my heart."
Mark Penn, who conducts polls for former President Clinton (news - web sites), told Time magazine he found 49 percent of voters thought the service made them less likely to vote for a Democrat. About 67 percent of independent voters felt that way, and overall 68 percent of voters had heard about the service.
And then:
1) The tawdry message conveyed by disinviting the Vice President.
2) The booing of anyone present who was not a Democrat.
3) The total absence of any sign of respect for the loss of the wife, daughter, campaign staff, or crew.
A funeral is a solemn time when all who knew the deceased are welcome to pay their respects to the man. There was no respect shown at all in this carnival atmosphere.
More likely was the incovenient fact that the Crystal Cathedral isn't located in Minnesota! < /sarcasm >
Say what you will about Gov. Jesse (The Body) Ventura, the Republican Party owes this man a debt of gratitude. The fact that a political independent was the first to express shock and indignation removed any shred of cover for the Democrats.
It is refreshing to see miscalculations made on such a grand scale in politics. It confirms that the entire process has not yet been completely taken over by machines.
Under a bank of Jumbotron screens.
Live on C-Span.
I'm not sure you can categorize this as a "mistake". The real mistake is to believe that their crass attitude towards politics is supported by the mainstream voter. They honestly believe that anyone who's not a liberal is a depraved fool, and that the majority of voters agree with that once it's pointed out to them. So, operating on that assumption, the "memorial" service was entirely apropos.
If they continue to think that they just fumbled the logistics on this event, and fail to re-examine their core assumptions that are faulty, they are doomed to continually make these kinds of mistakes. Good.
True. If we have learned ANYTHING, it is not to expect human decency from Democraps.
AP keeps up the DNC's lame cover story that the Wellstone family was responsible for the tone of the rally.
The only thing they were missing was a balloon drop and having the band play "Happy Days Are Here Again".
The scary thing is that they could have done it correctly and Mondale would be a senator again. With some tears in the speeches instead of a fiery demand for victory, with scenes from Wellstones life on the jumbotron (or turn off the jumbotron completely) instead of zoom shots of the speakers and audience they would have been able to ride Wellstone's death to victory like they did with the Widow Carnahan.
If they did the memorial service solemnly, they could have pressured Coleman into not campaigning and allowed Mondale to funeral march his way into the Senate.
Yeah, playing "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" at a memorial service probably would have been too crass, even for that bunch.
I would add that the Democrats knew immediately that something had gone terribly wrong -- probably from internal polling they did afterward. They began backpedaling on that rally very quickly -- remember how nobody wanted to take responsibility for organizing it?
Of course, the natural DNC response was to have Terry McAuliffe blame the family for setting it up that way.
The Democratic Party has become nothing more than a series of industrial accidents just waiting to happen.
Yeah, the LIVE(er) ones who were at the rally.
Why is Bill Clinton still conducting polls.....
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