2008 Presidential Election: Let the Personal Branding Attacks Begin
February 21, 2008 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
The mud slinging is stepping into high gear in the 2008 Presidential Election, and the New York Times has taken sides – against John McCain.
Today, the paper published a story alleging that John McCain had an inappropriate relationship (i.e., romantic) with a lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, nearly a decade ago. Of course, John McCain, his wife, Vicki Iseman, and almost everyone else who has ever known either McCain or Iseman is denying the report.
The New York Times stands by its story. So what happens next? Looks like we’ll have to wait for conservative Fox News to retaliate with a similarly disparaging story about a liberal candidate.
What do you think? Do political ties in the media have too much influence in politics? Are these personal branding attacks against politicians getting so frequent that it’s nearly impossible to know what’s fact and what’s fiction in the news anymore? Does anyone care what reporters say anymore?
Tags: John McCain, 2008 Presidential Election, Presidential Election, New York Times, Vicki Iseman, John McCain affair, John McCain lobbyist, personal branding, political branding, political marketing
It is unfortunate that a) the media often has a political agenda (on both sides, as you have acknowledged) and, b) so many people utilize mass media (specifically, television news) as their sole source of information. While it seems many people scorn mass media (”Oh, that’s just what some reporter said.”), they often do not embrace any other source of information, thereby acquiescing by default. The press knows this and, at times, exploits it. The same holds true for current “branding efforts” not pertaining to the upcoming elections (i.e. the war, the current president, education, the economy, etc.). So unfortunately, I would have to answer a resounding “yes” to all of your questions.