by Mark Silva
If Barack Obama has his new economic pitch in focus, he may have some old-fashioned focus groups to thank.
Lorraine Woellert and Hans Nichols at Bloomberg News report that the president-elect's top political aides are "transplanting their campaign tactics to the policy arena, using data from polls and focus groups to shape the debate over a stimulus plan that may cost at least $775 billion.''
David Axelrod, Obama's chief political adviser, along with campaign media adviser Jim Margolis, is encouraging lawmakers to use the word "recovery" instead of recession, and "investment" instead of "infrastructure,'' they report, citing recommendations from focus-group research indicating that this will make it all more appealing.
Axelrod and Margolis briefed Senate Democratic leaders yesterday and their House counterparts today on details of the research, meeting participants report.
"Not unlike news organizations, we poll public attitudes about where the economy is," Robert Gibbs, Obama's choice for White House press secretary, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "We're not polling to see what should be in an economic-recovery plan."
Obama's aides are polling on how to frame the economic proposals for voters and what language should be used, Gibbs said. They want to know "how America reacts" to the president- elect's stimulus proposals and the public's "attitudes toward the economy.''
Axelrod and Margolis encouraged senators to change the way they are discussing the stimulus plan and adopt language that the aides had tested in focus groups, according to a Democratic official briefed on the meeting cited in Bloomberg's report.
Democratic senators, including Dick Durbin of Illinois and Tom Carper of Delaware, were given data showing that about half the poll's respondents favored making huge investments that expand government in a recession even if this results in a $1 trillion deficit.
"It isn't unusual for White House aides to commission polls to determine where the public stands on an issue, though the law prohibits them from using federal money for polling that might be construed as election-related,'' Bloomberg reports, citing Dick Morris, who conducted polling for former President Bill Clinton.
"We polled everything, every policy initiative, everything you can think of," Morris said. "It's become pretty standard."
By contrast, he said, President George W. Bush "didn't really poll policy, he polled the presentation." The question, he said, was whether Obama followed the Clinton or Bush model. "My guess is that Obama will more like Clinton than Bush.''
Comments
If you thought 2008 was bad, as far as our economy was concerned, know this: Most pundits (and even President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden), agree, in 2009 things are going to get worse before they get better.
In 2009, our economic dystopia will become more real with every passing day, a trillion dollar middle class bailout following the inauguration of Barack Obama notwithstanding (those realities).
That's because our economy is like an express locomotive. It's going to take years to undo eight years of George Bush's laissez faire mismanagement (let alone 28 years of Reaganomics), and that's assuming we're successful at attaining that semi-tangible goal.
And, despite the rantings of many Republicans desperately looking for a theme--ANY THEME--to latch onto given their pathetic record on the economy for decades, I'm very much in favor of the proposed stimulus package now being discussed in detail by the incoming Obama administration.
But, if you think that fixing this mess is going to be either quick and/or easy, you're in for a very, very rude awakening.
The reason the BushCo Republicans weren't worried about the money being lent by China and the other East Asian nations was because they expected the specter of American military might to impress the nations of the East enough to dissuade them from trying to collect.
Well, no matter how loudly Bush and his Republican cohorts sing,- "We've got a win," - the reality on the ground is that the U.S. lost. Moreover, they lost to a bunch of rag-heads wearing sandals--a fitting end to people who grew up thinking that people with long hair and sandals were a joke. Oh, don't forget the love beads!
Posted by: Reagan was fraud and a failure | January 8, 2009 6:15 PM
Google: how Obama got elected.com. It is an amazing reflection of typical Obama voters. Most appeared to receive their news from SNL. All they have to do is con these folks, and most lack the vocabulary skills to understand "big" words. If they do, it is some rudimentary interpretation presented by the liberal MSM and generally used in a context to support their leftist agendas. Axel and his lefty pals use the "big" words for talking points to be distributed to the lefty elitist so tthey may seen intelligent regurating the propaganda.
Expecting stimulus checks? How about $10 to $20 less tax deduction per week, of course when you file for your 1040 refund , there less of your money to refund. Since the tax rates do not change or go up (Bush cuts expire, need to sacrifice "for country") the Dems. can take credit for this phantom tax cut. Obama voters see their weekly paycheck go up, they will be happy and bow to Obama for the stimulus from their own money. With Axel and his MSM pals propaganda, along with you elite Obama-manics, they will never know the difference. Just brilliant, gotta love it.
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 8, 2009 7:12 PM
Google: how Obama got elected.com. It is an amazing reflection of typical Obama voters. Most appeared to receive their news from SNL. All they have to do is con these folks, and most lack the vocabulary skills to understand "big" words.
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 8, 2009 7:12 PM
Jeffy,
HAHAHA! yeah, because we all know that the "high IQ" Republicans like you, who were cheerleading for BushCo the last eight years, and pushing for a McCain/Palin adminstration to replace them, are really the "smart ones", right?
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG_RV6EQFSg
Posted by: Bubba "Jeff " Porter | January 8, 2009 7:25 PM
Obam must not have though of the Americans out of jobs--
HOW CAN THEY INVEST, HARDER ENOUHH TIME TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.
Posted by: Inky | January 8, 2009 7:35 PM
Bubba Porter and Inky = Jeff
Posted by: The Outer | January 9, 2009 1:45 AM
Oh come on already! Words mean things, people. And in this case "investment" means "tax and spend", or more accurately "print money and spend." Obama's "cure" is going to be far worse than the disease.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspirator | January 9, 2009 8:40 AM