Obama’s OFA targets right-wing talk radio
The campaign to push the health care reform bill has moved into a new dimension with Obama’s “grassroots” organization, Organizing For America, urging members to target right-wing radio shows and helpfully providing both tips on how to get on and talking points for those inclined to do so.
OFA has put together a handy helpful website to facilitate this campaign. It’s an interesting effort, but reading through the talking points, my guess is it will become quickly obvious to any listener who the OFA members are as soon as they begin their presentation of those points. Callers are encouraged to use those discussion points, but OFA reminds them that “the most important part of your call is your own story about why you support reform.”
Of course such a campaign costs OFA nothing except the cost of the website. And, as you’ll see at the bottom of that screen, they ask participants to submit their reports – I assume so OFA can refine their approach or at some point use the information in an attack on various right-wing hosts.
OFA provides a portal with which to listen to right wing shows (although clicking through, I saw various left wing hosts such as Ed Schultz, Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and Mike Malloy listed as well) and their call in numbers.
It’s a pretty cool effort – how effective it will be remains to be seen. Talk radio listeners are pretty savvy listeners and fairly quickly identify such efforts as disingenuous and tune them out. And call screeners will soon find a way to ferret them out. But listening for them for as long as this lasts should at least be entertaining anyway.
~McQ
It could last a while, actually. Rush and Medved both loooooove to have liberal callers, and I think Hannity does as well. But rather than the talk radio community freeze them out, something tells me OFA will be the one to pull the plug.
I can hear Rush, Hannity, Ingraham, and ESPECIALLY Levin cackling with glee.
Astroturfing is wrong, unless you’re advancing the liberal agenda.
This is truly pathetic.
When you have to tell your lame minions to “Argue With Neighbors, Get In Their Face“, it is down right pathetic.
Someone grab pics. I expect this to be taken down once the marching orders have gone out.
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Let’s see if we can count the ways this is stupid:
1. The talk show hosts now have a list of what the astroturfers will say. Therefore they will have their answers practiced and ready. The exchange is likely to make the DNC’s points look worse instead of better.
2. The astroturfers are therefore likely to look bad and realize they look bad. That demoralizes them and makes them less effective for future issues.
3. The media attention makes the DNC look desperate. Of course, on healthcare, they are desperate, but it doesn’t pay to look that way.
I’m sure there are more flaws in this train wreck, but those occurred off the top of my head.
Upon further reflection:
… the most important part of your call is your own story about why you support reform.
Yeah, expect the usual brain-dead lib talking points, but the kicker will be when somebody calls in with horror stories about how the doctor whipped off his leg instead of removing his tonsils and the insurance company refused to cover his grandmother’s medical care after she developed cat food poisoning after the cost of her prescription drugs got too high.
The LAST thing that the dems want to do is discuss this issue rationally. They must keep the discussion all about emotions, and what better way to do that than to get people to tell their “personal story” (which makes the talk show host look like a heartless scrooge if he questions them)?
These are going to devolve into “You want to starve children, and deny health care to old people” calls. They may as well just start out by asking the talk hosts why they want to drown kittens and puppies.
Or wearing dead women’s dentures…
This is DOA. Talk radio has been dealing with “seminar” callers for years. They stand out like a fart in church.
The amazing and fearsome Obama campaign machinery reduced to this.
1 term president.
Did they put J-C Bua in charge of it? Because, really, this exact same tactic worked sooooooo well for them in the late 90′s when he directed their efforts. Just ask President Gore.
This is just like the "Letters to the Editor" section of my local paper. They actually printed several that would have gotten you kicked out of school for plagarism, on the same day. Oops.
<Evil cackle> Leading talking points lambs to the slaughter!!
Once they “fire” their puny salvo, the host (and many local hosts are much better than Rush, Hannity, etc.) chews them up and spits them up. It’s quite reminiscent of Erb getting his ass handed to him the running away.
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