How to Put the Press to Sleep

English: Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More from the recent release of documents from the Bill Clinton Presidency. This is from a Politico piece about how to reduce the impact of a Congressional hearing on a topic contrary to your self interest..

Step 1: No news

“If there is more information that is new, get it out the door before the hearings begin,” Dreyer wrote. “We do not want new revelations at the hearings. The hearings must rehash old news.”

(Also on POLITICO: Final document dump spills Clinton W.H. secrets)

Step 2: Keep ’em waiting

“We should make the hearings expensive and inconvenient for the networks to cover; boring and inconvenient for the press to follow. The hearings should start late, never on time. We should encourage votes on both the House and Senate floors. The Committees should adjourn to vote, never have a relay of committee members to keep the hearings going.”

Step 3: Put ’em to sleep

“We encourage detailed opening statements by every Democrat on both Banking panels. We want detailed statements by our opening witnesses. We advocate starting the hearings on Thursday, so that the weekend forces a premature media judgment on whether the hearings are worth watching. An early technical or procedural battle over, for example, scope would also suit our objectives.”

Step 4: Spin

“It is in our interest to dominate the news, and that will require a strong overall message and an even stronger tactical approach. Though their numbers may dwindle, reporters will be in those hearing rooms gavel-to-gavel. We need a two-cycle spin operation in the hearing rooms interpreting events for the reporters as they decide what is news.”

(Also on POLITICO: Clinton, Powell talked gays in military)

Step 5: Misdirection

“Anything we can do to move the focus from the issues inside the hearing room will be worthwhile. The president should be scheduled in ways that show him to be engaged in his serious work. He needs to be confident and self-assured in public appearances.

“Members of Congress should be programmed to do one-minute speeches and addresses in morning business talking about the political choice made by the two parties between health care and Whitewater. DNC and White House press operations should circulate overnight Arbitron ratings for the daily hearings.”

Step 6: Attack!

“Can we float some political analysis about the Republicans having as much to lose as the Democrats? We should be raising the heat on [Republican Sen. Al] D’Amato, ’96 Republican Presidential politics, and negative campaigning.”

The White House’s fears weren’t misplaced; Dreyer’s memo carefully outlined the pitfalls of the hearing, including the possibility the issue would cause problems in the 1994 midterms (which the GOP swept).

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Confirming What We Discussed about the Art of the Leak

English: Mario Cuomo's signature. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You recall we talked about how information may be leaked to reporters to manipulate public opinion. Today Vox has a story about how Bill Clinton attempted to clear the way for what he thought would be a controversial appointment to the Supreme Court. His aim was to make his first choice - Mario Cuomo - more palatable to those who thought him too liberal. It was a multiple-step plan. Here's step two. It didn't work.

• Make a diverse short list, containing some very liberal candidates, so it will be leaked: The list for these senators "should contain some names that will be even less desirable to conservatives than" Clinton's pick (Cuomo), the memo says. "It should also reflect geographic, gender, racial, and professional diversity. We should assume that the list, in its entirety, will be leaked to the press."

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