This just in from Tucker Bounds, Communications Director for the Whitman for Governor campaign…
While Whitman Earns Media,
Brown Goes Dark
Tucker Bounds
With Election Day 2010 fast approaching, Jerry Brown has refused to explain what his intentions would be as governor. It’s a stark contrast to the way Meg has gone about courting voters.
Meg, who leads her Republican primary rival by 30 points and is tied with Jerry Brown in a brand new poll, is running a modern, multi-tiered media campaign that is focused on how Californians get their news today.
Since announcing her intentions to seek the Republican nomination for Governor, Meg has participated in over 170 media interviews, and has watched her support in the polls steadily rise from 14% support among Republicans to 45%.
To date, Meg has managed her campaign schedule to strategically sit for interviews with most of the state’s top political reporters. She’s been interviewed by key reporters at the Associated Press, the Orange County Register, the San Diego Union Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Riverside Press-Enterprise, The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee, The Bakersfield Californian, The L.A. Daily News, and many others. In addition, she has done substantive interviews with influential national political writers Dan Balz, the lead political reporter for The Washington Post, The Fix’s Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post and Matthew Kaminski, a member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal.
Meg has participated in broadcast TV interviews in every California media market spanning from San Diego to Redding and from San Luis Obispo to Palm Springs. The simple truth is this: California voters watch their local TV news a lot more than they read their local newspaper, and as a result, Meg Whitman has been interviewing with local newscasts at virtually every stop along the campaign trail.
In fact, Meg will be discussing her plans to create jobs, cut spending and fix education during at least four TV interviews scheduled today alone.
Just like every successful campaign, our media strategy has focused on courting audiences of key voter blocs.
A clear demonstration is our aggressive outreach to California’s conservative talk radio listeners, which include large numbers of Republican primary voters. By design, Meg has discussed her vision for A New California with radio hosts in essentially every media market in the state. She has been a consistent voice on radio, including conducting multiple interviews with Hugh Hewitt, Eric Hogue, Chris Reed, and Mark Larson.
Additionally, Meg has turned in commanding interviews with Ronn Owens, John and Ken, Tom Sullivan, Ray Appleton, Dennis Prager and many more.
Finally, Meg is employing radio and TV advertising to get her message out. Meg’s ads draw people to her website, which provides detailed information about Meg and her ideas. Traditional advertising combined with the web is a powerful combination. And Meg has participated in numerous national TV interviews, which augment everything else we’re doing.
Not surprisingly, our opponents have sought to derail the campaign’s focused media strategy by disregarding the facts. But here’s the kicker, not only has Meg pursued a full schedule of media outreach, she’s done so while her likely Democratic opponent hides in the hills. Talk about irony.
While Meg has been on the trail, earning coverage by answering questions about her ideas and plans, Jerry Brown has hid behind an “undeclared candidacy.” A cursory review of their respective media schedules shows that while Meg Whitman has participated in more than 170 media interviews to discuss her intentions as Governor, Jerry Brown has done fewer than 10. The presumed nominee of the state’s majority party is refusing to campaign, and California’s news media hasn’t said nearly enough about it.
It’s worrisome that Brown’s behavior hasn’t bothered California’s media much at all. We hope that will change.