The heat is on

By Whitney Cheshire

Ouch.

Bill Richardson’s team may be at that point: That time in a campaign when strategists and consultants – those hired public-relations guns – clench their teeth, breathe in and beg for a little rain to come in and cool off what turned out to be a triple-digit scorcher of political screw-ups. It’s the kind of heat that can envelope a candidate and threaten to cook him alive.

A little too melodramatic?

Perhaps. But I spent last weekend camping in Yosemite National Park, where 100-plus temperatures drove me and my fellow mountain-lovers to the still-cold Merced River every afternoon, on a trip where the car thermometer registered a whopping 115 degrees for the return drive across the desert.

I thought, at the time, that it just couldn’t get any hotter.

I was wrong. Things can always be worse.

After coming home and digging through hundreds of stacked-up e-mails, Google alerts, and blog entries about Richardson (which I thankfully missed over the weekend), I realized that I would prefer Death Valley heat to that teeth-clenching problem that has to be going on right now inside Camp Richardson.

Without a doubt, Richardson had a lot of PR making up to do after his flubbery on Meet the Press a few weeks ago. And even though his post-Russert debate performance on PBS showed some improvement, Richardson’s comment about fighting AIDS with “more needles” gave the pro-Obama and pro-Clinton blogs more ammo to hit him with on the ever-fickle and increasingly powerful blogosphere.

Not exactly the recovery he needed.

But prior to the debate, Richardson and his campaign tried to turn the tide of bad news in advance of the inevitable post-debate spin by letting go of a rumor that Richardson would, could or should out-fundraise fellow Democrat John Edwards for this quarter.

The Washington Post reported that “…New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is barely registering in most polls, has told other Democrats that he expects to raise more money than Edwards this quarter.”

This was an odd move to make because if he erred, it would set the scene for another public relations failure.

So when it turned out that Edwards (whoopsy) beat Richardson by $2 million, the spin-intended rumor hit the ground with a thud.

That “we-failed-to-meet-expectations” thud.

Campaign 101 – Make sure your candidate exceeds expectations. This is normally an easy thing to do since the candidate is the one who gets to set those expectations.

But how about this one?

In a last-minute attempt to boost fundraising before the end of the second quarter, Camp Richardson sent out an e-mail saying, “Governor Richardson’s poll numbers are skyrocketing. Now is the time to capitalize on this momentum with a fundraising haul that will really make the media sit up and pay attention.”

The e-mail was sent on June 29, three days before American Research Group released survey results showing Richardson losing ground in both New Hampshire and Iowa. “Skyrocketing?” Are you kidding us?

Barely double-digits, even if they had been maintained, could hardly be considered impressive, much less out of this world.

Double thud.

Campaigns and Elections had a decent explanation for the back-to-Earth drop this week, reporting that “Richardson has also seen a bump in the polls since he began advertising in New Hampshire. His offbeat ‘Job Interview’ ads got people talking and raised voter awareness of Richardson’s extensive political experience… Bennett said the Richardson ads were effective because they were unusual and created a bit of a buzz, but ‘when they stopped, their impact dropped off.’”

Couple all of this with recent national coverage about Richardson’s tenure on the board of directors of Peregrine and a now-relentless New Mexico GOP communications shop that won’t let anything go by without pointedly pointing out Richardson’s discrepancies, flip-flops and hypocrisies, and you have the makings of one hot summer.

It can always be worse

But again, it can always be worse. Take Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Beth Everitt, for example. She announced this week that she would be retiring in mid-2008, at the end of her current contract. If anyone could be the poster child for screwed up public relations disasters, it would, unfortunately, be her.

I won’t recount them all, but the Albuquerque Journal’s John Trevor had the best take in Tuesday’s political cartoon. In classic blunderish style, Everitt headed out the door with a memorable statement, telling the Journal that, “My husband wants to move to where there’s good golf courses, and I’d like to see some water.”

Oh boy. What does that mean, exactly? I thought there were some pretty good golf courses here in New Mexico, and the last time I looked, I saw water in the Rio Grande. Now, surely Everitt didn’t intend to insult the city on her way out of the door. She has a lot on her mind. But look – it’s these kind of ill-thought-out statements that get people laughing in their flip-flops, and, likely, her on-the-hot-seat public relations folks sucking in air through their teeth while praying for rain.

So – what would you rather be doing on this balmy summer day? Untangling Richardson’s PR mess, explaining Everitt’s comments and decision to stick around for another year, or pulling weeds in your sweatpants while drinking a refreshing cup of coffee?

I’m thinking Starbucks sounds good.

Cheshire, AKA the Wednesday Morning Quarterback, is a media relations and campaign consultant in Albuquerque. Her column runs every Wednesday. You can learn more about her by clicking here. Contact her at wednesdaymorningqb@comcast.net.