Ahhh…remember the 90s? The media landscape was such a different place then, when all a presidential nominee had to do was show off his mad sax skills on Arsenio. Here’s an original memo from the 1992 Clinton campaign as they coordinated their old school media plan:
MEMORANDUM
We have spoken generally about the need to do pop-culture shows like Johnny Carson, but we have yet to lay out a plan to do this sort of thing, or to incorporate local radio talk shows into our schedule in any concerted way.
What are we waiting for?
We know from research that Bill Clinton’s life story has a big impact on people. We know that learning about the fights he’s taken on (education reform, welfare reform, deadbeat dads, etc.) tells people a lot about his personal convictions. We know that moments of passion, personal reflection, and humor do more for us than any six-second sound bite on the network news or for that matter any thirty-second television spot.
In tandem with our high-road, serious speech effort, we ought to design a parallel track of pop-culture national and local media efforts.
We must also coordinate this effort with a free media plan for Hillary. Which magazine should appear during the convention with Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea on the cover? LIFE? Parade? We need to decide now.
This period leading up to the convention is critical for this kind of positive information. If we don’t fill in the blanks now, we’ll never get to it after the Republican Convention. That means time is pressing. Given the lead times for magazines and some TV programs, we have to move immediately.
