"From a marketing point of view, you don't roll out new products in August." --White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, on why the Bush administration waited until after Labor Day to try to sell the American people on the Iraq War. Could this Obama's strategy for roll out of Health Care reform?
Whatever you think about the Bush administration (and Repubs), they are darn good at marketing and they were VERY effective at selling the Iraq war. So when I re-read the quote from Andrew Card, I had to say "hmmm ... could this be Obama's strategy for health care reform?"
There is no denying it ... August was brutal. The Repubs captured territory we had fought hard to win during the election AND we are all angry that the Dems (particularly Obama) didn't fight back harder. Why wasn't he on the air daily countering the disinformation campaign? Why wasn't he going toe-to-toe with these guys? But if you examine what happened through the prism of "you don't sell a new product till after labor day", would it have been a waste of valuable resources for Obama to engage in a pitched battle during August (the equivalent of the marketing black hole)?
We suffered some losses and may have even lost the August battle. But does the important battle (the one that determines who wins), does it "really" begin after Labor Day? So did the Repubs and Tea Partiers peak too soon? Let's hope so ...
Oh, if you want to read more about the Andrew Card statement go here
On a related but side note, does anyone know why marketing new products is typically not done in August? What's wrong with August?