Comments
I take my hat off to a genius briefer
2010-03-22 17:21:23
Apart from taking a sneaky look at the rather risque pictures of Samantha Cameron over someone's shoulder on the tube, the only paper I have seen today is The Guardian.
And every now and then, you just have to hold up your hands and say 'well done, well done' to someone from the other side of the political fence, no matter how much you want to persuade yourself in the interests of party tribalism that all your enemies are hopeless indiiduals of no merit whatever.
I refer to whichever Tory Spin Doctor (TSD) was responsible for the briefing to The Guardian's Nick Watt, which appears as a 'special report' (mmmm) on pages 12 and 13.
'Cameron unplugged ...' runs the headline across the top of both pages 'Tory plan to gain a head start over Brown.'
Now as we all know, a picture tells a thousand words and the picture beneath this headline was of David Cameron, with a big smile on his face, leading the way in yesterday's Sport Relief mile. He has both feet off the ground, suggesting he is really motoring.
So good headline, well done TSD. Good picture, ditto.
But it is in the briefing that I really detect the hand of a top notch TSD, not just an average bog-standard briefer.
Here are just some of the notions which Nick Watt managed to fall for, oops sorry, which the top-notch TSD managed to communicate in a highly strategic manner.
* Claiming the heckling by a young apprentice from Deptford led Cameron to think up a different kind of event for the forthcoming campaign.
* Thereby showing that Cameron is someone who can turn adversity to advantage (an important leadership attribute, you might subliminally be asked to think).
* Relating this 'turning point' to John Major's soap box, one of the few things anyone remembers about our last PM but two.
That is all just for starters. TSD's best work is yet to come. For he managed to persuade Mr Watt to take seriously that this carefull briefed set of points was all about Cameron playing to what Tory strategists see as his key strength - 'authenticity.'
I know, I know ... is that not just brilliant? Someone from Central Office gets on the phone to a left-leaning paper and says that Cameron is all about authenticity.
You can only say that kind of thing convincingly if you really believe it, so I can only imagine TSD has seen none of the polling which suggests that Cameron's main problem with the public is that people do not really know what or who he is and that in the absence of that clarity, they worry he is posing as something - an agent of change - that he is not.
Of course TSD is right that authenticity is key. That is their problem. But TSD is undeterred, and Watt untroubled, by any of that.
He goes on with a few more themes worthy of their own little starry points in this eulogy to the work of the great TSD.
* Cameron's authenticity works because the Tories are committed to devolution (come again) which 'lends itself to spontaneous debate with voters.'
* GB apparently can't do these kind of meetings, says TSD, duly reported by NW.
* But here comes the piece de resistance, the spin of all spins, the work of a genius ... 'Cameron's easy connection with voters only works thanks to the second reason why he can lay claim to authenticity. They claim that on the economy, the most important issue of the election, Cameron has a record to defend and even laud.'
I am now on my feet in spontaneous lauding of a briefing of such nerve that I want to find the man who did it and offer him to name his price to defect. One of my finest moments was when the former Chief of Defence Staff Charles Guthrie (before he started taking potshots at GB) called me 'the SAS of spin.' But TSD is a one man commando unit all of his own.
To do such a briefing, and get away with it, without anyone pointing out that Cameron and George Osborne opposed all the measures that stopped a crisis from becoming a calamity, is Order of Thatcher time for TSD. Northern Rock anyone?
If it had been me, so-called King of Spin blah, I'd have quit while I was ahead, but TSD goes on.
'We have had an unbelievable strategic success in winning the argument on debt.' Oh my!
Then this ... 'The Tories are very careful to say they are not turning negative.' How do we know? Because 'attacks will be made with a light touch!' Brilliant. NW then gives an example of DC's light touch. Again, get the TSD a bonus.
So all in all, says NW, 'Cameron's ease in front of audiences suggests he has found his stride after the party's recent wobble..' and the sentence is right by the picture - found his stride, get it? Magical.
Then TSD does a bit of dumping on George Osborne, their one 'key weakness.' I'm beginning to feel a bit sorry for George. The public don't like him. The City don't like him. And TSD doesn't like him; or at least he wants to make sure if the Budget goes well for Labour and badly for the Tories it is George not Dave who gets the blame.
Finally, a superb flourish. If the media say the manifesto is boring, we'll be happy, says TSD.
I don't know who he is. But I love his nerve. Almost as much as he must love Nick Watt when he reads his handiwork today.
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Sport at both ends of the financial spectrumPublish date: 2009-05-23 09:57:23
Stronger together - whether Scotland or expensesPublish date: 2009-05-22 10:22:36
Back to Number 10, familiar faces, familiar argumentsPublish date: 2009-05-21 10:14:34
Speaking up for ParliamentPublish date: 2009-05-20 11:44:17
Peace in the Middle East - yes he canPublish date: 2009-05-19 09:37:35
Breaking news - one frenzy at a timePublish date: 2009-05-18 10:34:30
Getting a good look at Vince CablePublish date: 2009-05-17 09:36:55
How do you solve a problem like Silvio?Publish date: 2009-05-16 09:32:21
It was the internet wot won itPublish date: 2009-05-15 10:04:57
There now follows ... a good whack at CameronPublish date: 2009-05-14 17:21:28
They got their kit off - so you get your cash outPublish date: 2009-05-14 07:41:11
Expenses row must not obscure Tory intentions on minimum wagePublish date: 2009-05-13 16:12:08
We love you Burnley, we do ... what a nightPublish date: 2009-05-13 02:37:17
A tweet cannot express the wonders of TGVPublish date: 2009-05-12 08:48:31
It's Mind week - Get it off your Chest with me and Stephen FryPublish date: 2009-05-11 06:29:15
Hate the Mail, love ObamaPublish date: 2009-05-10 10:04:00
Burnley 1 Reading 0 - a biased reportPublish date: 2009-05-09 21:26:32
MPs expenses - time for party leaders to meet againPublish date: 2009-05-09 09:50:19
Should happiness replace prosperity as national goal?Publish date: 2009-05-08 08:43:23
Musings from a sleepless nightPublish date: 2009-05-07 07:33:49
Darren Fletcher - an injustice that has to be rightedPublish date: 2009-05-06 09:52:29
Maggie's legacy not as great as she thinksPublish date: 2009-05-05 08:33:02
Here's hoping Cardiff is metaphor for CameronPublish date: 2009-05-04 09:38:30
More Mr Benn and Co pleasePublish date: 2009-05-03 10:03:00
Going Fourth with JPPublish date: 2009-05-02 18:25:41
Journalism - print first, think laterPublish date: 2009-05-02 09:10:01
In praise of two poetsPublish date: 2009-05-01 10:26:36
JP hits the road againPublish date: 2009-04-29 18:52:11
My night with Eddie IzzardPublish date: 2009-04-29 10:53:25
Explaining the 50p top tax ratePublish date: 2009-04-28 09:22:53
George Best and Martin McGuinnessPublish date: 2009-04-27 09:02:35
Cameron confused over indepdendence and impartialityPublish date: 2009-04-26 12:20:56
Guide ro Marathon running part 2Publish date: 2009-04-25 11:01:34
Good signals on coal and the OlympicsPublish date: 2009-04-24 10:45:28
Tips for the London MarathonPublish date: 2009-04-23 17:29:27
Missed the Budget, saw why it matteredPublish date: 2009-04-22 23:09:31
Football good, politics bad. AllegedlyPublish date: 2009-04-22 00:00:24
The Great Wall gets greaterPublish date: 2009-04-21 09:55:22
Two sides to police storyPublish date: 2009-04-20 11:39:54
Budgets, Balls, billionaires and Susan BoylePublish date: 2009-04-19 12:31:45
Do muscles have memories?Publish date: 2009-04-18 09:44:44
Bring back standing at footballPublish date: 2009-04-17 14:50:22
When Facebook friends fall outPublish date: 2009-04-16 12:29:16
Guardian sightings and the email and bath plug agendaPublish date: 2009-04-15 11:32:16
The spin is all in the prismPublish date: 2009-04-14 09:22:41
A setback, not a crisisPublish date: 2009-04-13 12:55:19
The real lessons from Damian McBridePublish date: 2009-04-12 10:49:47
Will English always be the dominant language?Publish date: 2009-04-11 10:02:02
On the pipes and what makes a ScotPublish date: 2009-04-10 11:06:20
John Prescott lazy? NO WAYPublish date: 2009-04-09 09:11:31
David Frost is seventyPublish date: 2009-04-08 08:48:38
The Speaker, BBC2, tonight and tomorrow 8pmPublish date: 2009-04-07 14:25:31
Obama, colds and being woken by Korean missilesPublish date: 2009-04-06 11:59:24
When a call matters more than protocolPublish date: 2009-04-05 11:33:42
Green Cities Champions LeaguePublish date: 2009-04-04 10:19:53
Could Cameron have delivered the G20 deal?Publish date: 2009-04-03 10:11:59
Of Benn and BonoPublish date: 2009-04-02 08:21:16
Memo to Sarko - allez vite a LondresPublish date: 2009-04-01 08:46:17
Happy April Fool's DayPublish date: 2009-04-01 01:44:05
Eurostar, Le Monde and a thought for the G20 sherpasPublish date: 2009-03-31 09:17:22
Why Kevin Rudd made an impactPublish date: 2009-03-30 10:24:41
Pre-G20 hype matters less than post-G20 processPublish date: 2009-03-29 13:17:28
The Damned UnitedPublish date: 2009-03-28 10:37:04
A hobby horse, a plug and a bit of sportPublish date: 2009-03-27 10:22:23
Cloughie - he had a lot to be big-headed aboutPublish date: 2009-03-26 09:38:36
A sad sight of the old fearing the youngPublish date: 2009-03-25 17:03:07
Post-modern, post-structural, or bullshit?Publish date: 2009-03-25 08:18:02
Learning the right lessons from ObamaPublish date: 2009-03-24 08:53:15
Lazy Dave needs to keep an eye on lazy KenPublish date: 2009-03-23 11:16:14
Farewell favourite restaurant, hello hometownPublish date: 2009-03-22 08:18:09
Dave, Danny and have the Tories really changed?Publish date: 2009-03-21 08:55:13
Life beyond Dover ...Publish date: 2009-03-20 10:11:21
My friends in The New Statesman - Fergie, Fiona, Tony, Sarah, Kevin, 'Dacre,' and a great GB idea for the G20Publish date: 2009-03-18 10:38:22
Iraq, Iran, GB, Obama and diplomatic chessPublish date: 2009-03-17 10:07:13
The Age of StupidPublish date: 2009-03-16 08:27:13
Is all change good?Publish date: 2009-03-15 10:00:06
The pressure of being a post-modern sex godPublish date: 2009-03-14 10:00:55
Cameron still hasn't sealed the deal with businessPublish date: 2009-03-13 09:21:49
Stand up for social workersPublish date: 2009-03-12 08:31:17
Surely Malcolm Tucker could have told Armando Ianucci ... You can't spin a spinnerPublish date: 2009-03-11 10:58:25
Start of a new approach from Labour?Publish date: 2009-03-10 09:54:12
A peace process still strongPublish date: 2009-03-09 08:21:05
Day of destiny for the real footballer of the yearPublish date: 2009-03-08 09:21:06
Private advice to Peggy Mitchell - the leaked note in fullPublish date: 2009-03-07 08:17:21
Boris, the Tories and the tummy-tickling poodle pressPublish date: 2009-03-06 09:49:37
A day in the life of the self-obsessed TV reporterPublish date: 2009-03-05 07:55:47
GB - good speech, well deliveredPublish date: 2009-03-04 19:31:05
Notes on the environment, a role in EastEndersPublish date: 2009-03-04 10:58:56
She may be my 'wife' but it is time to rebut!Publish date: 2009-03-03 10:52:59
Some speeches matter more than othersPublish date: 2009-03-02 12:04:45
Mental health and the Carling Cup FinalPublish date: 2009-03-01 09:08:17
Inside the chocolate factoryPublish date: 2009-02-28 10:23:59
GB on the G20, JP on Jeremy KylePublish date: 2009-02-27 09:14:36
Charity and the credit crunch, please give generously!Publish date: 2009-02-26 08:55:12
Why oh why are the Tories not home and dry?Publish date: 2009-02-24 09:44:59
Me, Dermot and ten top songsPublish date: 2009-02-23 10:02:19
Names round-upPublish date: 2009-02-22 08:43:39
What's in a name?Publish date: 2009-02-21 09:58:14
Editing the New StatesmanPublish date: 2009-02-20 11:42:36
Salute Peter M’s proper use of the F wordPublish date: 2009-02-19 09:58:58
Labour's communications challenge for the NHSPublish date: 2009-02-18 10:34:39
In praise of KeighleyPublish date: 2009-02-17 14:33:57
A night at the EmiratesPublish date: 2009-02-17 00:06:51
When marriage is testedPublish date: 2009-02-16 13:36:35
Spare me the myths and the whiningPublish date: 2009-02-15 13:29:50
Dave Cameron - is that all there is?Publish date: 2009-02-14 11:11:55
Boris Johnson: F is for ...Publish date: 2009-02-13 07:55:10
The Cameron vacuumPublish date: 2009-02-12 14:48:33
Lincoln, Obama, Blair and the 24 hour media culturePublish date: 2009-02-11 10:28:47
Eighteen interviews later ...Publish date: 2009-02-10 19:24:45
Time to talk about Time to Change on NewsnightPublish date: 2009-02-09 22:47:49
So that’s what they mean by online community?Publish date: 2009-02-08 12:12:51
First blogPublish date: 2009-02-05 15:23:57
Span Ows
2010-03-23 02:09:57so...TSD, this surely makes you and LSD? I know which one is more well known to take the brain into the land of make believe...Alastair, always so acidic!
HP
2010-03-22 20:34:08Tch tch tch, what's happened to the guardian these days? Good spot AC!
Margaret Young
2010-03-22 19:48:55Nick Watt should apply for a job at Tory Central Office. He is obviously gullible and believes anything a TSD says.
Jorg
2010-03-22 18:21:54Have we just been witnessing the creation of what I'd suggest calling
"Meta-Spin"?
Brilliant piece of writing! AC 1 - TSD 0 (but nice try anyway)
Polly Hargreaves
2010-03-22 18:03:27Very funny... I would love to see you do a TV show deconstructing stories like this. There is so much rubbish in our press - The Guardian not usually the worst culprit - but for some reason some people don't notice or if they do they don't care
Malcolm Kelly
2010-03-22 18:02:18The Sam Cam snaps are all over the Mail and the Telegraph ... complete with 'oh I bet these upset the blue rinses.' I reckon your TSD was behind this too.
Colin Harper
2010-03-22 18:01:19Now now .. The Guardian has been leading the way on Ashcroft so they probably thought they should balance up a bit. I agree it was thin gruel presented as a special report though and some of it highly fanciful.
Patrick James
2010-03-22 17:40:18The Conservatives must be working really hard now, more than ever before.
I guess they are trying to work out how to sell Cameron without it sounding like sell.
They've got a problem which is that not very many people believe what Cameron has to say.
I haven't seen these pictures of Samantha Cameron, but I wondered if attention had been brought to them by someone in the Conservative party. The idea being to give a bit of colour to the Cameron story. As I say I haven't seen them and I am assuming they are respectable pictures. The only thing I know about Samantha Cameron is that she is even richer than David which is probably not what the Conservative party want to focus on.
Gary Dunion
2010-03-22 17:29:26"John Major's ... our last PM but two."
Bit premature there, Ali. JM is still our last PM but one.
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