'We Tried Our Best' and 'I'm Sorry' Aren't Quick Fixes for Every Problem
By Ken Wheaton
Imagine you've tuned in to one of those classic "Sesame Street"
episodes. Not one of those YouTube videos in which they spoof such
child-friendly material as "Homeland" and "Breaking Bad," but one in
which the younger monsters have been disturbed by something intense. So
one of the human adults, Gordon perhaps, arrives at the scene to explain
things in very simple language -- as one would to children who might
have a hard time grasping complex, abstract concepts.
Now, imagine that after Gordon finishes explaining that sometimes bad
things happen to good people, Abby and Zoe, after looking at each other
for a moment, turned to Gordon and said, "Are you kidding me with this
bullshit?"
This is, in essence, what's happened with the Obama administration's
laughable attempts to explain away the many problems it's experienced
with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. It's crisis communications
via "Sesame Street."
That's not to say that Obama himself is a "Sesame Street" president.
While there is something childish in his hopeful overtures to Iran, it's
hard to conceive of Grover ordering drone strikes on Oscar the Grouch
or Big Bird tapping Cookie Monster's phone.
But I do get the distinct impression, based on his communication
strategy, that he thinks he's presiding over a country full of "Sesame
Street" characters. And he's Gordon. He shows up, says, "Let me be
clear," then walks off the stage -- the show's over before anyone starts
asking really pesky questions.
So when Healthcare.gov imploded and the commotion didn't die down
after a few days, Obama showed up in the Rose Garden to tell us that bad
things sometimes happen and that he was just as mad as the rest of us.
Actually, he was even madder than the rest of us. "Nobody is madder than
me about the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should,"
he said. Then he promised to fix it with something called a "tech
surge." So don't worry your silly little heads, kids, go off now and
tickle Elmo or something, Luis is on the job.
But here's Obama's problem -- aside from the fact that the "adult" in
this situation seemingly learned about these problems at the same time
we did. Suddenly, Americans were no longer Elmo and Grover. They weren't
even Oscar the Grouch. They'd jumped to "The Muppet Show" and gone all
Waldorf and Statler on Obama.
Which might explain why there was something almost petulant about
follow-up communications. Listen, Obama seemed to be saying, we tried
our best. Isn't that good enough for you? No? Well, then we're sorry.
Now, are you happy? No? And then they rolled out The Count to further
explain the massive successes of the plan, but poor guy couldn't seem to
count past 100.
Just words
A "Sesame Street" communications strategy can only go so far. It only
works when you're preaching to the converted or when you're dealing with
something so big as to be almost insurmountable, like peace in the
Middle East. Too much sugar-coating and hand-holding might sound like
outright lying.
And when you're dealing with a billion-dollar segment of the economy
that touches on a tangible, everyday product, one that literally is life
and death for some people, "We're trying our best" are just words.
People want practical, actual solutions. They want basic competence. And
failing all of that, they want someone to pay.
Or, put another way, we are little monsters -- just not the cute,
furry ones from "Sesame Street." Sometimes, we want blood. Why? Because
had any of us screwed up a project of this scope at our jobs, we'd be
just another one of those unemployment figures by the end of the day.
What would an anti-"Sesame Street" communications approach look like?
For starters, it could quit acting like a spoiled child caught in the
act when it's, well, caught in the act. And it could quit speaking down
to Americans like they're gullible 6-year-olds (even if, when it comes
to politics, we are just like gullible 6-year-olds).
Perhaps it could embrace a tactic from Obama the Campaign -- instead
of Obama the Presidency: throwing people under the bus, quickly and
mercilessly. That might mean firing a whole host of friends who were
awarded contracts to build Healthcare.gov. And even that inner circle of
people tasked with building a reality-deflecting force field around the
president (this model's even better than his predecessor's!) And, last
but not least, Kathleen Sebelius. She is undoubtedly a nice person who
means well. But the buck has to stop somewhere. And it's likely a lot
more dignified than trotting her out on "The Daily Show" and letting her
squirm while reality trumps talking points.
And all the little monsters can sing "The Wheels on the Bus" while we wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment