(C) Common Dreams
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Defend Trump and ‘Hammer’ Ramaswamy: DeSantis Allies Reveal Debate Strategy [1]
['Jonathan Swan', 'Shane Goldmacher', 'Maggie Haberman', 'More About Jonathan Swan', 'More About Shane Goldmacher', 'More About Maggie Haberman']
Date: 2023-08-17
But it is unusual, as appears to be the case, for a super PAC, or a consulting firm working for it, to post documents on its own website — and in such expansive detail, down to the exact estimate of turnout in the Iowa caucuses (“now 216,561”), and including one New Hampshire poll with more than 400 pages of detailed findings. The documents are so strategy-heavy that it appears that the super PAC, which recently had a top official, David Polyansky, leave for the campaign, is trying to dictate how the candidate should conduct himself on the debate stage.
The DeSantis super PAC and campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Notably missing from the debate materials is a document focused on Mr. Trump, who has been attacking Mr. DeSantis mercilessly for months. The former president, who has said he is unlikely to participate in the debate, is also not among the candidates whose previous attacks against Mr. DeSantis were highlighted by the super PAC, in a preview of what he might expect onstage. The main strategy memo for the debate contains no mention of policy — and the advice steers Mr. DeSantis away from talking about specific solutions because doing so won’t get him headlines.
Key among the documents is one entitled “Debate Memo,” dated Aug. 15, which cynically describes how Mr. DeSantis — who has been battered by critical coverage and has struggled to capture attention in the face of Mr. Trump’s indictments — could wring the most favorable media attention from the debate.
Addressed simply to “interested parties,” the memo describes “Roger Ailes’ Orchestra Pit Theory,” quoting the now-deceased Fox News executive and political strategist’s well-known maxim that a candidate who lays out a comprehensive plan on foreign policy will draw less coverage than the one who accidentally falls off the debate stage.
To that end, the memo lists “potential Orchestra Pit Moments,” beginning with one drama-making opportunity, complete with a recommendation for a Trump-style insult: “Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy: ‘Fake Vivek’ Or ‘Vivek the Fake.’”
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/us/politics/desantis-debate-strategy.html
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