WP: Clinton Team Is Quick to Bat Down Rumors
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 24, 2007; Page A06
....Bill Clinton honed the art of rapid response in his 1992 campaign, as memorialized in the movie "The War Room." President Bush's campaigns were known for even swifter reactions to criticism, as blast faxes gave way to BlackBerry messages and technology fostered a nonstop news cycle. As a former first lady who lived through numerous scandals in her husband's White House, Hillary Clinton seems determined to avoid the fate of Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the 2004 Democratic nominee, who later admitted he was too slow to respond to attacks on his Vietnam War record by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"One of the greatest strengths of the Clinton campaign is they've internalized and updated the lessons of 1992 for the new media era," said Dan Schnur, a Republican campaign veteran. "When it comes to rapid response, you can't be too fast, but you can certainly be too hysterical. It's important to get information into reporters' hands as quickly as possible, but you don't want to be the deputy press secretary who cried wolf. . . . You want to save Defcon 5 for when you really need it."...
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"The first version of a story is incorrect, it gets pounced on, your opponents jump on it, and trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube is almost impossible," said Jay Carson, Clinton's traveling press secretary. "All of a sudden you have reputable news organizations chasing it." With the tip yarn, he said, "you're in the middle of a full-fledged controversy over something that didn't really happen."
The Clinton campaign isn't reticent about challenging news reports that turn on interpretation, either, and critics have likened its aggressive tactics to those of the Bush White House, which has had tense relations with the press corps. "Reporters who have covered the hyper-vigilant campaign say that no detail or editorial spin is too minor to draw a rebuke," the New Republic says.
Clinton aides know they run the risk of highlighting small items that might otherwise receive scant attention but have concluded that, most of the time, that is an acceptable risk. "Vigilance is very important," (Clinton communications chief Howard Wolfson)said. "I think Democratic voters expect a nominee's campaign to know how to correct the record."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301659.html?nav=hcmodule