Man Who Coined the Phrase, "Don't Mess With Texas" Hired to 'Soften' Hillary Clinton's Image

Clinton calls in marketing guru to help soften her tough image

Saturday January 12 2008

Hillary Clinton is enlisting the help of a marketing guru who temporarily packed in his job to walk across the US and "feel America again" last year.

In his month-long ramble from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, Roy Spence (60) filled his blog with anecdotes about small-town cafes and B&Bs and posted snapshots of the people he met.

"He pops up every time there seems to be a problem with imagery," said Matthew Dowd, who has known Mr Spence for 20 years and is a former campaign strategist for George Bush.

Mr Spence has been a Clinton family friend for decades and he was with Mrs Clinton at her New York, home after she flew in from her New Hampshire victory to develop a strategy for the crucial four weeks of campaigning that lie ahead.

A legend in the advertising world, Mr Spence is credited with coining the memorable phrase "Don't Mess With Texas", and developing the slogan "You are now free to move about the country" for Southwest Airlines.

Mrs Clinton first met Mr Spence while both were working on the failed campaign of George McGovern in the 1972 presidential campaign.

She called him one of "the best friends I've ever had", in her autobiography, 'Living History'.


In advertising circles, Mr Spence is an "idea man" . . .


http://www.independent.ie/world-news/north-america/clinton-calls-in-marketing-guru-to-help-soften-her-tough-image-1264562.html

Actually, that slogan was invented to get Texans and visitors to not litter the highways.

politics in general is overflowing with bullshit slogans (especially on the republican side).

At any rate, I think there are far more important reasons to question voting for Hillary:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x331580

If Mrs. Clinton had some core beliefs, some principles, she wouldn't need a strategy to make her appear human or whatever. If she were out there speaking the truth about what she believes and the direction she wants to lead the country, there would be no need for a makeover. But because she is deceptive about where she stands on policy, she has to invent a persona. Her Achilles heel is her patent insincerity, she is fundamentally disingenuous, and that is why voters back away from her. They don't know what to believe about her because she doesn't want them to know what she believes. She works so hard to be all things to all people, to take every side of every issue, that in the end there's no there there.

This crossed my mind.

Did you think he doesn't do Branding?

that observation has stuck with me.

His internal PR division is capable of coming up with meaningless slogans all by itself.

(Ducking to avoid flying tableware.)

:spank:

--p!

Says so much

The Hope is for the kids that will still be stuck in Iraq and also Iran under a Hillary Junta hoping that they don't die there and the change is what we'll all be begging for on the street because Hillary let the rest of our jobs be outsourced to India.

Her motto should be "Cash up front, no refunds"

Have you not been paying attention?

They're both warmongering corporate bootlickers. It's like having to choose between Pinochet and Pol Pot. Neither one is acceptable and if one of them gets the nom, I will boycott the election and refuse to vote.

To pick either one would prove that the American people are morons and deserve the government they get. I will have no sympathy.
Hell, they both make me ashamed to be an American.

people working on the campaign?

The "everybody does it" argument is simply a red herring to divert the issue. But then you Hillbots are experts at dodging the issues. She just wants someone to polish the turd that is her candidacy. Image means nothing, its what her policies are, and her policies suck and no amount of PR flackery is going to erase that.

kind of consulting when you can't be honest about who you are."

So I'm asking which candidate thinks he or she doesn't fit that description.

And if you think it's just "polishing the turd", which candidate do you think isn't doing that?

Everyone else is a dishonest warmongering corporate bootlicker. Since Hillary is the worst of the lot, then I guess she needs it more than others. I hope you enjoying helping to coronate Hillary. She'll just be another corrupt dictator like bush.

How many times has an inferior product won out over a superior one because of better marketing?

That said, I agree with your assessment of Hillary.

whereas they welcome it in a man.

toughness is considered gender deviant, and many studies on women execs show that aggressive and assertive women are penalized for this behavior, whereas it is rewarded in men.

Something Hilary is sorely lacking. Her dedication is to her corporate paymasters and to AIPAC and the arms industry. The rest of us can fuck off in her eyes. I'd vote for Cynthia McKinney before I vote for Hillary.

If she wins, I'm not voting, period.

:thumbsup:

indeed Stephanie. The truth is if we did get to see what is really there it would not be pretty. I imagine it is pretty close to cheney's "there".

?

AKA Turd Polishing.

It doesn't matter anyways. I'll never vote for her, no matter what slick ads she tries to bullshit us with.

Hustling us with bullshit cut from whole cloth is another. You don't see Edwards or Kucinich engaging in Gender or Race baiting. They talk about the issues. Hillary and Obama is all smoke and mirrors to conceal the emptiness of their souls.

?

I answered your question. They all use marketing. You happy? Christ, seek some help for your OCD.
Now to reiterate my point. Edwards and Kucinich don't need marketing excepting to disseminate their message becasue the media has institued a blackout on them. Hillary needs one to try to paint a conceal her unsavory associations and her oppressive policies, like her support for bombing Iran and outsourcing all of our jobs to India.

Big difference there.

You say Edwards and Kucinich don't need marketing. So why do they use it?

You're just talking in circles now and beating a dead horse with that lame "everybody does it " excuse. If you think having to resort to PR hacks is a sign of a healthy democracy then you are either blind or complicit.
If you'd rather defend the indefensible that is the hillary campaign then go ahead. Just declare victory and go bug somebody else.
Just remember, you'll get the government you deserve.

and insult those who offend your fragile sensibilities.

isn't a shame its not finding someone to fix a problem with policy?

this whole marketing angle, smacks more of finding the right spin instead of achieving the best way to represent people.

I'm not just blaming the clinton campaign here, I think its a problem with the general political process.

We have a winner.

Same old, same old.

:rofl:

This was a couple of years ago. I was taking the minutes. :-)


My impression of him was very good. He was eloquent, grounded, sincere, liberal. A compelling speaker with resonating ideas. He made it a point to discuss his current fascination with the ideas in The Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe. (I haven't read it, but I think it looks interesting.) The rest of the time he spent discussing The Amazing Faith of Texas.

I quite honestly liked the man.

. . . is hoping some of that rubs off on to her

The article clearly states that Mr Spence has been a close friend of Hillary's since '72. I don't see the big deal here.

I think we all want the same thing here...to improve the country and see a Dem in the WH. We really need to stop with the sniping because that's what the MSM wants to happen. I honestly don't see enough differences between Hillary and Obama that we should be tearing each other apart before we even get to the GE in Nov.

peeling back the skin off of the onion, perhaps

I guess we can expect catchy slogans that can be totally misunderstood.

Found this question:

"Commenter Matt Weiner, over at Perverse Access Memory, asks about the origin of the phrase "Don't Mess With Texas". Is it true, he wants to know, that it was originally an anti-litter slogan?"
http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/002330.html

Well, it's never *officially* been anything else as far as I know, but it's sure been co-opted and/or misunderstood.

"Everyone thinks this is some kind of jingoistic crazy Texan shotgun-rack-on-the-pickup-truck-type slogan."
http://www.blacktable.com/ference040318.htm

Just the kind of political slogans we need....