Given the recent uproar over Sen. Barack Obama’s comments in regards to the McCain campaign - “you can’t put lipstick on pig,” here is a golden opportunity to recommend an excellent (and in this case, ironic) book.
Torie Clarke, former press secretary for John McCain, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative during the first Bush Administration and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Donald Rumsfeld (2001-2003) added “author” to her impressive resume in 2006, when she released, “Lipstick on a Pig: Winning In the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game.”
Widely recognized as one of our nation’s most innovative communications strategists, Clarke shares the highlights and low lights of her career and most importantly, what she learned from both. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” was the McCain administration’s mantra as the junior senator was embroiled in the savings and loan scandal in the early 1980s. One could trace that scandal and Sen. McCain’s work with Clarke, to his attitude today - promoting “straight talk,” honesty and transparency.
“I return to that old aphorism: you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. If you’ve got a pig on your hands - which is to say, a tough story - no lipstick can be laid on thick enough to cover up that fact…once you figure out you can’t put lipstick on a pig, what you’ve really learned is far more powerful: you’ve learned not to produce a pig in the first place.”
Subsequent chapters detail her experience working in the Pentagon as one of Rumsfeld’s closest advisors on 9-11 and what went into some historical decisions, such as embedding journalists during the invasion of Iraq. All the while she shares frank words of wisdom.
“Deliver bad news yourself, and when you screw up, say so—fast!”
If you’re interested in the world of politics and how it intersects with public relations, this should be at the top of your must-read list. Since McCain launched his presidential campaign, Clarke is surely enjoying some new found popularity - even Amazon.com is temporarily sold out of her book!
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