Playmaker’s Blog

 

Trump’s Lesson for Communicators: Be Fast

November 8, 2018

For all the plays that President Donald Trump runs it might be speed more than strategy that gives the president his unique political edge. Even when he’s been beaten. In the wake of a midterm thumping, Trump delivered another clinic in perception management and information warfare. By 8 a.m., he tweeted to House Democrats that […]

Kavanaugh v. Ford is a Lesson for Business: Preempt Don’t Pause

October 3, 2018

At this moment in Swampsville, Republicans are winning the framing game, arguing that Democrats are delaying and obstructing the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. They’re recasting Sen. Diane Feinstein’s stated commitment to Christine Blasey Ford’s privacy as a fraud enabled by a leak. And it’s working, but more because of the minority party’s timidity than the majority’s […]

Kavanaugh v. Ford: The Judge Will Freeze, The Doctor Will Test

September 27, 2018

Thursday’s epic face off between SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his 11th-hour accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, is sure to inspire a bevy of studies on their words and rhetoric. Here’s my analysis of the influence plays that the nominated judge and aggrieved doctor will run on itchy senators and a mesmerized public. Using the ChopTalk […]

Who’s Anonymous? A.I. Code Cracker Suggests it’s Not Pence

September 16, 2018

When The New York Times published the anonymous op-ed of a senior White House whistle blower, the fuse of speculation was lit. Who betrayed President Trump? Who wrote it? The most intriguing possibility was Vice President Mike Pence who enjoys the best protections from a firing and benefits the most from a Trump exit. My analysis, […]

The Plays of Alex Jones. Influence Strategies that Killed Infowars. And Counterplays to Come.

August 7, 2018

The digital excommunication of hard-right showman Alex Jones and Infowars, his social media juggernaut, is a compact case study on the choices and consequences of influence strategy and the makings for a modern First Amendment showdown. Set against the Taxonomy of Influence Strategies, here’s my take on the play action of this developing political and […]