Tuesday, November 18, 2003
How to Lose Friends and Influence No One
AARP :: Community :: Message Boards0 comments
Well...my...!
This Medicare Bill endorsement is a fine howdy-do from the fine folks up at AARP (of which, disclosure demands, I am a member).
Click on the link at the top of this post here for membership reaction. This is a stitch. The link basically is to just the table of contents of the chat board. From there on in, amigo, you're on your own.
After the leadership of AARP publicly endorsed the Republican giveaway on the Medicare Bill, the AARP site chat boards nearly exploded.
Over a thousand replies appeared, written by AARP members who were none too happy about this endorsement, or the actions taken by AARP CEO William Novelli.
While the disgruntlement runs the full spectrum of ire, this may be the one post I found most stunning. From one unhappy camper—on this, the 25th anniversary of the mass suicides at Jonestown, Guyana:
Bill Novelli was supposed to lead us away from the KOOLAIDE.
Ouch! Rough crowd.
So, at least you get the flavor.
At the same time, the AARP leadership made the colossally boneheaded move of announcing their decision on the eve of a major AARP-sponsored presidential forum—which included participation by six of the Democratic presidential candidates!
This has to be a cry for help. It's just too painfully, blatantly stupid, otherwise.
Considering that the entire discourse on this bill came strictly from various factions within the Republican Party, and totally excluded any input from Democrats (since they don't have the votes to force inclusion or impact), it wasn't the smartest move to give the Democrats a national bully pulpit right in your own living room!
Let's see...In October, you invite your beau over to eat with the family on Thanksgiving Day. Then, the night before, you dump him—cruelly and without warning. But, you still bring him over to eat with the folks on Thursday. Inept planning, perhaps? Chaos theory in action? Is this Oprah territory?
Or Mister Roger's?
"Can you say 'photo op,' boys and girls? I know you can..."
Democrats Blast Republican Medicare Plan at AARP Forum
BEDFORD, N.H.—Howard Dean waved his stethoscope, Joseph Lieberman brought his 89-year-old mother and John Edwards touted his new book to underscore their opposition to a Medicare bill during a Democratic presidential forum Tuesday.
Six of the nine Democrats vying for the right to challenge President Bush in 2004 lambasted the $400 billion, 10-year Republican-crafted measure that adds a prescription drug benefit to the health insurance program for the elderly
Gosh, they took full advantage of the opportunity. Who'da thunk it?
AARP has consistently been fully bullet-proof, and monolithic as organizations go, with immense power to sway important minds and deliver votes. This episode, however, shows the leadership to be just another group of boneheads at the head of another group who think they know better than the membership because they're "on the board," and who go ahead and do something really dumb and get brought up short by reality.
How are earth can you go from a powerful lobbying force to "Novelli's board of geeks" in just two measly days?
This is my favorite part:
When an AARP television ad—part of a $7 million campaign designed to help push the measure through Congress—was played in the hall, there were scattered boos and hisses from the 800-strong audience.
And this was their showcase event.
"Yeah,...yeah, we're in touch with our members. We speak for our full membership."
Cheeeeez.
posted by Gotham 5:18 PM
0 Comments:
