As Democrats prepare to open their 2012 convention in Charlotte, Republicans have swarmed the Queen City in an attempt to drown out their message with an aggressive counter-programming plan.
The effort began this afternoon, with a press conference from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. Priebus, who spoke at the NASCAR hall of fame — just three blocks away from the convention center hosting the Democrats — slammed the Obama campaign for declaring that Americans are better off than they were four years ago.
“This must mean that 23 million American have found jobs, incomes have gone up, gas prices are going down, poverty is in decline, and the deficit has been cut, all in the last 24 hours,” Priebus said.
Priebus’ fiery rhetoric doesn’t fully line up with the truth; for example, even if one is underwhelmed by the tepid job growth of the past 4 years, it certainly compares well to the 2.6 million jobs lost in 2008.
“The Denver convention was a time of hope and change,” Priebus later added. “Today , the thrill and pixie dust of Barack Obama’s presidency is gone.”
Priebus also declared that “we’re getting a lot of momentum out of last week,” even though polls have shown that Mitt Romney received almost no bounce in the polls from the Republican Convention.
Priebus’ press conference was only step one of a broader counter-programming effort. As ABC News reports, as many as 50 high profile Republican “communicators” — including Priebus, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin — will deliver daily press conferences and videos attempting to undermine the Democrats message.
Furthermore, they plan to overload the convention with gimmicks — including games such as “You Build It” legos and “You Build It Monopoly,” and tons of Kleenex (because “breaking up is hard to do.”)
