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President Obama has been rock solid in fighting the terrorism scourge. The former dovish commander-in-chief has rained drones on Al Qaeda suspects in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan in the war on terrorism. He has taken out bad guys and accepted "colleteral damages" (e.g, deaths of innocent men, women and children).
In the aftermath of the murder of French journalists at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and shoppers at a kosher supermarket in Paris, Obama expressed solidarity with the French government and its leader Francois Hollande.
Obama last week visited the Washington embassy of America's oldest ally, and shook hands with its ambassador Gerard Araud. In the condolence book, the President wrote that America expressed its "deepest sympathy and solidarity to the people of France following the terrible terrorist attack in Paris. As allies across the centuries, we stand united with our French brothers to ensure that justice is done and our way of life is defended." He concluded with, "Vive la France!”
The unannounced trip provided a powerful image of America's engaged commander-in-chief. It was a good PR moment.
In failing to make an appearance at a huge solidarity march in Paris yesterday, the now apparently disengaged Obama missed an even better PR moment. The global event attracted 1.5M Parisians and leaders such as Germany's Angela Merkel, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas and Poland's Donald Tusk.
The White House spin said a visit by the President or Vice President Joe Biden would have raised security concerns and stole some thunder from the French event. That's hogwash. Netanyahu and Abbas marched practically shoulder-to-shoulder without incident. The world leaders spent only about an hour there.
In reality, American absence--though a sideshow--cast a shadow over the event.
Obama's handlers screwed up once again, leaving the President as a target for a round of potshots by his political opponents.
It didn't have to be that way.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
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