The movie Booogie Man, which chronicles, the life and times of Republican adviser and strategist
Lee Atwater (Wikipedia definition) was on the Frontline TV show last night. I had wanted to see the biopic during its short run in the theaters a few months back but did not get the chance to do so, so I am glad it was on TV; I watched it, and enjoyed it. Hopefully the movie will run again, for those who did not get the chance to catch it this time around.
It is a great movie about a fascinating and complex
individual. The title I believe is meant to be an ironic play on words about
Atwater's love of scare tactics and music (he was an accomplished
blues guitarist, and recorded and played with bluesmen such as B.B. King).
Atwater was not a PR guy in the traditional sense. I do not believe he ever had those words in his job title, or worked for a PR agency. But he did have a talent for media relations (or manipulation, as some might say), and did quite a bit of it as a consultant and campaign manager for a number of candidates.
Atwater died in 1991 of cancer, following much attention and notoriety about some of the campaigns he ran and tactics he had used. For example, he conceived the infamous Willie Horton campaign during the George H.W. Bush run of 1988. Unsurprisingly, Atwater was a mentor to Karl Rove.
Atwater was brilliant at working the media and getting the stories he
wanted out, sometimes surreptitiously, other times on record. In the movie, some journos seemed to acknowledge that they had been used by Atwater, but strangely did not seem to harbor ill feelings about it. Such was Atwater's charisma and likability.
He seemed to know what would make a good headline, even if the story only had a passing acquaintance with reality. For example, in one early congressional campaign he spread the rumor that opponent Tom Turnipseed had been "hooked up to jumper cables" as a teen, i.e. had received shock treatment. Atwater apologized to Turnipseed for this episode before his death.
The movie War Room, which chronicled the Clinton campaign of '92 inspired me. If Clinton, James Carville etc. championed wars rooms and rapid response PR tactics, Atwater was credited (or blamed) for opposition research, rumor mongering, and working the media (OK, I am sure political operatives from both sides sometimes do these things).
Political PR tends to be super intense and mercenary, these guys take no prisoners. It makes tech PR look quaint by comparison.
But even those in other fields of PR can learn things – the good and the bad – from movies like Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, The War Room, and the recently updated Return of the War Room (all IMDB links).
