Why Thompson Launches his Candidacy on Jay Leno

i-21b7c9c0521aca58ca6a2054bea293c7-ClintonArsenio.jpg
i-bcfe7615a4fa27c59c841ae3ee787d76-Pew.gif

Say what? Fred Thompson is launching his presidential candidacy on Jay Leno? In today's fragmented media world, it's a smart move. As the political scientist Matt Baum describes in a recent study, and as I have detailed on this blog many times, with so many media choices, audiences without a preference for political information are tuning out hard news and instead spending their media time with entertainment and infotainment media.

When candidates go on late night comedy, they reach the limited number of "persuadables" left in the electorate, non-news audiences who have few other sources of information about the candidate. The Clinton campaign pioneered the method in 1992 with his now iconic appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show. Today, late night comedy and day time talk shows are more critical for candidates than ever before.

On these programs, candidates are usually able to offer their best personal narrative, and hopefully in the process, prime memories of likability and strong character. The appearance on a late night show can also generate positive news coverage and positive buzz at the office, on blogs, or among friends.

And that's exactly the goal of the Thompson campaign. As detailed yesterday at the Washington Post, Thompson's appearance on Jay Leno coincides with his first presidential campaign ad, set to appear on the major networks at midnight, with the ad ending by directing viewers to Thompson's web site:

In a 30-second campaign commercial sent to networks for broadcast at midnight, Thompson warns that "On the next President's watch, our country will make decisions that will affect our lives and our families far into the future. We can't allow ourselves to become a weaker, less prosperous and more divided nation."

Thompson concludes the ad with an invitation to visit his new campaign website, Fred08.com, on Thursday to watch a 15-minute video in which he officially announces his campaign for the White House. But if there is any doubt, an announcer then comes on, saying: "Fred Thompson, Republican for President."

The ad will air throughout the day today and during the New Hampshire Republican presidential debate on Fox tonight. Following the debate -- which Thompson is skipping -- he will appear on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show."

The idea, advisers say, is to create a national buzz about Thompson's official entry into the race and drive traffic to the new website on Thursday. The 15-minute video will be available on the website at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning; advisers hope it steals the show the next morning on talk shows and cable news networks.

"The goal between now and the minute Senator Thompson is on Jay Leno is to drive as many people as we can to our website in anticipation of the launch video," said Communications Director Todd Harris.

NOTE: Polling data from recent Pew report.

More like this

Mike Huckabee plays guitar and jokes about his weight on The Tonight Show. Last night on Jay Leno, Mike Huckabee put in the best late night performance in presidential history, potentially catapulting himself to a win in Iowa tonight and gaining enough momentum to march on to victory in South…
This past year, in the School of Communication here at American University, we were lucky to add to our faculty Lauren Feldman, a newly minted PhD from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Lauren (whose office is across the hall from mine) studies the impact of…
There's nothing new about politicians using entertainment outlets to promote their presidential aspirations. In 1960, both John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon appeared on Jack Parr's Tonight Show. Nixon even played the piano. Yet it was Bill Clinton with his saxophone playing 1992 appearance on…
I'm hitting the road for talks at Princeton, but a quick post on Gore's new ad campaign, launched officially with an appearance last night on 60 Minutes. I haven't see the ads yet and I didn't see last night's program, but from news reports, the campaign appears to incorporate the types of…

everybody says "yes i agree" .
but trust us we realy agree :D
Jazz music is our life. i must listen jazz music at least 2 hours a day becouse it makes me relax

Merkez üssü Ankara'nın Bala İlçesi olan, saat 01.47'de meydana gelen depremin yaklaşık 9 saniye sürdü. Sarsıntı, Çankırı ve Yozgat'ta da hissedildi.Öte yandan yaşanan deprem nedeniyle paniğe kapılan vatandaşlar, sokaklara döküldü

buniye boyle bilemezsin ama gezerken onune cikar gorursun yaslandigin zaman olur gezerken kaybolur fistik ezmesiyle biter.

Alayına isyan ölümüne Göztepe YALI illede görmek içinmi yaşanır güzel günler uğrunda beklemekte güzel