Extremist Republicans 'focus-group' language to sell an invasion of Iran

Ordinarily focus groups are used to determine what language best sells toothpaste, detergent and other consumer products, but apparently the right-wing extremist group Freedom's Watch, which includes some of the country's most prominent hawks, feels that they need high-tech marketing methods to sell an invasion of Iran to a reluctant public. Laura Rozen presents the story in Mother Jones.

Among the group's leadership: former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Bradley A. Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to President Bush. The focus group session suggests that Freedom's Watch may be looking beyond Iraq and expanding its mission to building support for military action against Iran. [Snip]

The upshot of the November focus group? "After two hours, [the leader] asked three final questions," Sonnemark recalls: "How would you feel if Hillary [Clinton] bombed Iran? How would you feel if George Bush bombed Iran? And how would you feel if Israel bombed Iran?" Sonnenmark says she responded, "It would depend on the circumstances.... What is the situation in Iraq? Do we have international support?"

Freedom's watch can afford the high-tech marketing. It is funded by a number of very wealthy men who want the war in Iran to happen.

Its top donors include

• Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, a philanthropist for pro-Israel causes, and, according to Forbes, the third wealthiest man in the United States;
  
• John Templeton, a conservative philanthropist;
  
• Mel Sembler, a shopping mall developer from Florida, former U.S. ambassador to Italy, and a board member of the American Enterprise Institute;
  
• Matthew Brooks and Richard Fox, co-founders of the Republican Jewish Coalition; and
  
• Kevin Moley, a former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney and past U.S. ambassador to international organizations.
  

One of group's financial backers told the New York Times that Freedom's Watch easily expected to raise $200 million in donations by November 2008. Raising big money "will be easy," said the anonymous benefactor, who added "that several of the founders each wrote a check for $1 million."

[I added the bullet-points to clarify who is donating - Editor WTF-o ]

These are not people who will do the fighting, nor will any members of their families.

Laura Sonnenmark, the focus group regular participant who reported this focus group, felt that the results were probably going to be disappointing to the members and donors of Freedom's Watch.

"I got the general feeling that George Bush didn't have a shot in hell" of winning public support for an Iran attack. Some members of her group suggested that should Hillary Clinton be elected president she might have more domestic credibility to make such a controversial decision. As for the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran, Sonnenmark's fellow focusees seemed to indicate that they did not believe the legitimacy of such an action was necessarily up to them to decide.

Sonnemark only took part in one test marketing session. Another, comprised only of men, entered the room after her group left. But one purpose of focus groups is to provide advocates with information they can use to best craft a pitch or an argument. And even if Sonnenmark and the other members of her group were not persuaded by the language used during their focus group session, their responses could help Freedom's Watch to hone its message.

It seems that the movement conservatives have not learned from the disasters they have been responsible for over the last decade, and want to keep trying. I really hope that Marcos Moulitas is correct in what he wrote in Newsweek.

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Check Laura Rozen's blog, War and Piece regularly for some really insightful reporting. Sometimes she refers to a story she has sold, sometimes she refers to other excellent reporting.