| “Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn’t absolutely control” so stated White House Communications Director Anita Dunn.
Yes, that’s the name of the Obama administration operative behind the Fox News dustup last week. But, no, Ms. Dunn’s admission is not recent.
Specifically, Ms. Dunn made the statement back in January while a participant at the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development conference in the Dominican Republic.
Perhaps, in the afterglow of Barack Obama’s presidential election victory, Anita Dunn made the statement unthinkingly.
Or, perhaps, Ms. Dunn may have made the statement consciously – back then - as part of an unfolding strategy to, at least influence if not, condition the domestic media.
Since the inauguration, if appears the latter is more likely in light of what Anita Dunn further said at the global conference. Here’s some detail.
Remember during the presidential campaign the regular dose of video statements by Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe? Ms. Dunn said "One of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe (online) videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters".
Dunn then added, "We just put that out there and made them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it."
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