Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:

1. What's Really Going on in Iraq? - Speaking into the Media Headwind

Hear clips from General Casey in Baghdad, Chairman Pace at the Pentagon, and President Bush's talk with the conservative reporters in the oval office.

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What's Really Going on in Iraq?

In Marketing we have a concept called the "drumbeat". It's where you have to continuously reinforce your message to your customers, your partners, and everyone up and down their organizations from the CEO on down. Your competitors are out there on a daily basis telling their side of the story, so it is essential that you do at least as much, if not more, to communicate what you have to offer. Good marketing departments provide a continuous steam of information on the company's exclusive features and benefits. You need a steady "drumbeat" of information in the marketplace of ideas. This is nowhere more important in the selling of ideas in the political world. Goodness knows with the media beating the drum for all the Democratic talking points, the Republicans have to do everything they can to tell their side of the story. The best spokesmen for that today are the members of the administration that are involved in the business of winning the war on terror and fighting the battles in Iraq.

There were three key press conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week where the administration presented their side of the story on Iraq. They are trying to move beyond the talking points of "stay the course" or "cut-and-run", to what they hope to accomplish, how, why, and when. I'm going to play excerpts from all three.

The first is from Baghdad, where Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior U.S. military leader in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad briefed reporters on status. This clip is from the Casey introduction. He summarizes the many groups that are making Iraq difficult. Each group has their own agenda, and require different responses. It's not just "the terrorists" as we often heard from our leaders in the past. It is infinitely more complex than that. This audio, and the ones that follow from General Pace come from the Pentagon Channel Podcast.

Play clip.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, held a news conference later the same day to review his perspective. His view is more expansive, showing how important the victory is to the global struggle against our enemies.

Play clip.

Reporters ask a question later, "questioning the timing" of the press conferences. Of course it's important leading up to an election to present their side of the story. It's important after the elections, too, and we expect to hear more then as well. Pace answers it well, and then answers another question about North Korea. Listen for Pace respond to the latter with a clear threat that we might not be able to be quite as accurate with our bombs, since much of our precision munitions are busy elsewhere. We'll just have to throw everything we have in the general direction of Pyongyang and hope we kill the right people. Everybody ready there?

Play clip.

As Stars and Stripes reports:

"It would not be as clean as we would like it to be, but it would certainly be sure, and the outcome would not be in doubt," he said.

Finally, After President Bush held a news conference on Wednesday, he met with some conservative writers. Michael Barone of US News and World Report recorded it. Here is one clip from early in the on-the-record meeting.

Play clip.

Here is where the reference to headwind comes in. That's Mark Steyn who asks a question about Syria.

Play clip.

There is much more at the web sites I point to on the Podcast web log, just not enough time to play all the clips that are available. Go and listen to the whole thing. After all those press conferences and private meetings, what do you suppose the headlines were the next day? Powerline checked and found this:

Lots of people have criticized President Bush for failing to articulate his policy in Iraq persuasively to the American people. As I've written many times before, I think this criticism is misguided. In fact, Bush has given many eloquent speeches in which he has laid out his strategy for winning the war on Islamic terror, and the role of Iraq in that strategy, in great detail and to great effect. The problem is that very few Americans ever hear those speeches, and news reports systematically gut them of their persuasive impact.

Likewise with press conferences. Today, President Bush again did an excellent job in articulating and defending his goals and strategy in Iraq. But hardly anyone saw the press conference, or will read the transcript. Instead, people will see a headline like this one: Bush Unsatisfied with Iraq War Progress; or this one: Bush has decided to cut and run from 'staying the course'; or this one: Bush acknowledges public discontent with war in Iraq.

No matter how great a job the President does in promoting his vision for a more peaceful and secure world, those negative sound-bites are all that most Americans will ever see or hear.

It's almost like Bush and his generals are struggling to "Speak Truth to Power". Power in the media, that it.

That's it for now podcatchers. From Boise, ID today.