Lynton Crosby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sir Lynton Crosby AO |
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| Born | Lynton Keith Crosby 23 August 1956 Kadina, South Australia |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
| Occupation | Political strategist |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
Sir Lynton Keith Crosby AO (born 23 August 1956)[1][2] is an Australian political strategist who has managed election campaigns for right-of-centre parties in several countries.[3]
Crosby has been described as a “master of the dark political arts”, “the Wizard of Oz”, and “the Australian Karl Rove“. In 2002, he was called “one of the most powerful and influential figures in the nation” by The Age.[2][4]
After graduating from the University of Adelaide, Crosby first became involved in politics with the Liberal Party of Australia, eventually being appointed federal director of the party in 1997. He oversaw the party’s successful campaigns at the 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2004 federal elections, which made the Howard Government Australia’s second-longest serving federal government. In 2002, Crosby left his formal position in the party to establish a consulting firm, the Crosby Textor Group.
Crosby first ventured into overseas politics at the 2005 UK general election, where he managed the Conservative Party‘s unsuccessful UK campaign. He has since also run Conservative campaigns for the 2008 and 2012 London mayoral elections, as well as the 2015 general election, all of which resulted in victories for the party. His campaign was less successful for the 2016 London mayoral election which was won by the Labour candidate.[5] Outside of Australia and the UK, Crosby has also served as an advisor for parties in Canada, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. At the 2009 European Parliament elections, Crosby acted as a consultant for Libertas, a pan-European party.Tactics[edit]
Crosby is described as favouring what is called a wedge strategy, whereby the party he advises introduces a divisive or controversial social issue into a campaign, aligning its own stance with the dissenting faction of its opponent party, with the goal of causing vitriolic debate inside the opposing party, defection of its supporters, and the legitimising of sentiment which had previously been considered inappropriate. This is also described as “below the radar” or dog-whistle campaigning, with the targeting of marginal constituencies with highly localised campaigning, latching on to local issues and personalities.[2] To find such divisive and potentially deflecting issues, Crosby’s business partner Mark Textor runs focus groups to find which groups to target with what questions.[29] Crosby is said to run a tight ship, focus on simple messages, target marginal constituencies and use lots of polls.[4]
Dead cat theory[edit]
In a 2013 article for The Daily Telegraph, Boris Johnson noted that one of Crosby’s tactics when losing an argument and having the facts against you was to do the equivalent of “throwing a dead cat on the table”: bring up an issue you want to talk about that draws widespread attention from the populace, forcing opponents to also talk about your new issue instead of the previous issue.[22]
Personal life[edit]
Crosby is married to his wife Dawn née Hands, an Australian, with whom he has two adult daughters: Tara and Emma. Crosby and his wife are UK residents.[7]
Honours[edit]
MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND , THE **HANGINCHADDOW*
”Yeah though I walk in the Chaddow of Doom , I will fear no evil”
Michael Moore’s film ´TrumpLand´ is, as all his films are, thought-provoking. It is a film made in the style of ”an audience with’, where he performs a show variously comprising Stand Up, polemic and book readings. An engaging speaker and expert raconteur Moore is a consummate communicator aware of the buttons to press in his audience after probing them, teasing them and flattering them in turn.
Moore lays out his stall, fencing off the Hispanic Part of the Audience in the theatres Circle seats and Placing a Moslem section of the audience under drone surveillance. Both precautions he says to help the Trump supporters in his audience to relax. Pretty edgy comedic stuff in these politically correct days and Brave given the theatre is in a Small town that votes 90% in favour of the GOP and where Trump is also popular, one presumes.
Moore asks his audience permission to read something he had just written in the official Hotel recommended to acts appearing at the hosting theatre, he sits at a desk with his ring bound folder. A scholarly setting redolent of fireside chats beloved of broadcaster continuity over festive holidays. Suitably posed Moore reads his freshly penned polemic and it is this polemic which appears on the Internet. Top trending on Reddit and hurriedly ripped and pasted around the web the source of course missing. Rumours abound that it is not even Moore speaking these words. The words he speaks are powerful and cut through to the essence of the deep anger sadness and confusion of the American people. This righteous anger Moore concludes will lead to ´´The biggest Fu ever delivered´´. A Trump Victory in the presidential race of 2016.
1 thought on “The Revolution will not be televised.”