Whenever PR firms onboard a new PR client, their very first step is creating a PR plan. It’s written right after the client signs the contract.
We write it; the client approves it; THEN we get to work.
The plan isn’t carved in stone. We can deviate and pivot. But it’s an essential first step, because we need the client’s buy-in, operational support, and green light: This isn’t my PR plan. This is YOUR PR plan!
I’m simply here to execute it for you.
Otherwise, there’s confusion and unmet expectations. Priorities are questioned. And if the client is a large company with lots of people, lots of offices, and lots of moving parts, it’s almost impossible to keep everyone on the same page.
Best way to avoid that headache is to write a PR plan from the get-go that ownership loves and supports. That way, everyone knows what you’re doing — and why you’re doing it.
And just as importantly, everyone else in the company knows that ownership has your back. That’s critical, because some executives can get… territorial.
Especially if you’re now doing work that they used to do.
I bring this up because we’re less than a week removed from the 2025 elections. (Spoiler alert: Republicans didn’t, uh, win everywhere.) Presumably, every vanquished GOP candidate had a marketing plan — a campaigning playbook that they wrote, approved, and tried to execute.
I’m sure they liked their plan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have agreed to it.
But obviously, something went wrong. Either they executed the plan flawlessly and lost anyway (which meant it was a fatally-flawed plan), or the plan was shrewd and realistic, but the candidate fumbled the football somewhere on the campaign trail.
We better figure out which is which before the 2026 midterms.
As disappointing as the 2025 results were, it was the equivalent of the NFL preseason: Compared to what’s coming in 2026, Tuesday’s results barely even moved the needle. At best, it was an appetizer.
The real meal is in 2026.
Did we lose in Virginia and New Jersey because of local issues? The government shutdown? Is our base complacent? What — if any — trendlines emerged?
And is there a better strategy for mobilizing GOP enthusiasm when Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot? ‘Cause he’s not gonna be on the ballot in 2026 either.
We need a new PR plan.
It’ll require President Trump’s leadership and buy-in. There must be executable tactics, reachable goals, and concrete, black-and-white metrics — so we can assess what’s working, what’s not, and what’s a big waste of money. We need clarity, cohesiveness, and camaraderie.
The stakes are too high for anyone to be territorial: Leave your ego at the door.
And we need to learn the lessons of the 2025 elections ASAP. The burden is ours; to the victor goes the spoils.
It could be that our 2026 gameplan will closely mirrors the 2025 gameplan. Maybe, after the autopsy, we’ll see that the 2025 plan was fantastic: It was just executed poorly by bad candidates, or maybe the venue was so lopsided, that was the best we could’ve done.
But I suspect we relied on quite a few false assumptions along the way, leaving far too much (red) meat on the PR bone. President Trump was more competitive in New Jersey and Virginia than either GOP gubernatorial candidate — and that was just last year.
And besides, with Zohran Mamdani now being one of the public faces of the Democratic Party, new branding opportunities abound. As the status quo changes, we must change with it.
Adapt or die.
Losing sucks, but not learning from losses sucks even more.
Let’s work on the plan.
PReditctions: Speaking of Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect is caught in a pickle: His only real skill is as a content-provider on social media.
If he stops providing content, his star will fade: He’ll be just like all the other politicians.
But he’s also an inexperienced, thin-skinned neophyte who’ll be hiking an uber-steep learning curve up Gracie Mansion. In an ideal world, he could ignore the media for six months, learn the ropes, smooth the edges, and return to his adoring public with a totally new set of magic tricks. There’s an ebb and flow to fame; emotions are cyclical; we want what’s new and fresh.
“We can’t miss you if you don’t go away.”
The New York media has chewed up and spat out better man than Mamdani. If he stumbles out of the gate — perhaps with a foot-in-mouth comment about religion, or a tone-deaf response to a horrible crime — this could spiral away in a heartbeat.
He needs a strong opening.
Because, if this gets out of control, it’s not gonna get a little bit out of control. Mamadani’s ego’s too big; his worldview too radical. If this goes off the rails, it’s gonna REALLY go off the rails.
It’ll be a big, spectacular fireball.
The first few months will set the tempo. If Mamdani is a political savant and generational talent, we’ll know right away. And if the exact opposite is true, well, we’ll know that, too.
Getcha popcorn ready!
PRojections: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has a vested interest in Mayor Mamdani, but with a peculiar caveat: He needs him to either do ridiculously well — or ridiculously bad.
Either is fine, but it must be an extreme.
Very notably, Schumer didn’t endorse Mamdani. The woman who might primary him — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — enthusiastically did. And right now, she’s leading Schumer by roughly 20 points.
But if Mamdani is a disaster, Schumer could beat AOC in 2028. Because of her youth and brashness, she’s vulnerable to much of the same line of attack as Mamdani. His failures are her failures.
Schumer, however, is the wise, steady hand who’ll save the day for New York Democrats. We can trust Schumer.
But if Mamdani isn’t a disaster, Schumer wouldn’t have a prayer against AOC. None, nada, zilch!
It wouldn’t even be competitive!
Which is why his second path for survival is Mamdani being a big, tremendous, runaway success: If the young mayor shows that his ideas are working — and his popularity is still growing — then AOC wouldn’t waste her time with a lowly senate seat. You kiddin’ me?
It would be her cue to run for president.
PRaise: To the University of Indiana for winning the game of the year against Penn State, with one of the sweetest toe-tapping touchdowns you’ll ever see:
OMAR COOPER UNREAL CATCH FOR THE TD 😱🤯
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025
WHAT A GAME. WHAT A CATCH. @IndianaFootball pic.twitter.com/PhHzKjuVB9
What was once a basketball school is now a football powerhouse. Indiana is ranked #2 in the country — and their head coach, Curt Cignetti, is quickly becoming a household name.
Interestingly, Cignetti’s old school, James Madison University, is now ranked #24 in the country. Whatever the man touches turns to gold.
It’s also interesting that he’s not one of those 30-something wunderkinds that athletic directors and NFL owners usually seek. They’re constantly on the lookout for the Next Big Thing — typically in the form of a precocious, baby-faced Millennial with an aggressive philosophy. Everyone wants the young guy.
But Cignetti is no youngster. He’s 64.
Some of the old guys are just as talented as the wunderkinds. But for one reason or another, they never had a fair shot.
There are probably quite a few other Cignettis out there.
PRedators: Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, the general director and head of news (respectively) of the BBC have officially resigned.
Their crime: Deliberately misleading viewers with an edited version of a Donald Trump speech. (D’oh!)
(And isn’t it weird how their “mistakes” and “accidents” are always AGAINST conservatives? None of their “oopsies” ever help Republicans, do they? Gee, I can’t imagine why.)
The BBC, of course, has aggressively condemned “fake news” more than anyone else. They offer monthly “fake news” quizzes, have an entire “fake news” section, and haven’t hesitated to call out “fake news” wherever it sees it:
Report on @BBCNews: Donald Trump supporters have been creating and sharing AI-generated fake images of black voters to encourage African Americans to vote Republican. Report: https://t.co/9llQRyH2oa. H/T @mariannaspring pic.twitter.com/nnadBiMvFC
— Benjamin Strick (@BenDoBrown) March 4, 2024
How Russian-funded fake news network aims to disrupt election in Europe - BBC investigation https://t.co/xFtkz5qKDT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 21, 2025
Although some of the “community notes” for their coverage are awfully damning:
Israel-Gaza war: How to spot disinformation on social media https://t.co/KJ1FeQk3KI
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) October 21, 2023
Hilariously, the BBC also took upon itself to educate the rest of us unwashed masses the ins and outs of identifying “fake news”:
The term ‘fake news’ became synonymous with Trump’s first term in office and it was even named word of the year by Collins Dictionary in 2017 after he popularised it by using it frequently to delegitimise critical journalism.
[…]
Being biased about a particular topic can impact your decisions and reactions, because having strong views might make you overlook facts and other people's viewpoints.
This could also make you less inclined to question the things you see online, especially if those things align with your personal views, and you could end up sharing and spreading misinformation.
Yeah. You don’t say?
