B²: Government Shutdown

Friday’s the day!

The day when, if no deal is struck to keep the government open, government employees will find out just how “non-essential” many of them are.

Because talk of the government shutdown will occupy nearly every media outlet until Friday, palace intrigue, negotiation updates, and whip counts will rule the news cycle.

How do you answer a question in your interviews about a government shutdown without getting into the weeds of on-again off-again deals that might never pan out?

Good thing it’s Tuesday, B² day.

Here’s this week’s likely media question and the B² (block and bridge) that sets the narrative straight:

Q: “Do you think the government will shut down?”

B²: “We’ll know on Thursday whether or not Congress can find agreement, but regardless, we can’t keep putting a Band-Aid on the major problem of SPENDING TOO MUCH. We’ve been here before and we’ll be here again unless we <insert talking point on spending>.”

Wherever you take the conversation next, keep the emphasis on spending and the need to curb it. The key is to get your main message out—hopefully one of limited government and less spending—while fighting back the false narrative that special interest programs must be added into the bill at the eleventh hour to make it “passable.”

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