Turkey, Anyone?

Turkeys! Wouldn't you be so pleased or even be more impressed if you see our own prime minister serve turkey on a platter to the men and women who are sacrificing thier lives in Afghanistan?

One particular publicity stunt that I can recall is when former U.S. President Bush surprised 600 troops of the First Armoured Division in 2003 when he arrived in Iraq as they were about to begin Thanksgiving dinner. Troops had no idea of the president's visit and accompanying journalists were warned beforehand not to report the visit until they had left Iraq on Air Force One.

President George W. Bush was photographed serving turkey to smiling U.S. troops. The Washington Post said the bird had been roasted by a contractor to use as table decoration. But other reports surfaced and said that the turkey carried by the president was just plastic.

The New York Times printed a retraction which said,
Correction: July 11, 2004, Sunday. An article last Sunday about surprises in politics referred incorrectly to the turkey carried by President Bush during his unannounced visit to American troops in Baghdad over Thanksgiving. It was real, not fake. (from the New York Times).

Although there were people who debated on the turkey issue, former President Bush and his administration planned this event to boost the U.S. troops' dwndling morale as concerns continued to rise in the U.S. over the high numbers of casualties in Iraq.

As a result, soldiers expressed their enthusiasm towards Bush. Many had expressed thanks to his presence in Baghdad (even after his Thanksgiving visit), despite of his busy schedule. On the other hand, there were also people who criticized his Iraq visit and said that this was just a ploy by the Bush administration to stir his popularity and win in the 2004 elections.

What propelled this publicity stunt to work is the administration's effort to make the president's visit to Iraq unannounced and make it very special to the U.S. troops serving in Iraq. The very idea of having then President Bush carry the golden brown turkey to the U.S.Troops on their Thanksgiving dinner, made it a special experience for everyone. Also, the warning given to journalists to not report the president's visit until they had left Iraq on Air Force One, made sure that the news will hit the media at about the same time as everybody else.

This publicity event was all over the papers, radio, television and even on the internet. It created buzz and enthusiasm among the public and even among  political critics. It even came to the point as stated earlier that the turkey carried by President Bush was fake. This turkey issue even resulted to more discussions and ongoing media coverage.

In November 2, 2004, Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry by 50.7% of the american votes during the 2004 presidential election.

Overall, this event worked for former President Bush at a time when the public's trust towards his administration was challenged. Again, Bush and his constituents pressed on their resolve to crush terrorism with the continued presence of U.S. military troops in Iraq.

So going back,...wouldn't you be impressed to see Prime Minister Harper serve turkey to Canadian troops next Thanksgiving? Probably not and it's still a long way ahead. I think the government can come up with a better and more 'golden' plan to help boost the morale of Canadian men and women in uniform, who are serving in war-torn countries and are on peacekeeping missions.