Newt Gingrich figured it out after he said, "Spanish is the
language of living in the ghetto." Rudy Giuliani realized it after
he waded into the issue of public funding for abortions. What did
they recognize that few politicians do? It is better to apologize
(for Gingrich, in Spanish no less) or "walk it back" within the
same news cycle.
Historically, most politicians don't know when they have made a
fatal gaffe. Ed Muskie crying in the snow. George Allen and
"macaca." Dean screaming. They all learned the hard way. Do not
underestimate the media's ability to fixate on an isolated event,
replay it endlessly, and hold up an errant moment as emblematic of
a candidate's character.
Sometimes the "moment" is really a non-moment. Hillary is now
plagued by the dog that hasn't barked: the apology for her Iraq war
vote which the Democratic base finds abhorrent. First media and now
opposing candidates are fixating on this non-event. Now like
anchors staked out in windbreakers waiting for the hurricane, the
media has gone on "apology alert" waiting for some hint of
contrition.
Less frequently a media moment can work to a candidate's
advantage. "I paid for that microphone!" and "There he goes again"
cemented the public's view of Reagan as the strong but amiable
leader. More often however the candidate becomes the victim of an
endless media cycle where the episode migrates from news to late
night comedians' monologues. What is a candidate to do?
In a YouTube world where every move is captured and every
utterance preserved is it too much to expect that a candidate can
get through an entire campaign without falling prey to the gotcha
moment? Unfortunately candidates adopt one of two tactics, neither
of which is helpful. First, they try to avoid saying anything of
consequence. Perhaps singed by the healthcare fiasco and imprisoned
by her natural caution Hillary Clinton rarely has an unscripted
moment. If Joe Biden has no delay between his brain and his mouth,
Hillary has a pollster and a focus group. If every statement is
couched with caveats the errors are fewer but the candidate pays a
heavy price in losing the attention and ultimately the affection of
the party faithful.
Alternatively, candidates may adopt the tactic of railing at the
press for covering this petty event rather than the big issues of
the day. Telling the press their editorial choices are wrong rarely
works and usually backfires. "Trying to shift the subject today..."
or "While trying to avoid the subject of" then precedes each
opening paragraph describing the hapless candidate's efforts to get
back on track.
If these tactics don't work, what does? If the candidate is an
incumbent he can "change the subject," or "wag the dog" if you are
commander in chief. If the state of the union speech is good enough
or the air strike dramatic enough as it was for President Clinton
the press will usually take the bait.
But one tactic is rarely tried but perhaps the best option. That
is what we do in real lives: apologize with self-deprecating humor
and move on. What if George Allen had said, "You know my heart is
in the right place but sometimes things come out of my mouth that
shouldn't. Just ask my wife."? He might still be Senator. What if
Dennis Hastert had said "We are decent people and didn't expect our
colleague to be so indecent. We missed the signals and it never
should have come to this"? He likely would have chopped a few days
off the Foley news cycle and maybe a few seats off the Democratic
majority.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain figured this out and promptly
apologized for their remarks that soldiers' lives had been "wasted"
in Iraq. They, unlike the hapless George Allen, escaped the media
pack howling for a recantation. Gingrich made an eloquent plea in
Spanish explaining he meant no offense and was himself taking
Spanish lessons. Hillary is taking the opposite tack -- holding
firm, apologizing for nothing and attempting to shift blame to that
sneaky President who used the war authorization to, well, go to
war.
Mea culpas won't immunize a candidate or eliminate a story but
they can minimize the pain and maybe engender some sympathy. If
politicians learned what husbands have known for years -- you might
as well apologize right away and get it over with -- they would
fare better. Besides, heartfelt apologies play very well on
YouTube.
topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Abortion, Iraq, NATO
