I feel the need to preface this post by saying that I don’t care for canned speeches and I detest the fact that interviews have been reduced to a succession of short sound bites. That being said, I do believe that PR and communications are the backbone of any political campaign. Even though most of us can speak and write, not everyone can communicate well. A politician may have a head for public policy or be a great idea person, but he (or she) still needs someone to help craft and communicate the message successfully.
Which is why I am at a loss to explain two incidents over the last week—McCain’s ditty about bombing Iran in South Carolina and Tommy Thomson’s ill-considered insight about money and the Jewish tradition in D.C. (To make matters worse, this occurred at the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, not the place you want to break out ancient stereotypes in a stump speech). Much like Romney’s flubs in Miami last month, I am left wondering, where are the communications advisers to these politicians?
While Romney’s comments were obviously researched and rehearsed (which made his mistake even more incomprehensible), McCain and Thompson were most likely speaking off –the-cuff. I applaud them for that—speaking in bullet points does nothing to educate people or encourage debate. But, have they had any media training? Have they been living under a rock lately? I don’t care if you pride yourself on straight talk; anyone with a modicum of common sense would probably realize that a flip comment about money-making as part of Jewish heritage or singing about bombing Iran (a move with frightening implications) to a Beach Boys’ song is wrong.
Sure, there is a repetitive blandness to most of the ‘08 presidential candidates’ messages, and we still have to endure many months before we actually get to do anything about it. A blunt, shoot-from-the-hip approach is refreshing. But these were just disrespectful and glib. I would like to believe that the future leader of the U.S., or at least his or her advisers, would be more circumspect. But maybe that’s asking too much
