Politics is notoriously hard to predict. Bill Clinton got a shot at the Presidency in the first place because no prominent Democrat wanted to run. George Bush was a glorious victor after Desert Storm, and his approval rating was in the 80 percent range. Who knew he would be dragged down by the economy and his failure to keep his vow, "read my lips, no new taxes."
So, when someone asks you to make a forecast about the next President of the United States, you should remember that a week can be like a year in politics.
Well, yesterday we had a wrench thrown into the Presidential campaign. Some misguided soul strapped highway flares on his body to give the appearance of a suicide bomb and waltzed into a small Clinton campaign headquarters in Rochester, NH, demanding to speak to Hillary and holding some of her staff members hostage.
As we all know, noone was hurt, but I think the incident, terrible as it was, played in Hillary's favor. Her obvious concern for her staff, her emotional yet in control response immediately afterwards, showed her full panoply of feelings. She handled the situation with poise and responsibility. How unlike the way our current President responds to a crisis.
Her speech was so good that Bill O'Reilly did not even cover it. He made some fleeting reference to the situation and then went on to another story, even having the gall to make a jibe about how much Secret Service protection Hillary gets herself.
Whether Hillary's aplomb and superb crisis management affects her poll numbers remains to be seen. However, it is a wake-up call to us all about the volatility of politics and the world we live in.
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- Willy Gissen
- In 2003, Willy Gissen founded Cut-It-Out Communications, a full-service public relations agency based in Hartsdale, New York. His organization specializes in the incorporation of online activities into traditional public relations programs, primarily for business-to-business clients.
These activities include the creation of e-newsletters, the set up and maintenance of internal blogs, and the development of inbound links to maximize a client’s search engine ranking.
See his other articles at public relations instruction, and visit his other blog, New York Times Leader, for an analysis of each morning's lead story.