Republicans are famous for avoiding debates on the issues and instead distorting statements by opposing candidates or mischaracterizing their personality.
Last week, we saw two examples of this approach by Democrats. As the media magnified Hillary Clinton's statements about sniper fire in Bosnia, Barack Obama stayed mute, letting the drama play out. Hillary's plane did undergo a jarring emergency landing, and everyone acknowledges there were snipers in the hills. But as the media pushed the story of her "exaggeration" ad nauseum, Mr. Obama should have entered into the fray and said the issue was a non-starter; we should be debating national healthcare, Iraq and the economy instead. If he had done so, he would have been seen as a gentleman and the "new type" of politician he claims himself to be. Instead, he let the story play out with no comment.
The second example, Mr. Obama's characterization of "small town" voters has been distorted to portray him as an "elitist" and "anti-religion." I do not believe this is Senator Clinton's doing. Rather, it is a vestige of the type of campaign organized by Mark Penn who had a decided inclination to go negative, a self-destructive policy if there ever was one. This tactic will not rebound to her campaign's credit in the long run.
It is regrettable that Senator Clinton's advisors have chosen this course of action. The campaign is most successful when they just let Senator Clinton be Senator Clinton, not a typical pol who is behind in the race. As an example, think about the results in New Hampshire, when Senator Clinton found her "voice." The current approach is not Senator Clinton's true voice; it is not the type of person she is, a caring, forgiving, compassionate type. Every time, she yields to her political advisors, she suffers a setback.
Finally, what's going on with Bill Clinton? Bringing up the Bosnia story again when it was about to die down...I don't think this was such a big mistake as the media says it was. The characterization of her "stretching" the truth was out there and accepted, uncontested. Even though the news stories about it were decreasing, it had to be addressed. President Clinton's "blunder" meant that his entire statement was promulgated, about how the news media went crazy about this non-issue, and it also re-introduced the theory about bias in the news media against Senator Clinton and in favor of Barack Obama. This is not a bad thing.
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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.