As BarbinMD and Gary Norton have noted, over the past several days both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have been in full-blown spin mode because they both... what's the word... "misspoke". We have an opportunity as a community to promote a very powerful theme about the Republican Party and their presidential nominees for the next 15 months, and all we need to do is to tell the truth in a very disciplined fashion. Follow me after the jump for more...
Romney, as you know, told the world about his brave, brave sons who have enlisted in the "Winnebago Warriors of Greater Des Moines" to serve our nation. Giuliani, as you know, told the world that he was at Ground Zero "as often, if not more, than most of the workers" who were exposed to toxic levels of asbestos and other airborne pollution after 9-11.
Now that both candidates are desperately trying to wiggle out from under the weight of their own horrifying statements, take a look at the headlines on these subjects:
Romney, Winner in Iowa, `Misspoke' About Sons' Military Choice
Giuliani: I misspoke about ground zero
Both stories superficially present to the reader that the candidates just "misspoke" and are simply "clarifying" their previous statements. These stories are presented in a neutral fashion with little to no value judgment imparted.
We can change that.
Every time a GOP candidate tells another falsehood like Giuliani and every time a GOP candidate makes a statement that is so patently absurd and offensive that they are forced to "clarify" it (i.e. backpedal madly) like Romney, we should highlight the fact that yet again a GOP candidate or his staff "misspoke". There have already been other examples of this sort of "clarification" and we're only into August 2007:
Thompson apologizes to Jews for comments, 4/16/07:
GOP presidential candidate Tommy Thompson apologized to a Jewish audience Monday after saying that making money is "sort of part of the Jewish tradition."
At the outset of a speech to the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the former Wisconsin governor told an audience of a few hundred people that, "I'm in the private sector and for the first time in my life I'm earning money."
Added Thompson: "You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition, and I do not find anything wrong with that. I enjoy that."
The remark caused some murmurs and disbelief in the room, according to some who were present...
"Governor Thompson recognized he misspoke in his remarks to the Religious Action Center and is very apologetic," Jewell said. "He intended to compliment the Jewish community for their success in the United States, and he regrets he stepped on his words in doing so."
Thompson misspoke on gay worker question, 5/4/07:
Republican Tommy Thompson said he misspoke at Thursday night's presidential debate when he said a private employer opposed to homosexuality should have the right to fire a gay worker...
Rudy's New SC Co-Chair, 6/25/07:
As recently as January 2000, the Post and Courier reported in an article headlined "Ravenel stepped outside 'civility,'" that Ravenel called the NAACP the "National Association For Retarded People."
When asked about the comment in the story, Ravenel said that he misspoke. "It was a slip of the tongue. I have never said the NAACP was retarded," he told the Post and Courier. "I made a rhetorical slip, and they want to lynch me for it."
These are just a handful of examples that I remember from the past few months... there are certainly more out there. If we are disciplined in using consistent language to point out these lies and outrageous statements, even if future news stories are written in a similar neutral fashion (for example, Fred Thompson: I misspoke about my involvement in Watergate scandal) we will force this pattern of self-serving "misstatements" by Republican candidates into the mainstream.
It has already happened once before to the GOP:
Monday, Apr. 30, 1973
It's Inoperative: They Misspoke Themselves
THE Nixon Administration has developed a new language—a kind of Nix-speak. Government officials are entitled to make flat statements one day, and the next day reverse field with the simple phrase, "I misspoke myself." White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler enlarged the vocabulary last week, declaring that all of Nixon's previous statements on Watergate were "inoperative." Not incorrect, not misinformed, not untrue—simply inoperative, like batteries gone dead. Euphemisms notwithstanding, the Nixon Administration's verbal record on Watergate is enough to turn ardent believers into skeptics. Some examples of "inoperative" statements from Administration officials who misspoke themselves...
I am going to assemble a list of GOP "misstatements" over the course of the campaign. I'd appreciate your help in coming up with more examples that have already take place. Please include the date and a link to a credible original source in your comment if at all possible.
The more of these that we assemble in one place and the more disciplined we are in pointing out how frequently the GOP's candidates appear to "misspeak" the more likely it is that we will be successful in forcing this clear pattern into the discourse of the 2008 presidential election.
