My Opponent Supported Brutus!
There is no statute of limitations on personal and political mistakes for those in the political realm. This much is obvious. For every Teddy “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy and Robert “KKK” Byrd on the left, there’s a Strom “KKK” Thurmond on the right. If John McCain gets the GOP nod in 2008, you can bet that his limited role in the Keating Five scandal will come up again. And don’t get me started on the 2004 presidential race, in which too much ink (that is to say, any) was spilled on what John Kerry and George W. Bush did or did not do during Vietnam. Seriously, has it not occurred to anyone that one way to increase voter participation in the under-30 crowd is to not make things that happened 40 years ago the centerpiece of your campaign?
I bring this up because even in lower-stakes races, there seems to be no statute of limitations on personal and political faux pas. Here in Virginia, George Allen, in an attempt to deflect the spotlight from his own personal problems, brought up writings of opponent Jim Webb from 30 years ago in which Webb opposed letting women into the U.S. Naval Academy and said “women can’t fight.” Never mind that Senator Allen is likely to have supporters who share Webb’s position from 30 years ago, how is this even an issue, unless Webb still believes it? Can any blogger ever hope to get elected to public office if their web rantings become a campaign issue 25 years hence? In politics, if it’s always going to be a sin to change (or not change, depending on context) your mind, there should at least be an expiration date on using previous bad ideas or behavior as campaign fodder. Otherwise, we may get to the point where the question “Senator, did you or did you not burn ants with a magnifying glass on your mom’s porch?” dominates the headlines for a week.
McCain-Feingold is McCain’s albatross. Most people have forgotten what the Keating Five scandal was all about, or are too young to have known about it in the first place.
The tabloid effects of news means that a property tax lien on a forgotten small piece of land out of 100’s 20 years ago is the same is almost the same as failing to pay income tax for the past five years.
Many of the stories run around the clock — sometimes with “breaking news alerts” would have been 30 second stories or an inside newpaper “short” many years back. Only the really egregious scandals had staying power.
The result is a shift in focus from a person’s overall character to claims that a person has no character if the tiniest flaw or mess-up is found.
However, since a good percentage of future candidates are likely to have been bloggers, all may be in the same boat. Or maybe the public will finally catch on to look at the big picture.
I fear that unless news outlets or the public start putting things in perspective we will end up with candidates who have never done anything — good or bad in their lives.
People who succeed in public life or who would make for the best leaders (by solid accomplishments not simply the PR way) will inevitably have taken some calculated risks in life and written some provocative things, and made some daring moves. No one can do that without messing up now and then. A heated debate will occasionally result in a candidate saying something silly or making a personal attack. But is that their nature or simply an “off-day” that we all have? I took one blogger to task for his idiotic and inane support of on-line gambling. But looking at his overall record, overall blogging and evidence of substantial depth of character, that’s exactly the kind of person I want in public office. Character, excepting for the extremes of outrageous conduct, is not defined by the occasional lapse but by a lifetime of overall integrity and leadership.
Regarding the Allen/Webb campaign, Allen’s 30-years-ago actions have also been made an issue, as some college football teammates claim he used the “N-word.” I don’t know whether that provoked the revelation about Webb’s Naval Academy opinions, or whether it was in response to it. Either way, it’s a silly spitting contest.
a property tax lien on a forgotten small piece of land out of 100’s 20 years ago
Just curious, what are you referring to here, Joel?
Alan,
McCain-Feingold is McCain’s albatross for conservative partisans, not for the public at large, I’d say. A Democratic opponent is not going to run black-and-white scare ads about McCain-Feingold.
He or she may, however, run ads about Keating Five (maybe not using the phrase “Keating Five” to make it seem more recent) to call McCain’s integrity into question.
Seriously, has it not occurred to anyone that one way to increase voter participation in the under-30 crowd is to not make things that happened 40 years ago the centerpiece of your campaign?
Um, campaigns design negative ads (or entire ad campaigns, see: Swift Boats for Truth) for a number of reasons, one of the main being to depress voter turnout on the other side. So I would say, yes, it probably had occurred to someone in the RNC that if the under-30 crowd was gonna pour out on election day for John Kerry, one way to discourage that from happening would be to dump a pile of poo on the Massachussets senator’s distinguished military record (the trick was to have Bush’s friends do the dumping so that W’s hands appeared clean. Making the charges unverifiable was a very nice, sophisticated touch, and the media compliantly played along with the smear campaign.)
Per resurrecting one’s opponent’s misty past: stories about Allen’s use of the “N” word 30 years ago, and of Confederate flags and nooses in his office as governor resonate in light of the “macaque” flap, because they appear to be part of a pattern.
On the other hand, the Webb “women can’t fight” poo didn’t stick to the wall because there hadn’t been other similar musings over the course of Webb’s career. But because the statement appears to be unique, it just made Allen look like he’s flailing about for anything.
All’s fair in love and war, and almost everything’s fair in politics (see: Swift Boats for Truth) so I don’t think there should be any “statute of limitations” on politician’s personal or political gaffes. However, it would be nice to see the media do its ——ing job when campaigns step over the line (see: Swift Boats for Truth).
Eric,
What are you referring to when you ask me what I am referring to? In other words, what part of my comment is a puzzle to you?
Eric,
What are you referring to when you ask me what I am referring to? In other words, what part of my comment is a puzzle to you?
Joel–you wrote something about a “property tax lien on a forgotten small piece of land…” Is there some current controvery in some political race revolving around a property tax lien, or was that just a hypothetical example?