Another Shot in the Foot for Hillary
As an avid Hillary fan, I find that her campaign has repeatedly shot itself in the foot. There have been many things, big or small, from Hillary herself or a surrogate, that has had monumental damage to her campaign. Yet another damaging comment was made by Geraldine Ferraro, as Dr. Kramer pointed out in class. Geraldine Ferraro made an insulting comment along the lines of saying that Barack Obama was only this successful in his campaign because he was African-American, see link here. The full quote from Ferraro was, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept", taken from Yahoo! News.
I think it is another unfortunate incident that Hillary has had to suffer from, at the hands of a surrogate. She isn't having too much like with husband Bill, and now Ferraro. However, according to CNN, Ferraro did today step down from Hillary's financial committee, as per CNN. On this link, there is a transcript of what Ferraro wrote to Hillary, which I will refer to for my next point.
Interestingly enough, Ferraro still fails to take 100% of the burden from her comments. As you could read from the CNN article, she is adamant that the Obama campaign used these words deliberately to shame Hillary's good name. Although I'm sure that his campaign saw these remarks as a gold mine in order to exploit Hillary, I think its unfortunate that Ferraro cannot face up to the atrocity she committed to Hillary's campaign.
In terms of political communication, I believe it is easy to see how remarks like these can, in fact, be termed incivility. It is not the type of incivility that is normally associated, say in a debate, but these type of comments go above and beyond the acceptable social norm of negative statements. Since this incivility is rarely accepted by the general public, I am sure this will affect Hillary negatively, even though today she discussed her disagreement in the choice of words by Ferraro.
posted by Alli Grimmer | 8:56 PM
7 Comments:
referring back to Caitlin's post, I really want to make a comment about the Clinton campaign's aggressive nature throughout this campaign. Granted, I have not been doing much research on the Obama campaign's problems with surrogates and such, however it appears to me that Hillary's recurring issues with surrogates and other campaigning obstacles may be, in part, due to her forward aggressiveness in this primary process. When you choose to be assertive or even aggressive to get your points out there and have the attention on you,you are more likely to be spotted for slip ups and left to deal with the outcome. It kinda reflects on the same concepts of timing when you give your acceptance speech for candidacy. If you are the only one the media has its eye on, you better be careful what you say and do, as well as what those who represent you say and do.
I wonder why this has gotten more attention than the Obama aide who called Hillary a "monster". I mean, the woman who said that stepped down, but, still, that surrogate did not receive the same attention as Ferraro did. Maybe it's not that surrogates are making blunders for Hillary; maybe it's that she has high profile surrogates needing to put their foot in their mouth. Obama's advantage as a so-called outsider is working. You can't get as much bad press with low-ranking officials blundering as you can with a former president totally messing up everything.
I agree with Mary that because Clinton has high profile surrogates, who want to make sure they are heard, are definitely under more scrutiny. The Obama staff seem to be more cautious in the choosing of their words. I also think that Ferraro's comments were attacked more than the "monster" comment because the pc police are more concerned with racial issues than they are about character name calling. The "monster" comment didn't have anything to do with race or gender. This doesn't make it any more just though and Mary is correct in pointing out this imbalance.
I agree that this a big mistake for the Clinton campaign, but I'm having a hard time deciding who is to blame. I don't think Clinton herself has actually apologized. I was watching MSNBC the other night and they aired an interview with her in which she said that while she regrets the comment made by Ferraro, she is not going to apologize because she did not herself make them. This is where I am having trouble; do the candidates have to take total responsibility for what their surrogates say, or at some point should people realize who is making them and blame that person? I think the comments made by Ferraro were insensitive, but I also think it is a little ridiculous to assume that Clinton has to take the heat.
I agree with Caitlin, shouldn't hillary apologize for what was said by her campaign members? We all know Hillary didn't say it but if hillary chooses somebody she puts her trust into, enough speak on her behalf, then they most likely share the same feelings and discuss these openly behind the eye of the media. I think that Hillary should take control of her campaign and start apologizing for what her surrgoates are doing, and I feel the same goes for Obama. Although one was put more into the media limelight because of the racial connections, doesn't mean Obama should be off the hook. They should not be making this a race of low blows and name calling but a race of pure motives. They should be proving to the country why each of them would make a better president, not who is a monster and who got to the top because of skin color.
Everything in Political Communications is put under a microscope and heavily scrutinized. We are even learning about tactics for teasing out every possible meaning in various forms of political communication and "statements" like Ferraro's are unforgivable. Being in politics so long, she should know better. The microscope is powerful...nothing slips by.
Hillary's surrogates have provided great media spotlight especially when referring to Ferarro. Although Ferraro's negativity towards Obama was harsh, as they say, any publicity is good publicity. I do agree with Caitlin's views on Hillary apologizing for those actions of her surrogate speaker. By keeping quiet and not addressing the issue, it only makes her look worse and closer to the situation. I'm interested to see what is going to happen next with Hillary's surrogate speakers and if she does in fact apologize.
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