Rnc Denials Don't Deny The Facts
When I hear Republican spinners call our NewMajority story on Governor Palin’s clothes “inaccurate, ” I am reminded of John Edwards’ denials in October 2007 of his then rumored extra-marital affair: “The story is false.”
It’s an old press secretary’s device.
The reporter says that clothes are stashed in garbage bags. You say the story is false because some of the clothes are stashed in cardboard boxes. The reporter says that the clothes are in the basement. You say the story is false because you have just that day moved them to a storeroom on the 2nd floor. Etc.
Saturday Night Live mocked this kind of talk in a sketch 30 years ago.
Reporter #1: Is it true that the president is 100 feet tall?
Press secretary: Nooooo! Absolutely not!
Reporter #2: Is the president 90 feet tall?
Press secretary: No comment.
We all want to be accurate, and we here at NewMajority will be delighted to correct ourselves if our story proves incorrect in any way. I don’t expect it will, and not just because our sourcing is good.
Here’s the basic logic of the situation. We have confirmed that Gov. Palin has returned the clothes to the RNC. And of course we all know that the RNC has not given the clothes away. So whether they are all in trash bags – or partly in bags and partly in boxes – they remain in the RNC’s possession. Where else could they be?
And the surest proof of the accuracy of our story is the RNC’s less attractive methods of denial: badmouthing the reporter behind her back – questioning motives – and (worst of all) shrugging off the importance of honoring promises.
Here is an example of that last and most troubling technique as practiced by a blogger at Redstate.com with close RNC connections:
Palin, Republican John McCain’s Vice Presidential pick, resigned from the limelight and returned to Alaska over two months ago after losing to then-Senator Barack Obama in November’s hotly-contested Presidential election. Why now, when Palin is no longer seeking national office, is this a salient issue – or, for that matter, even true?
That’s a clever move when you think about. You promise during the campaign to return clothes afterward – and then afterward you repudiate the promise as nonbinding because the campaign is now over.
Does this technique work with phone bills and credit card bills too, or only with your commitments to your donors?
So here is why the issue is salient. Palin has not retired to private life. She is, it was reported today, negotiating a large book deal. She is reportedly contemplating a run for the Senate in 2010. Many polls show her the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2012.
And the Republican National Committee is not exactly shutting up shop either. In fact, a week from now the RNC will decide whether to keep the current incumbent on the job. The story of the clothes-in-the-bags is very relevant to assessing that incumbent’s performance in the past and predicting his performance in the future.
Above all:
Today’s Republican Party is an unhealthy and unhappy organization. Only today I had a long phone conversation with a former stalwart of the Maryland party who is contemplating giving up his party identification altogether and working to launch a third party.
Parties do not rebuild by shutting out their members – or engaging in tough-guy talk when asked basic and obvious questions about past promises. They rebuild with transparency, responsiveness and competence. Let’s have some, please.