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Obama’s political gaffe will be fodder in general election
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Candidate
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Jun 11, 2012 05:00pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Chris Cillizza |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Sunday, June 10, 2012 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "Here’s an unpopular opinion: Political gaffes matter.
After President Obama’s assertion Friday that “the private sector is doing fine” — and his subsequent attempt to clean up the rhetorical mess he made for himself — many Democrats insisted that while it wasn’t his best moment, it was far from consequential in his reelection race.
After all, they argued, who watches cable television in the middle of the day on a Friday? And in an election about big things — the overall health of the economy, America’s place in the world — who would ultimately care or be swayed by a single out-of-context statement made by the president? (The point Obama was trying to make, however inartfully, was that the private sector was performing far better than the public sector.)
All true. But also all missing the point.
Let’s break down the argument piece by piece.
First, while it is true that midday cable television viewership is low, that rationale completely disregards the media world in which we live, where even the smallest comment can be amplified into a national headline in minutes. Is there anyone paying even passing attention to politics who hasn’t seen the Obama clip five times at this point — which, by the way, is less than 96 hours after he said it? Answer: no." |
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