Why should we respect politicians who don't answer the questions they are asked?

By Richard K. Barry

Among the many things wrong with how the media covers politics is the way they so often give up on fairly simple "yes or no" / "A or B" type questions when their first attempt to get a straight answer from a politician is batted aside.

Recently, CNN's Wolf Blitzer was interviewing Nikki Haley, the Republican Governor of South Carolina, about the current field of contenders for the GOP presidential nomination. One of the questions was about the "disagreement" between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry on whether or not climate change is man made.

As the Washington Post reports the divide:

Apparent front-runner Mitt Romney believes the world is getting warmer and that humans contribute to the pattern. Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday called that "a scientific theory that has not been proven."

Okay, Perry doesn't like science. He knows this view will appeal to a lot of idiots who also call themselves Republicans. I don't care.

But when Governor Haley was asked which side of this debate she came down on, she did what many politicians, of all stripes, do all too often. The way she answered was to say something like "what Americans really care about are jobs."

I know why she avoided the question. Giving a direct answer would have perhaps suggested support for either Romney or Perry, and she's not ready to go there. I don't even know if she has a stated opinion on the matter, which, if she did, would only make her answer more foolish.

It is well known that politicians are trained to say whatever they want to say no matter what question is asked. It even has a name. It's called "message discipline." I'm not sure, though, why any self-respecting journalist would embarrass himself by having a direct question ignored.

Think about how you'd feel if in the real world you asked someone what time it was and they answered by saying that it was supposed to rain this afternoon. Welcome to the world of politics.

Perversely, we even consider good message discipline to be the mark of a talented politician and the approach of answering questions too directly the sign of a political neophyte.

When Haley dodged the question, Blizter should have quickly said, "would you mind answering my question?" And then, every time she failed to answer, he should have stopped and respectfully asked that she try again.

I think we could even give this approach a name. It would be called "question discipline." Whenever a politician came on an interview program they would be told what to expect, that they answer direct questions or the interview would not move on.

I know some in the media already do this, but not nearly enough.

I also know I'm dreaming and that this will never happen, but our political discourse would be better if it did. And the only way it will ever change is if journalists start doing their jobs differently.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Gingrich vs. Ryan ends with a KO for Ryan

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Gingrich slammed Ryan, calling his anti-Medicare plan "radical."

Ryan retaliated, suggesting that Gingrich is just like "the left."

Other right-wing Republicans, like Nikki Haley and Rick Santorum, sided with Ryan and piled on Gingrich.

And Gingrich, tail between his legs, humbled and humiliated, apologized to Ryan.

This is how it works in the GOP.

**********

I can't say I ever admire Gingrich, but I understood, or thought I understood, why he took the risk of criticizing Ryan's plan (and, for all intents and purposes, the Republican plan). It was opportunistic, a transparent (or so I thought) attempt to situate himself between the party's right-wing mainstream and grassroots on one side and the somewhat more moderate (and rather more pragmatic) establishment on the other, recognizing that Ryan's plan is deeply unpopular, including among many Republicans, and a likely vote-loser in 2012.

But it was also a shot at the leading Republican wunderkind of the day as well as at what has become a key element of conservative orthodoxy, and for that The Newt got crushed.

Where's the compelling narrative for 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls?

By R.K. Barry

One of those things you hear said about electoral politics, particularly about presidential elections, is that people like to vote for candidates who have a clear vision for the country, who speak in terms of hope and of better things to come. Ronald Reagan's famous "Morning in America" motif is often identified as this kind of successful messaging.

More or less on that point, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) said on Monday that she is displeased with what she is hearing from GOP hopefuls who have been coming to her state to woo potential voters.

Here is what Haley had to say:

A lot of what bothers me with where the presidential politics is right now is that I don't want to hear about how awful President Obama is right now. I want to hear what they are going to do different.

And then:

There is a group that has come through South Carolina. They are trying to tell me how they are going to win. I don't care how they are going to win. I want to know how they are going to fix our country. 

Governor Haley seems to understand that you can energize the base by attacking Obama but you will have a very hard time winning independents unless you can articulate a vision for the country that isn't simply based on the fact that you dislike the guy who currently holds the office. Without those independents, it would be very hard, as Haley knows, to win the White House.

I don't think it's inconceivable that the right Republican candidate could construct a narrative that would be attractive for a majority of Americans. But what we do know is that we have not yet seen that candidate nor have we even begun to hear the outline of a vision.

To be fair, we have heard a narrative of sorts, but it's hardly compelling, and it doesn't paint a particularly pretty picture. It can be described, as was done at FDL, as "more tax cuts for rich people and corporations, less regulation, less spending on the poor, deporting the Mexicans, protecting traditional marriage and teaching Intelligent Design in public schools."

It's going to be hard for anyone to make that into beautifully crafted political ads and a vision that attracts enough voters. Maybe "It's Morning on Wall Street."