Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Bob Stannard, a lobbyist and author. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
Just when you thought that members of Congress couldn’t possibly say anything more preposterous than the last preposterous thing they said they go off and say something more preposterous.
Case in point: Congressman Todd Akin, now a candidate for the United States Senate, had this to say when asked about abortion in the case of rape: “From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist.”
Later that same day Akin’s campaign released a statement saying that the candidate misspoke. Really?
On Feb. 1 of this year, primary candidate Mitt Romney had this exchange with Soledad O’Brien of CNN:
ROMNEY: “I’m in this race because I care about America. I’m not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there, if we need to repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who are struggling, and I’ll continue to take that message across the country.”
O’BRIEN: “You just said, ‘I’m not concerned about the very poor because they have a safety net. But I think there are a lot of very poor Americans who are struggling who would say, ‘That sounds odd.’ Can you explain that?”
ROMNEY: “Finish the sentence, Soledad. I said I’m not concerned about the very poor that have a safety net, but if it has holes in it, I will repair them. The challenge right now — we will hear from the Democrat Party the plight of the poor. And there’s no question it’s not good being poor. And we have a safety net to help those that are very poor, but my campaign is focused is on middle-income Americans.”
When you are a candidate for high public office you typically have a script, or talking points, and you’re expected to stick to it. Candidates oftentimes get into trouble when they go off script and tell the electorate how they truly feel; not what they want the electorate to hear.
The next day he was on friendly territory, Fox News, declaring that he misspoke.
One might argue that every now and again we all say something that we might not have meant to say or wish we’d said another way. On the other hand, when you are a candidate for high public office you typically have a script, or talking points, and you’re expected to stick to it. Candidates oftentimes get into trouble when they go off script and tell the electorate how they truly feel; not what they want the electorate to hear.
You may recall a while back when Mitt Romney declared that “Corporations are people too, my friend.” That’s a pretty good example of going off-script.
The problem that candidates like Akin and Romney run into is telling the truth. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney genuinely believe that if we lessen the tax burden for the top 1 percent of the nation’s wealthiest people and eliminate government programs like Medicare, Social Security, education funding, the EPA, etc., then all would be well. To his credit, Ryan has practically said as much as a congressman, but now as a candidate for vice president the new script dictates that he says he’s all about saving Medicare. Paul Ryan is not about saving Medicare, but the voters certainly are, so the only recourse is to tell the voters what the voters want to hear; not what he believes.
When politicians get caught sharing how they really feel about an issue and those feelings are 180 degrees away from what the voters believe then you simply say that you misspoke. But did Congressman Akin really misspeak?
No. Congressman Akins, to his core, believes that a woman’s body can somehow tell the difference if she’s “forcibly” raped, but even if it can’t that she should still be forced to have the baby. Mitt Romney genuinely believes that the poor are all set and we need not worry about them. Paul Ryan believes in his heart of hearts that the rich need to have their taxes reduced at the expense of every social program in America. However, don’t expect to hear them say so now. When their inner feelings slip out you can rest assure that there will be a press conference declaring that they misspoke.
I don’t mean to pick on the Republicans and I’m sure that there are plenty of Democrats who have said stuff they regret; like Joe Biden’s comments on having us back in chains. But there’s a difference in intent. Biden was not intentionally deceiving people into thinking that what he said is different from what he believes.
In the case of Akin, Romney and Ryan, they are hoping that you will believe what they say; not what they really believe. In the span of only a few seconds the world got a glimpse into the true beliefs of Todd Akin. Akin didn’t misspeak. For once he told the truth and he’s rocked the boat; on the eve of the Republican convention, no less.
He would’ve been better off if he had just stuck to the script.
