Today’s news reports indicating that George W. Bush has effectively repudiated recent NRA attacks on the truthfulness of Bill Clinton provide an excellent example of why Bush will not be able to defeat The Evil Al Gore in this fall’s presidential election.
On Monday, Gore called on Bush to reject comments about Clinton made by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre during a Sunday morning news program. Bush should have totally ignored this, as he should ignore any commands from the Gore camp. This is an issue for the NRA and its members, most of whom, like me, are apparently pleased to see the organization speaking out against Clinton and Gore’s consistent record of untruthfulness and political posturing on the gun control issue.
But in following Gore’s orders (mistake number one), Bush has made two additional mistakes.
First, he involved himself in a controversy he could easily have avoided. If he didn’t want to take a stand with the NRA, which would have impressed me, he should have stayed neutral. When pressed by reporters and Gore lackeys to reject the NRA’s comments, he should have said something like, “The NRA, just like any other organization in this country, has every right to express its opinions on political issues and on the conduct of public officials. I’m not going to tell them what they should or shouldn’t say, just as I hope Mr. Gore won’t presume to limit the First Amendment rights of any American citizens.” When pressed for some comment on the NRA commercials charging that Clinton is a liar, Bush could have said, “Well, I know that there have been a variety of comments from within and without the Democratic party about President Clinton’s truthfulness, but I’m focusing on my own campaign against Mr. Gore.” Similarly, he could have easily handled questions about LaPierre’s comments regarding Clinton’s willingness to use gun deaths to further his political agenda: “I’m focusing on my own campaign, and I’m not going to speculate on what might or might not be President Clinton’s motivations for his actions.” So, Governor Bush, you think it was acceptable for the NRA to say these mean things? “The NRA, just like every other organization…,” etc. Bush didn’t need to get involved in an issue not of his choosing. He was smart enough not to do this when asked about the Confederate flag in S.C. Too bad he wasn’t that smart this time. This is a mistake Gore doesn’t make.
Second, by speaking out on this issue, Bush has taken responsibility for the actions of his supporters. This is an even more serious mistake, and another one you don’t see Gore make. Take a look at the recent Buddhist fund-raising scandal: A Gore supporter is actually convicted of criminal activity on behalf of Gore, and Gore’s public comment is that he feels sorry for her. There’s no admission of shared responsibility, no repudiation of her actions, just an expression of compassion for someone in trouble. And the issue immediately fades from public view.
One of the basic strategies in political campaigning is to identify the most extreme elements of your opponent’s support, and make your opposition responsible for them. You see this all the time in Democratic charges about the Republican Party being held thrall by religious fanatics. When a candidate makes excuses for the actions of his supporters, he not only admits responsibility for those actions, but also alienates the supporters themselves. Think for a moment about animal rights extremists, gay-rights activists, and other hard-core single-issue groups that typically back Democrats. When did you ever hear of a Democrat criticizing them?
Gore is smart enough to stay out of controversies that don’t benefit him, and to be the beneficiary of the work of his supporters without taking responsibility for their actions. Bush has failed on both counts. In an election as close as this one is going to be, that kind of failure will make the difference between winning and losing.
