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Handling the public display of contrition
Political consultants, public relations executives and media experts evaluate aftermath of high-profile affairs
Saturday, June 27, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Coverage
Sun Archives
- Off the cuff, Ensign guarded but genial (6-26-2009)
- Fox News had Hampton’s letter earlier than it said (6-24-2009)
- For Ensign, a new lot in Congress (6-24-2009)
- Ensign apologizes during lunch with GOP senators (6-23-2009)
- Back in Washington, Ensign received warmly (6-23-2009)
- Ensign back in D.C.; group plans ethics complaint (6-22-2009)
- In state GOP, Ensign finds few defenders (6-21-2009)
- War of words between Ensign and Hampton escalates (6-20-2009)
Beyond the Sun
- MSNBC: A Decade of Sex Scandals (6-24-2009)
- The New York Times: How Do Politicians Survive Sex Scandals? (6-24-2009)
- The New York Times: Mysteries Remain After Governor Admits Affair (6-24-2009)
- CNN: John Edwards talks affair, future (6-17-2009)
Republicans Mark Sanford, Larry Craig and John Ensign, and Democrats Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards and Jim McGreevey all have something in common. Yes, there’s that, but something else, too: None handled his crisis communications perfectly, political consultants, public relations executives and media experts say.
Under the old, largely discredited playbook, politicians caught in unseemly dalliances at first denied them, which set them up for bigger scandals when later they were forced to tell a different story (see: Bill Clinton). Then they dragged their wives along to their announcements, forcing the aggrieved party to suffer even more shame and indignity.
Here’s the new playbook: Get to it quickly, read a brief statement of acknowledgment and regret, and leave the wife at home.
Of the six politicians listed above, just one tried to use the oldest method — denying the allegation. That was Craig, the senator from Idaho accused of making a pass at a male undercover police officer inside an airport restroom.
But Craig’s real transgression, according to Syracuse University media and pop culture professor Robert Thompson, was his confusing public response. First he pleaded guilty to lewd conduct, but then he said he shouldn’t have. And after saying he’d resign from the Senate, he backtracked and said he would not.
“His actions show that not only is he a hypocrite, not only an adulterer, he’s a flip-flopper,” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, Americans “don’t like liars,” and since the days of George Washington have rewarded truth-tellers.
So first, assuming you’re guilty, make sure to ’fess up, Thompson urged. That’s a no-brainer. But other questions remain:
Do you admit your indiscretion tearfully and at embarrassing length? Or is it better to take the stoic approach? What do you do afterward? Stay in the spotlight or get the heck out?
And just what should be the public role of the wronged wife, if any?
Often, public relations advisers take the wrong approach, said Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management expert who runs a public affairs firm in Washington, D.C.
“The objective is not to make them look good, it’s to make them look less bad,” Dezenhall said.
That’s most often achieved, he said, by the story receding into yesterday’s news. The best way to do that is to acutely limit how much is said publicly immediately after an announcement.
Sanford, he of the fake hiking trip and real Argentine woman, didn’t abide by that rule.
Sanford, in one of the most awkward public appearances in recent memory, detailed his affair during a rambling, emotional news conference, detailing his tragedy of the heart, and then stood to answer questions from the media throng.
By contrast, Ensign spoke briefly when disclosing his affair and quickly exited without answering questions.
Dezenhall said many nuances regarding how a crisis is handled depend on where the wrongdoing falls on the continuum — from limited, discreet instances of marital infidelity to occasions where the official breached the public trust in other ways.
Enter Ensign, whose affair involved a woman who worked for him and who is the wife of a man who worked for Ensign. This fact has saddled him with a request for a Senate ethics investigation by a citizen watchdog group.
Dan Hart, a Las Vegas Democratic consultant, said Ensign’s approach — quick statement, take no questions — was flawed because he needs to answer reasonable questions, or they might reappear at inopportune times, such as during a reelection campaign.
Not so fast, said Steve Wark, a Republican consultant. He noted that any lawyer would advise Ensign to say nothing because of the potential legal jeopardy he faces.
But Wark added that saying little creates a vacuum other people will fill. The coming months are likely to see official investigations — with inevitable leaks — and official reports, the prospect of “other women, real or imagined,” a potential lawsuit, maybe a book deal.
It runs right into Ensign’s reelection campaign, should he decide to go ahead with it. “It’s a miserable, huge can of worms,” Wark said.
Ensign’s advisers made a calculated gamble: They tried to create sympathy for him by putting it out that he had been the victim of extortion. This may have inoculated him somewhat, especially on Day One, though it also gave the story some legs. The accusation prompted the Sun to call the FBI and Metro Police, and neither was investigating any reports of extortion. That didn’t help Ensign’s credibility, Hart said.
Wark summed up Ensign’s situation: “It sucks to be John Ensign.”
Ensign’s team seems to have taken the right approach with his wife, Darlene. She didn’t appear at his side and instead released a statement of support.
Handling the political wife — and it is, almost always, the political husband who strays — is tricky, experts said.
Many older-generation politicians and their advisers have deemed it smart to have the official’s wife stand next to her husband as he publicly addresses the issue, to show voters that she still supports him, whether she does or not.
In the cases of Craig, Spitzer and McGreevey, the wives stood next their husbands as they made their announcements. Dawn Gibbons also stood next to then-Congressman Jim Gibbons at a news conference during his 2006 run for governor, after a Las Vegas cocktail waitress accused him of assaulting her.
It may be of some note — and a peek at how the new scandal-response playbook is being written — that in the two most recent instances — Ensign and Sanford — the wives weren’t at the podiums.
Experts speculate that a generational shift may be at work. Younger voters may be more likely to be offended by the spectacle of a grimacing wife “supporting” her husband, and politicians seem to be taking note.
Thompson said that despite what some see as a gaffe in having Silda Wall Spitzer at his side during his announcement, the former governor has otherwise been a model of post-bad boy behavior.
He admitted to his multiple indiscretions with prostitutes soon after news of them broke. He quickly vanished from the limelight, giving voters a break from him and giving late-night comedians less of a target.
Now, Spitzer has reemerged as a media analyst on the economy.
“He’s not ready for elective office yet,” Thompson said. “But I don’t believe his career has been ruined.”
Name: Mark Sanford
Position: South Carolina governor
When disclosed: June 24, 2009
Who with: Maria Belen Shapur of Argentina
Length of affair: A year
How disclosed: News conference at State House Rotunda hours after a reporter surprised him at the Atlanta airport on his way back from seeing his lover
Wife at podium: No
Conduct/emotions during the disclosure: Rambling and tearful, answered few questions
Immediate fallout: Resigned as head of the Republican Governors Association. Wife issued a statement that she had asked her husband to move out of their home. Overshadowed Sen. John Ensign's affair.
Name: John Ensign
Position: U.S. senator from Nevada
When disclosed: June 16, 2009
Who with: Cynthia Hampton, former staff member and wife of a former top aide to the senator
Length of affair: Nine months (December 2007 - August 2008)
How disclosed: News conference in Las Vegas at the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse
Wife at podium: No
Conduct/emotions at the disclosure: Showed little emotion; read a brief prepared statement expressing regret and took no questions
Immediate fallout: Resigned from Republican Policy Committee
Name: Eliot Spitzer
Position: New York governor
When disclosed: March 10, 2008
Who with: Six to eight prostitutes
Length of infidelity: Unknown
How disclosed: News conference
Wife at podium: Yes
Conduct/emotions at the disclosure: Stoic, took no questions
Immediate fallout: Announced resignation from governor's office on March 12, 2008, amid threats of impeachment
Name: John Edwards
Position: Former U.S. senator from North Carolina and presidential candidate
When disclosed: Aug. 8, 2008
Who with: Former campaign worker Rielle Hunter
Length of affair: Less than a year in 2006
How disclosed: Issued a written statement two days after the National Enquirer published photos purported to be of Edwards, Hunter and her child
Wife at podium: No
Conduct/emotions at the disclosure: The day he issued the statement, appeared in a televised interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff on "Nightline"
Fallout: Acknowledged in May that federal investigators were reviewing his campaign finances; his political action committee is reported to have paid Hunter more than $100,000 for video production
Name: Larry Craig
Position: U.S. senator from Idaho
When disclosed: June 2007
Who with: Solicited sex from a male undercover agent in an airport bathroom stall
Length of affair: N/A
How disclosed: Outdoor news conference in Idaho
Wife at podium: Yes
Conduct/emotions at the disclosure: Made no specific mention of the incident that triggered the scandal; spoke for less than six minutes and took no questions; said, "Let me be clear. I am not gay. I never have been gay"
Fallout: Finished his term in January but didn't seek reelection
Sun reporter J. Patrick Coolican contributed to this story.
Discussion: 29 comments so far…
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at least mcgreevy and spitzer resigned. ensign and sanford our moral majority dupes just go on and on.
kind of ironic to label these guys "truth-tellers" isn't it?
Excellent coverage on 'The Senator's Scandal' and Sanford's misdeeds.
Congress may be robbing the country blind with a:
-Massive do nothing stimulus bill
-Climate change bill filled with exemptions that turn the bill into nothing but a tax on the middle class
-Health care reform bill that will likely bankrupt the United States
but at least The Sun is digging deeper and answering the tough questions like when exactly was Doug Hampton's letter sent to Fox News.
Pathetic.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz..........that is some front page earth-shattering news.
All adulterers feel sorry after they get caught ...
why don't you ever see a politician resign first and feel sorry before they are outed ...?
Hey Rock
are you saying that if a Senator from this state paid his mistress and his mistress's husband and her son from state funds, this activity wouldn't be shattering news ... how many republican, promise-givers political leaders do you think are doing the same thing? Oh, wait you better not answer that...
Sgt. why is it that our party (republican) goes wild with trashy posting and finger pointing at democrats when they stray ... but become very silent when it is one of our own....?
I liked Ensign, but he cheated, lied and used money to keep his secret ... and if it was state taxpayers money he should resign ... just like a good democrat should ...
I am sorry for what he is going through, I am sorry for what his family is going through, but he should not be paid anymore tax dollars IF he used tax dollars to help fund his affair.
All politicians should read and follow the 11 Commandment "Thou shalt not dip into the treasury to pay for double dipping outside the home"
Governor Sanford is a truly sensitive man. He's taking the loss of Farrah Fawcett quite hard.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009...
All politicians are liars and thieves, why should it be a suprise they also screw around?
Rnsign is immoral trash and should leave Nevada.
Good Coverage Sun.
"are you saying that if a Senator from this state paid his mistress and his mistress's husband and her son from state funds, this activity wouldn't be shattering news"
1) It is not earth-shattering news if ones repeats it everyday
2) There is only one sentence in the news story about that. Is it really that earth shattering?
3) Clinton promoted his cigar girl from intern to White House staffer and then tried to land her a job at Revlon. I bet you got all hot and bother about Clinton when he did that. Right, hypocrite?
Mark Sanford has got to be one desperate dude to fly all the way to Argentina to tickle some broad.
Best quote from the article:
"Wark summed up Ensign's situation: 'It sucks to be John Ensign.'"
And by extension, John Ensign apologists.
Keep reminding the voters that Ensign is not only a self-admitted adulterer and failed Promise Keeper, but also a man who does not keep his word. Remember, he demanded both Clinton and Craig resign after their dalliances.
SgtRock, I was quite hot and bothered over it. But I don't recall Bill Clinton telling people how to live their lives and how moral HE was, as opposed to Senator Promisekeeper E. Suit (the E stands for Empty) or Governor Mark "I Don't Need Stimulus Money To Keep Schools Open (Because I Get My Stimulus in Argentina)" Sanford. So, my standard is just a little different: stupidity and dishonesty, which are bad, vs. utter hypocrisy, which is far worse.
Everyone makes mistakes. Politicans more than most, But in large, the mistakes are forgiveable. It is the hypocrisy that is not. Most Nevada insiders know that Ensign gained the senate seat by threating to expose Richard Bryan for a mistake he had made. Senator Bryan chose to retire rather than be drug through the mud by the Ensign people. Ensign deserves to be run out of town by Nevada voters.
As usual, the republicans want to forget and ignore David Vitter. He's the exception to their rule...
" But I don't recall Bill Clinton telling people how to live their lives and how moral HE was"
Perhaps, you need a refresher on history.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/11/...
During the 1996 campaign, Clinton ran radio ads on Christain radio boasting of his signing and support for DOMA. In the ads ends with this message saying, "President Clinton has fought for our values and America is better for it."
Also, when he signed DOMA he said, "I have long opposed governmental recognition of same-gender marriages."
So, now are you going to call Clinton a hypocrite?
SgtRock, to be fair, you are right about Clinton on the definition of marriage. I am capable of saying that because it is the truth, which is an alien concept to most on the right. That said, sad to say, his views in that regard have been in the political mainstream and have not extended to the kind of complete control and hypocrisy exhibited by Sanford and Sin. And I would feel much better if you would be that honest with yourself and about the people you are implicitly defending by bringing up Bill Clinton.
There should be a major investigation of the C Street Cult house. If Ensign lives there with a reduced rent, that is a contribution. What strange activities take place there?
"views in that regard have been in the political mainstream "
Most Americans are not in favor of legalizing gay marriage. That is certainly a mainstream view.
Bill Clinton is a hypocrite. He was preaching about marriage between a man and women and boasting about how he supported America's values by signing DOMA. By some reports, Clinton even tried to get Kerry to be against gay marriage in his run for the president. Kerry should have taken that advice. He might have won.
Many Democrats have made similar remarks about marriage as Ensign and Stanford, like Reid and Obama. Not sure how statements by Ensign and Standord about marriage are out of the mainstream when exact same statements by Democrats are in the mainstream. Hmmmm...I guess you are applying the "Me Democrat" kool-aid thinking.
Clinton committed perjury in a court of law, had a an affair with an intern that later got promoted to White House stafferm, told millions of Americans a big fat lie with emotion while wagging his finger at the camera and had a MO of destroying the reputation of women that accused of sexual affairs. Even with all that, I did not call for his resignation or impeachment.
Now, people who defended all that are hooting for Ensign's resignation. Talk about hypocrites.
Most politicians state they have morals and integrity. A few actually do. But as I have said in previous responses, if they compromise their morals and integrity in their personal lives they WILL definitely compromise them in their political career. Is it just the good ole' boy network? While we need to have a House and a Senate and people to run our local governments they NEED to be role models and follow the laws of God (especially if they declare their religious beliefs publicly). Why is it so difficult to do what is right? No one is perfect, we all have faults and I am so tired of politicians, local and national, telling us they lead a life dedicated to the service of others, when in reality it a power play. While they may start out believing they are helping, they just learn how to play the game of politics and get rich before they are exposed as a fraud. I don't have an answer, I wish I did. If they can't be true to themselves, how can they be to their constituants.
It is astounding that the segment of society that castigated Bill Clinton is now defending the likes of John Ensign and Mark Sanford because Bill Clinton supposedly got a pass. Give me $80,000,000,000 and a bunch of investigators like Ken Starr had, and I could turn John Ensign into chop liver, too.
Neither using Bill Clinton as an excuse nor being a self-righteous right-wing republican makes what John Ensign did remotely excusable.
As was stated above and elsewhere, there are more important issues to resolve in America right now. Please, John Ensign and Mark Sanford (and the next republican who becomes a self-admitted adulterer) resign in disgrace so that the country can move forward. The best part would be no more lame comments from republican apologists.
"Please, John Ensign and Mark Sanford (and the next republican who becomes a self-admitted adulterer) resign in disgrace so that the country can move forward. "
To bad you did not push that advice on your buddy Clinton.
While he was distracted with his problems and his dates with cigar girl, terrorists were sneaking into the country and taking flight lessons.
Also, he was fearful of the political risk of ordering an attempt to kill Bin Laden.
And he ordered attacks both on Iraq and Bosnia to help distract the country from his problems.
Your hero....Clinton whom you kool-aid drinkers call a great President...the man who was playing with cigars with his intern in the oval office instead of doing his job.
Everybody. Let's ignore SgtRock. He's just another brainwashed ex-vet who pees his pants every time he sees a flag. Right wing wacko-we have more of them than bedbugs down on Fremont Street. "Yes sir, I'll go to Iraq to get those WMD's". How'd that work out, Sarge?
And what about our very own governor text-a-lot? Doesn't anyone remember the pictures of him with the drunk mentally unstable woman at the Reno rodeo last year?
Neither using Bill Clinton as an excuse nor being a self-righteous right-wing republican makes what John Ensign did remotely excusable.
Once one comes into office they're instant brain dead. They now speak a language that is not from this planet, we have yet to discover what planet they derive from, we will, we are still searching the universe.
What you're failing to realize is they are professional liars, cheaters, and con-artists. The instant they decided to run for office under this system then you should have realized that they're hiding something and they're going to screw up and rob us blind.
People don't run for office or take the oath because they care about America or us; they do it for instant wealth and freebies. They come into a world where they suck off the system and we pay them to produce absolutely nothing.
Try and spend time with a politician being a normal folk, try to gain access to one and spent an afternoon one on one eating lunch or just have a cup of coffee, you can't. On the other hand open up your check book and give to them, offer a side where they benefit, have a few million in the account, bingo they're your buddy.
So to all of you who listen to these idiots say I'm sorry, they're not sorry, they're wanting to save the piggy bank. They just got caught that's all, but not for that, they'd be still doing what they do best, lie, cheat and steal.
"Neither using Bill Clinton as an excuse nor being a self-righteous right-wing republican makes what John Ensign did remotely excusable."
Nor does name-calling, which is the last resort of the bankrupt ideology of the Right. As we see here over and over again, that's all they have left.
The main tactic of the Right seems now to be blame everyone but your own.
This is just more crap from a system that is totally out of order and out of morals, whether it comes from dealing coke from the White House (Regan), getting hummers from staffers (Clinton), or imprisoning Americans without charges (Bush). And even in to the ranks of Congress, it is all filled with self serving, amoral, and hateful people.
When someone actually SEEKS office, that should be the first clue of someone who does not have America's best interests at heart.
Colbert, I think, had a great idea.. throw a dart at a map. Drop a monkey in the town where the dart hit, and the first person the monkey runs up to is President.
Could it really be any worse???
Cactus Jack, it appears you voted for Obama. If you did, I have to ask. How is the change working for you?