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Friday, July 20, 2012 | 2 a.m.
There are plenty of good campaign books out there, but this year’s Senate race in Nevada may provide a new one: “How to take a silver bullet and shoot yourself in the foot with it.”
The authors: Sen. Dean Heller and his campaign team.
I have written — and many others in the omniscient pundit class agree — that the House Ethics Committee’s decision to take the highly unusual step of forming an investigative subcommittee could be fatal to Rep. Shelley Berkley’s chances against Heller. The issue of whether she used her position to advocate for causes that benefited her nephrologist husband is a serious one and could be a political albatross that costs her the election. I thought she was a slight underdog going in; this development makes the modifier disappear.
But recent developments indicate Heller and his campaign folks, who are not exactly warm and fuzzy with the media, may turn the end into the beginning. To wit:
First, Heller, stopped on Capitol Hill by intrepid reporter Cameron Joseph of The Hill, tried to run away from ... his own campaign. in a truly bizarre and craven act: Telling a reporter you can’t talk about an ad, in which you declare you approve of the content. This ham-handed attempt to stay above the fray, neither sustainable nor believable, exposed Heller as awkward when left to his own devices.
When Joseph asked Heller about the charges being made in the ad (and it features the mandatory bite of the senator saying he sanctioned the ad), he acted as if he had no connection with his own organization.
“The campaign is (making those charges),” Heller told Joseph. “If you have any questions or comments, it’d probably be better if you directed those toward the campaign. Just talk to the campaign; they’re the ones dealing specifically with this issue. Right now, I’m just worried about jobs and the economy.”
Oh, please.
So Heller can air an ad essentially saying Berkley is corrupt but then dodge questions about it? Who does that?
Then, Thursday, less than 24 hours after a survey was published that showed the race neck-and-neck, Heller’s campaign manager, Mac Abrams, released a memo he had written to the local and national media. I’m not sure I have ever seen such a missive in all the years I have covered politics — an oblique criticism of the media for not really understanding Berkley’s ethics problems and then all but begging us to cover it more because it is so important.
“It appears that some journalists are only looking at the cover of this story and have not yet read the book,” Abrams wrote, implying reporters just don’t get it. Then he all but accuses the media of buying Berkley’s spin: “There is much more to this story than the distractions, distortions, attacks and outright lies of the State Democratic Party and Shelley Berkley that, in my view, deserve greater attention.”
I bet he does. Abrams signed the memo, “Fondly,” as if he were writing to a wife or close friend. Now that is funny.
This memo is sure to accomplish one thing, and not what Abrams intended. No one in my profession — and no other I can think of — likes being told he or she does not know how to do his or her job. I understand Team Heller’s frustration that this issue isn’t being talked about more than — let me pull an issue out of the air — Medicare. But it’s July!
I’ll be the first one to say that Berkley’s defense — including a new website — has been thoroughly disingenuous, highlighting her attempt to save a transplant center to divert attention from her sub rosa attempts (without any disclosure of her conflict) to influence regulators and Congress to ensure Medicare reimbursement rates would not be cut. That’s money that directly affects her bottom line — and that’s surely why the ethics panel proceeded — although policy arguments about access to health care surely could be made, too.
What’s interesting here is that Heller’s clumsy cowardice in Washington on this issue indicates that he believes paid media will do the job and he doesn’t want to have to talk to reporters about it. But Abrams’ memo indicates the campaign is worried that the free media aren’t doing enough to help their cause, which is to highlight this issue above all others.
Anyone know a good shrink? These folks need a campaign doctor — and badly.
Heller’s spineless attempt to distance himself from his own campaign and his campaign’s heavy-handed effort to importune the media to cover the story show a level of ineptitude that I didn’t expect. I just hope Abrams told Heller he was sending the memo — otherwise the senator just might disavow it if another reporter catches him off guard.
Anyone surprised ?
mmm...I'd say she is doing quite well sinking her ship on her own so why look like you're picking on a cripple here? The argument on her being so noble and selfless is so blatantly disingenuous and arrogant that few of the nonpartisans will buy into it.
He's a veteran campaigner and knows what levers to pull and when. So sit back and watch her self destruct.
As a Republican, I am disappointed in what appears to be a weak campaign by Team Heller. I'm not saying go with attack ads 24/7, but he needs to keep reminding voters of the investigation and not try to back away from his own ads.
And the memo sent out is, for lack of a better description, bipolar. It was clearly intended as a soft attack piece, yet comes across as a lecture by a high school civics teacher. And seems to ineffective in either role!
Heller needs to show some stronger leadership and get control of HIS campaign, or hope & pray Berkely keeps tripping up on her own record.
This campaign is going to focus on jobs and the economy. I could care less about some ethics charge. Berkley will only win if Obama wins the election and that is doubtful.
Poor Dean...
He's just not cut out for this kind of work, ala 'Crazy' Angle.
'Appointed', NOT elected...
Let's keep it that way.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/feb...
He's a fish out of water. Heller makes Mittens Romney seem like a touchy feely campaigner in comparison.
In the anti-government, anti-politician climate that has been stirred up by the so-called Tea Party movement the electorate forgot what it means to be a politician and, much more importantly, a statesman.
The right wing has become so obsessed with supposed over-reaching government that their ranks have been infiltrated by amateurs who weren't and aren't prepared to take on the role of a public figure. You cannot be a representative of the people and be afraid of the people. You can't run away from the press or organize speeches and events where the crowd has been vetted and handpicked by your advisers. If you cannot or will not engage with anyone but a "friendly" audience then you are not cut out to represent your people.
History will look back on early part of the 21st century as the era of "I Misspoke". Politicians and wannabe candidates either say stupid things because they do not think first or because they are purposely trying to get incendiary ideas into the public that they can retract after the fact as a victim of media distortion. The original idea is already out there and goes right to the heart of the misinformed who gobble that sort of thing up.
Our statesmen were once that - statesmen. They were scholars and world travelers, great orators and wits who could deal with a heckler or a critic with a few well chosen scathing words. Now we have weak cowards who will only talk to people who have been selected for them as friendly. They run away from reporters. They make absurd statements and then become petty and abusive or simply refuse to acknowledge the question if they are asked to elaborate.
Being a politician is tough work. It's not about just being an okie dokie from down the lane who you like because he's "a straight shooter" (translation - speaks like a moron and says things that they probably shouldn't). Abraham Lincoln was born in the humblest of families but he educated himself, became a man of the world, and was experienced in the ways of politics and law before he became President.
Keep voting for morons and grinning liars because they look like you and sound like you. No American would go to a neurosurgeon to have a brain tumor removed who didn't know the difference between nuclear and nucular but they'd make that person president or a senator because for some idiotic reason they think sounding and acting like a downhome hillbilly is preferable to having someone who is reasonable, rational, and a true statesman.
But then again if you're voting for these types it may very well be because they truly do represent you. But don't be unhappy with the outcome if you choose poorly.
"They make absurd statements and then become petty and abusive or simply refuse to acknowledge the question if they are asked to elaborate."
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And this style really pays off, you betcha..