Another GOP candidate for Senate has found himself in a controversy — but unlike Virginia’s Senator George Allen, this one is short-circuiting potential problems by getting his baggage out of the political baggage claim section early so he can leave it behind as he moves on in his journey:
[Washington state] Republican U.S. Senate challenger Mike McGavick, in a remarkable confession of what he called his personal and political shortcomings, on Thursday revealed a drunken driving incident and discussed his divorce, a political dirty trick and payroll slashing at his old insurance company.
The divorce, his regret over an earlier campaign tactic, and layoffs at Safeco Insurance Co. had all been noted in previous campaign coverage. Word of the DUI in 1993 was new, as was his overall decision to publicly discuss his shortcomings.
McGavick said he had no indication that opponents were about to divulge the drunken driving incident or any other things he mentioned.
His comments came in an interview with The Associated Press and he later covered the same topics in “an open letter from Mike” on his campaign blog.
McGavick, who retired from Safeco to run against Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, formerly was campaign director for Republican Slade Gorton’s successful Senate run in 1988. He later served as Gorton’s Senate chief of staff and then became a consultant and lobbyist for the insurance industry and finally a top leader of two insurance companies.
No matter what happens to him in the election, he’s an example of a smart politician. He hasn’t hemmed and hawed or offered varying and sometimes contradictory explanations of what really happened. He acknowledged it all early and, the AP reports, added this:
“I do apologize for my mistakes and shortcomings,” he said in his blog letter.
People can vote against him for partisan reasons for various other reasons…but not for trying to do The Political Macarena. This is called cutting your political losses.
Contrast this approach to Virginia Senator George Allen.
Yes, Allen apologized directly to Sidarth…but he waited so long that it almost seemed as if he had been secretly subjected to a session on waterboards before he agreed to do it:
Virginia Sen. George Allen apologized directly to S.R. Sidarth yesterday, telling the 20-year-old Democratic campaign staffer that he was sorry for offending him with remarks that have generated nationwide criticism for being racially insensitive.
Allen’s telephone call to Sidarth was the first direct contact between the two since Allen (R) was caught by Sidarth’s video camera calling him a “macaca” and welcoming the Fairfax native to “America and the real world of Virginia.”
Whether this has anything to do with the timing or not, Allen’s publicized apology only came AFTER polls showed his campaign had suffered a major hit due to publicity after You Tube gave his utterances a bit more publicity that he would have wished:
Sidarth said Allen told him that the apology was “from his heart.”
“His main point was he was sorry he offended me,” Sidarth, a fourth-year University of Virginia student, said in an interview later. “He realized how much he offended me from the comments I made in the media.”
The call followed a series of public mea culpas , including one heard across the country Tuesday on a conservative radio talk show hosted by commentator Sean Hannity.
“I take full responsibility. I’m not offering any excuses because I said it, and no one else said it,” a somber-sounding Allen told Hannity’s audience of more than 12 million listeners. “It’s a mistake. I apologize, and from my heart, I’m very, very sorry for it.”
P.S. to Allen: Sean Hannity is not the epitome of a challenging talk show host for a conservative.
Sean Hannity is to tough questioning for conservatives and Republicans what CNN’s Larry King is to tough questioning for anybody.
Allen also apologized Tuesday at the Greenspring Village retirement community in Springfield, saying “from the deepest part of my heart, I’m sorry and I will do better.”
The term “macaca” refers to a genus of monkey and is considered an ethnic slur in some cultures. After Democratic challenger James Webb’s campaign posted Sidarth’s video on the Internet, the incident became national news and has left Allen on the defensive. The senator had issued a public apology and had said he was sorry at other recent events. Political observers said Allen appears to be trying to put the controversy behind him with more fervent expressions of regret.
Allen and his handlers blew it dealing with this bout of foot-in-mouth disease. The apologies should have come days before — before various versions were offered about what Allen REALLY meant (including one wire service story containing quotes from various unnamed sources saying what Allen REALLY meant was that Sidarth was a s—head).
Allen has defused the bulk of this controversy (in terms of news value, it will now quickly now defuse since he has apologized), but the damage to his candidacy — due partially because some voters clearly concluded that early on his backers were trying to dismiss or deflect his comments and throw out nuanced explanations to see which one stuck — has been done.
Contrast that with McGavick dealing with potentially damaging op-research, acknowledging efforts and moving on.
One approach shows a knowledge of 21st century news cycles.
The other show either shows a need for more study of it. Especially if the candidate hopes to run for President.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.