If we’re having a high-minded discussion, then politics is about the art of the possible. However, in the day-to-day grind of a campaign, politics is also about trying to avoid mistakes, and then quickly and effectively correcting them when they happen.
Last week the state Republican Party announced Dinesh D’Souza would be the featured speaker at the party’s “Victory Dinner” next month. D’Souza is a well-known conservative author and documentary filmmaker.
He’s also a convicted felon. D’Souza pleaded guilty earlier this year to making illegal campaign contributions. Some conservatives argue D’Souza is a victim of selective prosecution because of his politics, but he did admit to the crime and he faces up to 16 months in prison.
Within hours of announcing D’Souza’s appearance, the state GOP was back-pedalling, canceling the event and uninviting D’Souza. Democrats seized on the fumble. Party Chairman Larry Puccio called the invitation, “an insult to West Virginians.”
The D’Souza flap was an embarrassment, not only to the state GOP, but also for the state’s leading Republican, 2nd District Congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Shelley Moore Capito. It put her in the awkward position of having to distance herself from her own state party.
“Neither the campaign or Shelley had any knowledge of the decision to invite D’Souza to speak, nor do we agree with the invitation,” said a campaign spokesperson.
Meanwhile, earlier last week Natalie Tennant’s Senate campaign had to spend two days explaining whether or not the candidate supports most of President Obama’s policies or just some of them.
That started when Tennant campaign chairman Maj. Gen. Allen Tackett stepped in to try to run interference between Tennant and a constituent who was pressing the candidate on her support of the President in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Tackett was caught on tape saying Tennant agrees with the President “on most of his policies.” Given the unpopularity of Obama in West Virginia, the Tennant campaign and Tackett felt compelled to later clarify. Tackett said he misspoke while “trying to defuse the situation.”
The Capito campaign seized on the initial comment, as well as the clarification, calling on Tennant to provide a “clear explanation of where she stands on each of the President’s policies.”
Campaigns are run by people and people make mistakes. The D’Souza flap and the Tackett misstep are certainly not fatal errors, especially over the scope of a long campaign and in an atmosphere of short attention spans.
However, mistakes can add up, and they distract from the paramount desire of all campaigns to control the message.