U.S. Common Sense

Within the past week, we have four examples of how surrogates can make staying on message difficult while you are running around the country campaigning. Charlie Black and Joe Lieberman of the McCain campaign, and Wesley Clark and Jim Webb of the Obama campaign all made comments which required a little clarification within 24 hours of being covered in the media. They are as follows:

Charlie Black

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an “unfortunate event,” says Black. “But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who’s ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.” As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,” says Black.

Joe Lieberman

“Our enemies will test the new president early,” Lieberman said. “Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton administration. 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration.”

Wesley Clark

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn’t a wartime squadron,” Clark said. “I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

Jim Webb

“I think what we really need to work on over the next four, five months, and it goes back to the speech that Sen. Obama gave [Monday] and this little fight that I’ve been watching and that is, we need to make sure that we take politics out of service,” Webb said. “People don’t serve their country for political issues.”

He continued: “And John McCain’s my long-time friend, if that is one area that I would ask him to calm down on, it`s that, don’t be standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them because they don’t, any more than when the Democrats have political issues during the Vietnam War. Let’s get the politics out of the military, take care of our military people, or have our political arguments in other areas.”

Now, to be honest, you can read some truth into all four of these comments. Black is right that McCain probably will be more willing to carry out counter-strikes against those that attacked us. Lieberman is right that terrorists are likely to attempt a test strike against the new administration, just as they’ve done not only in the US but also in Europe. Clark is right that being a POW isn’t a qualification for the office of President. Webb is right that the election needs to be about issues.

Unfortunately, each point has another side of the coin. For Black, McCain has tried to steer clear of fearmongering in the campaign. The same goes with Lieberman. For Clark, being the Supreme Allied Commander whose questionable command decisions that resulted in Albanian’s being killed isn’t a good qualification for President either. And for Webb, the man who campaigned wearing his sons’ combat boots should criticize someone referencing their military background on the stump.

So at what point do you tell a surrogate to be quiet? All four men or the campaigns tried to explain their comments, in some cases making the issue worse. This is the problem facing any campaign, and the problem is compounded the surrogate is well known. I think both the Obama and McCain camps need to pull in their supporters and remind them to stay on message and stick to the issues. As the old WWII saying goes, “Loose lips sink ships.” You don’t want to give the competition any ammo that they can use against you later on down the road.