 Arthur Solomon |
As Donald Trump would say, “Wrong.”
It’s been a while since my first job in PR, where I worked for a political firm on local, state and national campaigns up to the presidential level prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, where my assignments included traveling the world with high-ranking foreign government officials as a media advisor.
However, upon hearing the declarations of so-called TV political “experts” echoing the same trite opinions for public consumption that the VP debate was “a one-day story” and that such debates “don’t matter,” I immediately told my wife, with a nod to Ronald Reagan, “There they go again.”
Here’s why I knew this debate, despite pundits’ declarations, would not fade from relevance in 24 hours:
• Next-day fact checking would show Governor Pence was less than truthful when he continually denied that Trump made statements brought up by Senator Kaine.
• Advertisements would be made showing Governor Pence denied Trump’s actual pejorative statements.
• References, for a while at least, would continue comparing Trump to Pence.
• The subject of debate preparation would keep the event alive until all of the 2016 debates were concluded.
The opinions expressed in my first three points above have already happened, and my fourth point is sure to happen. But the really sad takeaway from the VP debate was how a great majority of TV know-it-alls praised Pence’s performance as “presidential,” despite his continual Pinocchio-like responses to questions and his lack of providing any detailed plans.
Obviously, to these self-anointed TV political experts, style is more important than truthfulness. That’s a reason not to take seriously what these political actors say: most are more interested in developing a storyline than providing incisive information to viewers. Their public opinions are no more valid than any well-informed person who keeps up with current events.
The way the TV pundits jumped on the Pence train reminded me how most also sang the praises of Kellyanne Conway when she was named Trump campaign manager, even though Conway defended “legitimate rape” candidate Rep. Todd Akin, who was a Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri.
I also disagree with the consensus from TV pundits and political strategists — and columnists — that Pence didn’t defend Trump. Every time Kaine pressed Pence with comments made by the candidate, the Governor nodded his head in disagreement. What did the TV political actors expect Pence to do? Challenge Kaine to a duel?
After listening to TV-anointed experts for more than a year, the October surprise I’m looking for is to hear one of them say something that’s not a generalization or an exactly copy of statements made by the others. Their belief that Pence stopped Trump's negative statements from being rehashed lasted all of about two hours, and despite the pundits’ assurances, negative Trump comments were rehashed before, during and after the second presidential debate. The only thing that put temporary breaks on the coverage of his statements and tweets after the VP debate was the wall-to-wall cable coverage of Hurricane Matthew.
While there are differing opinions regarding Pence’s performance and the importance of a vice presidential debate, there was one clear winner: Donald J. Trump. Who said so? Well, he did when he said, “Mike Pence did an incredible job, and I’m getting a lot of credit because that’s really my first so-called choice.”
Anyone with a working journalist background will recognize that what TV political coverage strives to do is to develop a newsworthy storyline that will survive for at least 24 hours. That’s why people who really want to know the political truth should read the news columns of major, respected print publications which trade in facts, not the generalizations expressed by TV pundits.
It's interesting how so many jumped on the Pence bandwagon with the same storyline that the debate was Pence’s debut for his 2020 presidential run, but that's also why the Kaine/Pence debate will be much more than a one-day story, as the great majority of pundits and political strategists said: if Pence becomes the next GOP presidential candidate, as many said immediately after his less than honest performance, you can bet Democratic strategists will craft ads showing Pence denying the comments made by Trump.
That’s why I especially believe the vice presidential debate of 2016 will be much longer than a one-day story.
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Arthur Solomon was a senior VP at Burson-Marsteller. He now is a contributor to public relations and sports business publications, consults on PR projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].
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