The "professional journalist" class is making great hay out of Ken Buck saying that being gay is a choice . . . or something like that. That is not, however, what Ken Buck did wrong.
The correct answer to David Gregory's stupid question would have gone something like this:
Well, David, that's an interesting question. At a time of 9.6% unemployment, 17% underemployment, rapidly approaching fiscal insolvency, a heightened threat level for our allies from al-Qaeda, and the imminent production of nuclear weaponry in Iran, I find it fascinating that you want to talk about my views on homosexuality.
I can tell you, David, that Americans are not talking about this; I know for certain that Coloradans are not talking about my views on homosexuality around their dinner tables. They're talking about whether they're going to have their jobs in another six months, in spite of Sen. Bennett and the Democrats spending $787 billion that hasn't stemmed the tide of unemployment. They're talking about being upside-down on their home mortgages, thanks to the CRA, courtesy of Democrats, and softened lending rules mandated to Freddie and Fanny by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. They're talking about how they're going to get by when the federal government takes an extra $150 out of their paychecks on January 1st and their employers start charging an extra $125 a month for their health care plans, thanks to Sen Bennett and the monstrosity that is Obamacare.
David . . .David . . . please let me finish. I thought this was a debate between me and my opponent, not me and you.
Coloradans don't care that much about my views on homosexuality, but I know why you, and the Beltway media, my opponent and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign want to talk about this and abortion: because you will all do anything to avoid having to talk about the fact that my opponent voted for a $787 billion stimulus that did not accomplish what they said it would, or the buyout of the auto industry which Coloradans opposed, or the fact that health care reform has turned out to be a debacle that got jammed down our throats against our wishes by my opponent, Senator Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and President Obama. But I think Coloradans are smart enough to see through the fog and the misdirection--they know its time to bring Senator Bennett back to Colorado for good. So you can try to provide cover for Senator Bennett--I'm going to keep talking about what matters to Coloradans.
Once he accepted the unspoken premise that his views on homosexuality were at all important in this debate, he was lost. He needed to shut Gregory down and get back on the offensive--not dodge the question: flat out refuse to get bogged down in the trivialities. THAT was his mistake.
And a smarter answer, at any rate, would have been "I don't know, and I don't think anybody really does know" But he shouldn't have let himself get sucked into it to begin with.
Bad Republican. Bad, bad, stupid Republican. | |
