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Cheney & Hume: Too little too late?
Does anybody besides Vice President Dick Cheney — and maybe his right-hand gal-pal Mary Matalin — think he handled this little shooting incident last Saturday appropriately?
Rule No. 1 in public relations of any kind and political PR in particular is this: Get in front of the story. That means get the info out quickly, yourself. And, if you must, then spin it like a top.
As we all know by now, Cheney didn’t utter a peep until he sat down Wednesday afternoon with his hand-picked interviewer, Fox News Channel’s Brit Hume. Although Cheney was unapologetic about how he chose to release the news that he had accidentally shot his hunting buddy, Austin attorney Harry Whittington, the veep was clearly out for damage control.
If Cheney or the White House had released a statement Saturday night saying simply that Whittington had been accidentally shot by the veep, the media hoopla likely would have been over by Monday. Maybe even Sunday.
The 25-minute interview Wednesday was mostly a rehash of the shooting and its aftermath, but this was our first chance to see Cheney, a man whose emotions never escape his government-gray suit, shoulder the blame.
In an article today, Hume told Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz that he believes the vice president “chose Fox because it’s the top-rated cable network, and picked him (Hume) because he hosts the only Washington-oriented hour on Fox’s schedule.”
Pish-posh. Fox News is generally regarded as more conservative than the so-called “liberal media,” and Hume has personal political leanings that are decidedly conservative. He also, from time to time, criticizes the Washington press corps, whom Cheney loathes.
Which is not to say that Hume was soft on Cheney. He asked the right questions: What happened? Was anyone drinking? Why did you handle the situation the way you did? When exactly did you talk with the White House? Do you have any regrets?
Oh, and by the way, Hume jabbed toward the end, did you authorize your indicted former aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby to leak information in the Valerie Plame case? Cheney didn’t expect that one.
We’ll know today or tomorrow if Cheney’s late arrival to public response has calmed the media firestorm. Cable news seems to have moved on to other matters today, but you never know when this kind of PR disaster will resurface.
Austin ‘Idol’ wannabes bomb
How sad is this: About 5,000 young hopefuls auditioned for “American Idol” in Austin last August and only one contender from our group made it to last night’s Final 24. And he’s not really from Austin.
Will Makar, 16, hails from The Woodlands near Houston. A high school sophomore, Makar sang in the Houston Children’s Chorus and prides himself on being able to impersonate Chewbacca from “Star Wars.” Hmmm.
The Hollywood group was whittled to 12 girls and 12 guys last night, and the Austin auditions had the tiniest representation. Closest contenders for most pathetic auditions were Las Vegas and San Francisco, with two finalists each.
Denver led the pack with seven successful auditioners, followed by Boston with five, Greensboro, N.C., with four and Chicago with three.
Next week “Idol” gets down to business.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: News coverage
Comments
By ashley
February 25, 2006 11:38 AM | Link to this
i love will. so. dont ever bash him whatever you do please.
By Roscoe Kendall
February 16, 2006 04:11 PM | Link to this
You are making a mountain out of this molehill. It was practically a non-event until the Washington media went nuts. It could have been released next week and most people would not have cared at all. This had zero effect on the running of our federal government.