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Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 9:03 AM
Politicians can't respeak their mistakes By Bob Steinburg | A Conservative Viewpoint During Yogi Berra's 19 years as a catcher for the New York Yankees, the team dominated Major League Baseball. While remembered as a great athlete, Yogi was equally renowned for his "Yogi-isms," such as: * "You should always go to other peoples funerals; otherwise they won't come to yours." * "It ain't over till it's over." * "Slump? It ain't no slump ... I just ain't hitting." * "I made a wrong mistake." Politicians can probably identify with many Yogi-isms, especially when he once said, "I didn't really say everything I said." All too often candidates find something they've said comes back to haunt them. The consequences can be politically devastating. In 1988, while running for president, George H.W. Bush said, "Read my lips. No new taxes." That message resonated with voters who propelled him into the White House. He had to eat those words four years later when Bill Clinton reminded Americans that Bush had raised their taxes, lifting Clinton to victory in 1992. In 2006, U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, while campaigning for re-election, referred to a cameraman of Indian descent as "macaca." The cameraman had been following the Virginia senator on his "listening tour" around the state and was a volunteer for Allen's opponent, Democrat Jim Webb. Allen had a commanding lead over Webb in the race and was a strong candidate for the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination. Recently, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton found herself having to defend a statement about a trip to Bosnia in 1996 with her daughter, Chelsea. The former first lady said they were greeted by sniper fire and had to run for cover. CBS News footage depicts a scene vastly different than the one Hillary herself had described as "harrowing." Walking coolly across the tarmac, she and her daughter were calmly greeted by dignitaries and military personnel. Clinton and Barack Obama have been campaigning furiously for their Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Clinton's campaign was given up as politically dead before her stunning primary victories in Texas and Ohio. Those two wins catapulted her to a huge lead in the polls for the Pennsylvania primary. Obama, trailing badly, seized on Clinton's Bosnia comments, questioning her truthfulness. Clinton's big lead in Pennsylvania began to evaporate. That changed on April 6 when Obama made a comment at a fund-raiser held in a private home in San Francisco. He said that people in small towns "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." The comments did not hit the mainstream media until one week later. National pollster Scott Rasmussen said on April 14 that 56 percent of voters nationwide disagree with Obama's comments. According to one poll, Obama had dropped from a virtual tie with Clinton in Pennsylvania and was now trailing her by 20 points. One must conclude Obama's unfortunate remarks in San Francisco are the reason. It doesn't stop there for either Democratic candidate. At their debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday evening Obama and Clinton were asked by ABC moderator Charlie Gibson why as president they would each propose an increase to the capital gains tax when history has shown that government revenues increase when the capital gains tax goes down and decreases when the rate goes up? Obama mumbled something about fairness and how hedge-fund brokers were making too much money. Clinton, too, cited a lack of fairness and the need for more equality spread among everyone. Really? Lower taxes mean more revenue for the government but in the interest of "fairness" we should increase taxes and decrease revenue. This sounds more like socialism than capitalism. It is difficult to predict what the future holds for both of these candidates. Given the intense media coverage and scrutiny that all presidential contenders must endure, along with their grueling campaign schedules, we can be assured there will be more episodes of either foot-in-mouth disease or complete honest-to-goodness naiveté and/or ignorance pertaining to their plans for solving America's most pressing problems. BOB STEINBURG IS A RETIREE NOW LIVING IN EDENTON.
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