Rand Paul is a notorious flip-flopper. Dropping in polls, and facing an electorate rattled by growing international threats ranging from ISIS brutality to Putin’s aggressiveness, the isolationist politician is scrambling to retool his message into something more hawkish. But that could make his candidacy a tough sell, because by trying to be flexible and adapt to the times, he runs the risk of appearing opportunistic, which might erode his aura of being a principled leader that constitutes his main appeal to core supporters.
Thus, he didn’t help himself by barking at NBC “Today Show” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie when she threw him a big league pitch in the form of a question about his foreign policy flip-flopping. After all, big-league players are expected to handle major-league pitching. But Rand whiffed and whined.
(It should be noted at this point that Guthrie isn’t just a pretty tee-vee face; she’s a journalist and lawyer who knows how to ask tough questions of interview subjects.)
“The interview on Wednesday took a contentious turn when Guthrie began to detail what she said were shifts over the years in the Kentucky senator’s foreign policy views. ‘You have had views on foreign policy in the past that are somewhat unorthodox, but you seem to have changed over the years,’ Guthrie said. ‘You once said Iran was not a threat, now you say it is. You once proposed ending foreign aid to Israel, now you support it, at least for the time being. And you once offered to drastically cut –‘ Paul … tried to interject.”
Uh-oh. Big mistake. You always let the reporter finish asking her question. Then, if you want to take the question away from her, you do it by reframing the question or changing the subject, but never by interrupting or overtalking the reporter.
“‘Why don’t you let me explain instead of talking over me, OK?’ Paul said. He then advised Guthrie on how to conduct the interview.”
Two more big no-noes. One, don’t get personal with the reporter; she’s just doing her job. Two, don’t tell her how to do her job; that’s asking for it, because she knows how better than you do.
“Before we go through a litany of things you say I’ve changed on, why don’t you ask me a question: ‘Have I changed my opinion?’ Paul told Guthrie. ‘That would be sort of a better way to approach an interview.'”
But if you’re going to step in it, you might as well do it with both feet.
“When Guthrie persisted and asked [Paul] if Iran is ‘still not a threat,’ Paul said the NBC host had ‘editorialized.’ ‘Listen, you’ve editorialized,’ Paul said. ‘Let me answer a question. You ask a question, and you say, Have your views changed? instead of editorializing and saying my views have changed.'”
Here, he really steps in it — getting combative and chastising the reporter, instead of answering the damn question. Here’s the video clip:
The senator probably never had a real chance of becoming president. Historically, the Senate is a weak path to the White House; the political parties and electorate tend to prefer big-state governors with executive experience. His positions on many issues are eccentric, which turns off the middle-of-road voters whose votes are essential for winning the White House, and the mainstream media that has power to shape a candidate’s image. Still a libertarian on domestic issues, he’s out of sync with the vast majority of Americans, who aren’t ready to give up the security blanket of government entitlements in our present insecure era, and want government to regulate bankers and big business, whom they deeply distrust in the wake of a Made-By-Wall-Street crisis that left millions of Main Streeters victimized, unemployed, and financially desperate. Rand Paul has an enthusiastic cult following, but it was always going to be a daunting challenge to expand his support beyond this base, and he’s shown no signs of achieving a breakout.
A struggling politician lashing out at a reporter shows frustration and desperation. It’s a trap that seasoned politicians never fall into. (Instead, they become adept at avoiding reporters, brushing off questions, or changing the subject.) When a young inexperienced politician falls into it, it’s taken as a sign of weakness and faulty judgment. It’s never helpful and always a tactical gaffe, a potentially campaign-ending one. Rand Paul no doubt will soldier on for a while longer, perhaps making more missteps. But with his campaign only a couple days old, he’s already off to a rocky start, and looking very unpresidential.
Update: After the “Today” interview, Rand Paul admitted he’s rude to reporters, but tried to wriggle out of a mysogyny rap by claiming he’s just as rude to male reporters as he is to female reporters.