Guide to Undisciplined Messaging: Words or phrases better left unsaid in a campaign

[DeepModem Mom]

Politico: A guide to undisciplined messaging
By: Daniel Libit
May 27, 2008

The furor over Hillary Rodham Clinton’s reference to Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination is just the latest flap in a presidential campaign that has at times seemed to careen from gaffe to gaffe. Sometimes it’s a loose-lipped surrogate capturing attention with an insensitive remark, other times it’s the candidate inserting foot in mouth. Either way, the result tends to be damaging — even if the comment itself was innocently intended. Indeed, the problem has become so pronounced in both parties that Republican officials, worried about a general election campaign marked by verbal blunders that leave the party vulnerable to charges of racism or sexism, have coined a term for it — “undisciplined messaging.”...

SWEETIE

Gaffe: While touring a factory in Detroit, Barack Obama was asked a question by a local female television reporter. “Hold on a second, sweetie,” he replied. “We’ll hold a press avail.”

Explanation: If your grandfather uses a term to describe the opposite sex, that should be a warning sign that it’s a bit outdated. And it doesn’t matter if you affectionately refer to your wife, significant other, or daughter that way.

HARD-WORKING AMERICANS, WHITE AMERICANS

Gaffe: In an interview with USA Today, Clinton questioned Obama’s support among "working, hard-working Americans, white Americans."

Explanation: If you can envision white supremacist David Duke using the phrase, it’s safe to assume it’s inappropriate for mainstream political discourse. As one of her strongest supporters, Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, delicately put it, the remark was “the dumbest thing she could have said.”...

TAR BABY....

BOY....

COJONES, etc.

Gaffe: Introducing Clinton to an Indiana crowd before the Democratic primary there, a local labor leader spoke of her “testicular fortitude.” He wasn’t the first to make reference to this anatomical impossibility in regards to Clinton — James Carville told ABC’s "Nightline" that if Clinton gave Obama “one of her cojones, they’d both have two.”

Explanation: If it’s the kind of word you wouldn’t say in polite company, then you certainly shouldn’t be saying it into a microphone or in any circumstance where it might end up on YouTube. The word “toughness” will do just fine here. Best to keep it above the belt.

PANSY

Gaffe: Democratic North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley tells a crowd that Hillary Clinton “makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy.”

Explanation: If it can be construed as gay-bashing, it almost assuredly will be construed as gay-bashing. So, unless you’re talking about the flower, pansy is a no-go on the campaign trail. You can’t use it to mean “effeminate” or “weak.” Not anymore. The word has been explicitly condemned as a derogatory gay slur for decades and implicitly known as one for centuries. Gay blogs immediately latched onto Easley’s seemingly innocent comment, demanding that Clinton renounce it. Also out: fairy, fruit, nancy and, note to Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.): “maricon.”

FATAL ATTRACTION

Gaffe: Rep. Stephen I. Cohen (D-Tenn.) evoked the notorious film Fatal Attraction to describe Clinton’s intention to remain in the presidential race. Speaking to a local Tennessee television station, Cohen opined, “Glenn Close should have stayed in the tub.”

Explanation: It hardly needs to be said that equating Clinton with a bunny-killing cinematic psychopath doesn’t do justice to her or to the historic nature of her campaign. And it’s a good way to piss off your female constituents....

ARTICULATE....

ANY ASSASSINATION REFERENCE....

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=273FA58D-3048-5C12-0031522FE0F94F46