The Star's Matt Tully puts the Indiana GOP new communications director to the test over at his blog this morning. As Tully describes him, "Robert Vane is the Indiana Republican Party's new communications director. Vane, a witty 38-year-old who spent more than three years working in the Marion County elections division, started his new job Monday."
First, Tully asks him what's so bad about the Democrats. Vane did okay with this answer: "You know, my mom's a Democrat so I have to be careful. I don't think there's anything wrong with them personally. But they have showed no leadership. They have no ideas and the principle aim of the party seems to be to bash the governor and his ideas, and to obstruct the governor's agenda."
But Vane strikes out big with Tully's question about "What's good about Republicans?". Vane responded: "We're a tolerant, innovate, bold party. We care about our fellow Hoosiers. We want to raise them up and create more economic opportunity for everyone." Indiana's GLBT community might have some problem with his description of the Indiana GOP as "tolerant" and "car[ing] about our fellow Hoosiers." The push for SJR-7 to write discrimination into the state constitution against gays and lesbian, the opposition of the party (with few exceptions) to Indianapolis' HRO, a far-reaching regulatory bill aimed at stripping gays and lesbians from assisted reproduction alternatives, and the push to ban gay parent adoptions speaks of quite a different party than Vane describes.
The first rule in flacking is to communicate your message in such a way that it has some semblance of believability. My first response to Robert's response to this question was to burst out laughing. You've got to be kidding. There are many positive things he could say about the Republican Party, but right now "tolerant" should not be a part of Robert's vocabulary for communicating the Republican's message until the party decides to take a decidedly different direction than it is currently taking on the question of gay civil rights.
Tully's take on Vane's performance is quite different than AI's. Tully say, "We'll give Vane a good review for his first interview as the party's spokesman. And in case anyone is worried about fairness, don't. I'll give the Democratic Party's spokeswoman a chance to respond in the coming days." And respond she will. Robert, you're no Jen Wagner.
2 comments:
Great. Two immigration attorneys think this is good legislation. Farmers love ethanol requirements also. I will give you credit, you at least acknowledge where your bread is buttered. Gentleman this is nothing but a political punt just like social security. Everybody knows there is a huge problem but nobody wants to do the right thing. As good and as ethical these people may be, they are still illegal. What do you not understand about that?
You may not realize it but you have just endorsed legislation that runs counter to your own proclamation:
….and no special privileges or immunities shall be granted to any class of citizens which are not granted on the same terms to all citizens.
What do you say to the immigrants that came here legally? What do you say to the people that have waited for years to come here legally? There is so much more to this issue than just your hypocrisy but I’ll wait for your reply
Gary,
You're too kind. We'll see what Tully throws my way in terms of questions.
And we'll see if the online version of the Star bears a "What's wrong with Republicans?" teaser for, like, three straight days to promote the response.
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