We seem to have some people in, or running for, office who are -- to put it kindly -- damn stupid about dealing with the press.
At a press briefing packed with more than 100 of her supporters who shouted down reporters asking questions, Troutman said alleged Black Disciples Marvel Thompson and Donnell Jehan came to her 20th Ward offices as "businessmen" who shared her concerns about helping people in the community get ahead.
She said she only found out they were gang members when they were indicted on May 13 for allegedly running a brutal drug empire. [...] The Chicago Sun-Times reported within a week of the indictments that an envelope from the Chicago Police Department addressed to Troutman was found in the hands of the gang during a May 12 raid. Her attorney confirmed that two envelopes from police were found. And on Tuesday, a source said Jehan has been at her South Side home and has, on occasion, driven her SUV.
Troutman spent a good portion of the news conference touting the projects she has supported in the ward and suggesting that because she represents some of the city's poorest and most dangerous areas, it is likely she will meet with criminals and those who don't fit the "status quo.'' [...] Regarding the envelopes, the alderman said she often reuses envelopes that come to her office. When constituents come in to pick up information, her staff will put paperwork inside an old envelope. "Those envelopes were there not out of any inappropriate relationship,'' said her attorney, Sam Adam Jr.
As for whether Jehan has ever driven her SUV, the alderman said, "For years, I have let everybody drive my car.''
And when asked to confirm a television report that her brother said she had a "personal relationship'' with Jehan, Troutman dodged the question. "Are you going to take what I said? Or what Ben said? If you want to talk to Ben, you can go and interview Ben.''
Now, really. Anyone who can think clearly would know and understand that the time to dodge and weave is past. Certainly, the time to dodge and weave like you've been hit hard on the brainpan is past. It would be one thing if she simply flatly refused to discuss her personal life; given the circumstances, that would also be silly, but sustainable. But if you're going to say anything at all in response aside from that, then you have to just answer the damn question. Be terse and succinct, but say, if such is the case, "Yes, we had a relationship. Yes, I allowed him to use my car. Yes, I was deceived as to his true work." Face it: stuff like this happens. People get lied to. No candidate does deep background investigations on all contributors, and most people don't investigate other people whom they get involved with. Voters might wonder a little about your judgement, but These Things Happen. We could deal, truly. Being aggressive and trying to avoid admitting to the truth just makes you look like you've got something to hide, and a politician trying noticeably to hide information from the public is like waving a cape at the bull of the press. Just admit it, and move on.
Meanwhile, the contest for the open US Senate seat in Illinois has gotten really quite interesting:
Obama admits he dislikes his most loyal follower
May 21, 2004
BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND SCOTT FORNEK Staff Reporters
Chicago Sun-Times
SPRINGFIELD -- For the past 10 days, U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama hasn't been able to go to the bathroom or talk to his wife on his cell phone without having a camera-toting political gofer from his Republican rival filming a few feet away. In what has to be a first in Illinois politics, Republican Jack Ryan has assigned one of his campaign workers to record every movement and every word of the state senator while he is in public. That means Justin Warfel, armed with a handheld Panasonic digital camcorder, follows Obama to the bathroom door and waits outside. It means Warfel follows Obama as he moves from meeting to meeting in the Capitol. And it means Warfel tails Obama when he drives to his campaign office.
"It's standard procedure to record public speeches and things like that," Obama told reporters as the bald, 20-something operative filmed away. "But to have someone who's literally following you a foot and a half away, everywhere you go, going into the restrooms, standing outside my office, sitting outside of my office asking my secretary where I am, seems to be getting a little carried away."
Warfel interrupted Obama several times with heckling questions, but wouldn't respond when reporters asked him about who he was and why he was filming Obama's every move. "You'll have to speak to the campaign office," Warfel said tartly to practically every inquiry.
Some senior Republicans were turned off by the tactic. "I don't care if you're in public life or who you are," Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville) said. "You deserve your space, your privacy. I don't think it's appropriate."
But Jason Miller, Ryan's campaign manager, insisted Obama's public movements are fair game and the point is to make sure Obama doesn't contradict himself with his public statements...
Ryan campaign apologizes for ''up-close'' taping
By Andy Shaw
abc7chicago.com
May 21, 2004 — There's an apology in the race for the U.S. Senate from Illinois. Republican Jack Ryan says that a cameraman may have crossed the line. The photographer was hired by the Ryan campaign to video type the democrat. Most big political campaigns these days do employ so-called trackers. They videotape the opponents' speeches at news conferences so they can immediately react to a flip-flop and inconsistency or attack. But the tracker hired by the Jack Ryan campaign has been behaving more like a stalker, who got so up close and personal the Ryan campaign is offering an apology and ordering the tracker to back off.
"I have no reason to doubt his word and I offer an apology on behalf of the campaign," said Bill Pascoe of the Ryan campaign.
The Ryan campaign is ordering staffer Justin Warfel to back off. And videotape opponent Barack Obama from a distance when the candidate is in Springfield. After Obama accused Warfel of virtually `stalking' him in the state capitol for the past week. And even recording personal phone conversations from two or three feet away.
I'm guessing that what made the Ryan campaign back off isn't so much the public complaints as the discovery that Warfel was actually speaking at Obama. People hired to do this sort of work are generally meant to be neither seen nor heard; the fact that he had himself become a story made him a liability.
One does wonder quite why the Ryan campaign chose to be so aggressive in their tactics. They're already running behind. The tactic itself, once it became known, could only further alienate voters. He's already having an odd sort of problem because he won't allow his divorce records to be unsealed, because it contains information relating to his son, he says. To be sure, nobody would particularly like their divorce records to become public discussion fodder. That said, divorce records are public records, generally; going to the extraordinary efforts to keep them locked down may make people a tad concerned about Ryan's approach to public records if he got into office. (Initially, the former Mrs Ryan didn't feel that the records should be sealed; since that time, it would appear that she has changed her mind: Ryan's ex-wife signs on to keep divorce files sealed (Chicago Tribune, May 11, 2004, registration required). (The fact that the state's own public records were kept in Mr Ryan's attorney's office is most peculiar indeed; they would normally stay with the judge hearing the case until the issue had been decided.)
Posted by iain at May 26, 2004 06:32 PM
