More to Hate About Modern Politics: The Power of the Trackers

Breaking News

August 2, 2013

Good morning Jolt Reader:

Despite the Obama administration's wish that the IRS scandal would just go away, using as its latest excuse the classification of "phony," it's not going anywhere. This week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to the IRS Inspector General, Russell George, asking that he also investigate whether or not the IRS targeted current tax-exempt conservative groups, not just those applying for tax-exempt status. John Fund has the story.

And since this scandal isn't going away anytime soon, Katrina Trinko looks into possible harassment of pro-life organizations during the IRS's reign of terror. These groups were subjected to months of inaction, and were then asked if they would consider offering options other than life as part of their mission. Note: Planned Parenthood is a 501(c)(3) (and always has been).

Many have praised Tony Bennett, Florida's education commissioner, who stepped down this week, crediting him with turning around Florida's school system. But do Common Core and its devout followers really provide children with the education they deserve? Michelle Malkin has the ABCs.

Why the fascination with Hillary Clinton? Could it merely be the word "fascinating," Jonah Goldberg wonders? T he new NBC mini-series on Hillary is sure to be long on titles she has held, but will come up short on content. A r eminder to voters, just before the 2016 election, that accomplishments do matter.

Do you love elephants as much as we do? They are majestic creatures, held in awe the world over. New research shows that elephants communicate, use tools, mourn their dead, and even paint. Rich Lowry makes the case for why these gentle giants need to be protected now and forever.

And now we turn it over to Jim, who continues his run down of the book, This Town, and gives us the second reason why modern politics is worth hating (don't worry; love is coming next week).

Something Worth Hating About Modern Politics, Part Two: Trackers -- i.e, staff of the opposing campaign following a candidate around with a video camera from event to event hoping to catch him in an embarrassing moment.

Yes, you can scoff at my hypocrisy, as I linked to the video of Bob Etheridge putting that kid in a headlock about a million times in the 2010 cycle.

It's a short step from seeking a candidate's embarrassing moment to attempting to provoke one of those embarrassing moments, and I'm rather amazed we don't see more altercations between trackers and over-vigilant campaign staffers and volunteers.

We can expect more of it:

If you want a picture of the future of politics, imagine an American Bridge tracker filming a likely Republican presidential candidate -- forever.

That's only a slight exaggeration of what the group has planned for the 2014 and 2016 election cycles. The organization that left a mark on Republican candidates throughout the 2012 election, busting GOP nominees in off-message moments and pushing research on their policy records, is in the midst of a major expansion ahead of the midterm campaign.

The notion of the tracker is that any statement a candidate says within earshot of a camera or microphone is fair game. But everybody has moments where they appear ill-tempered, tongue-tied, unfriendly, or makes statements that just don't test well in the focus groups. If we want to disqualify someone from public office because they lose their cool with a heckler or have some other unflattering moment, we might as well disqualify everybody.

The political press loves to wail about how scripted, rehearsed, antiseptic, and bland candidate statements are. And then, once they get a candidate who speaks off-the-cuff and blurts out all kinds of ideas, good and in-between -- say, Newt Gingrich -- they absolutely crucify him and tear him apart for providing them with what they have been loudly wishing for all along.

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