June 2015: The Worst Video Media Disaster
Joe Biden’s oldest son, Beau, died of brain cancer on May 30. It was the latest blow in a life of tragedies for the vice president, whose first wife and one-year-old daughter were killed in a car accident in 1972.
In response to the news, politicians on the opposite side of the aisle suspended partisan attacks on Biden and expressed their sorrow. It was heartening to watch as political rivals put their humanity above their politics.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)—a presidential candidate and longtime critic of Mr. Biden’s—struck the perfect tone with a beautifully crafted statement, which he released on his website three days after Beau’s death.
If Mr. Cruz meant those words, his sentiment was short lived. At a GOP dinner the following day, Cruz decided to take a swipe at Biden and use him as a cheap punch line.
“You know the nice thing? You don’t need a punch line. I promise you, it works. The next party you’re at, just walk up to someone and say, ‘Vice President Joe Biden,’ and just close your mouth. They will crack up laughing.”
While Cruz was gleefully mocking his political opponent, Mr. Biden was preparing to bury his son. Contrast Mr. Cruz’s words with this agonizing photo of a grieving father, taken at Beau’s viewing a few days later.
Political attacks are nothing new. Candidates of both parties engage in them. And Cruz’s attack is consistent with the fact that some politicians are particularly juicy targets. Former vice presidents (or VP candidates) Al Gore, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, and Dick Cheney all come to mind as occasional political punch lines; a simple mention of their names, uttered at the right time to the right audience, is almost certain to draw groans or laughs.
But regardless of which party you support or what ideological beliefs you hold, some things should be sacred in American public life. One of them is that politicians should place a moratorium on personal attacks during a time of profound personal grief.
That I have to write such a thing seems absurd—it’s a truth so obvious it shouldn’t have to be stated—and yet, some public figures clearly need to be reminded of it. And that Ted Cruz—a father of two young daughters—needs to be reminded of this makes him this month’s worst video media disaster.
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I attribute the dissonance in the tones of these messages to different writers. It seems once a person attains a certain status — politcal, business, or otherwise — they don’t write a word they say. Others do. Teams do, in some instances. And those people may not always communicate with each other (e.g., the website and social media people w/the campaign people).
Besides, that he sounds like an insensitive jerk. No one MADE him say those words, after all. He obviously lacks discretion and feeling.
As a communicator, I do find this frustrating. CEOs who don’t write their blog articles. Board members who don’t write their bylined articles. Doctors who don’t write their expert opinions and Twitter comments. I’ve seen it all and more. In the worst cases, someone bungles the message but most of the time these “thought-leaders” take the credit for something a much more informed (and usually overworked and underpaid) communications professional researched and crafted.
Back in the day, when I worked in publishing, I was disillusioned to learn that best selling authors did not always write their own books! Sometimes they were penned by teams of writers. Sometimes editors finished them, or almost rewrote them. Again, they will never get an ounce of credit for it.
Just seems wrong to me. But then, just about everything about politics seems wrong to me!
Hi Mary —
You raise a very good point. It’s entirely possible — probable, even — that the statement was written and edited by someone else. Still, I’d assume that Sen. Cruz had to sign off on it.
I read a story today that said Senator Cruz checks his Twitter @ mentions every morning. Even in the unlikely circumstance that his team released that statement without his knowledge, there’s no way he didn’t know about Mr. Biden’s son if he’s that attuned to Twitter.
Thanks for raising a good point and for your comment!
Best,
Brad
Tacky? Yes. Rude: Yes.
Worst media disaster of the month? Must have been a quiet month.