U.S. Attorney Flap Is a Primer on How Not to Manage a Crisis
Gorney has coined a term called the Chappaquiddick Theorem: "If a little bit comes out today, a little bit tomorrow, and they keep changing the story to address new information, they just dig the hole deeper and deeper," says Gorney. "People make up their minds, and pretty soon, you have people's opinions being reported, and it's very hard to get rid of that. You need to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible."
But the White House quickly distanced itself and President Bush from the whole scandal. And even if Bush and Gonzales had spoken out, they had a huge hurdle: the steep erosion of trust and credibility both men have suffered in the wake of their "war on terror," legal strategies, and the war in Iraq.
"We don't like to think that something as schoolyard as likability plays a role in this," says Dezenhall. "But I've got to tell you, it plays a huge role." Dezenhall, who worked in the Reagan administration, says that's what helped the president's communications strategists.
"When Reagan said something incredibly stupid, how did we spin it?" says Dezenhall. "We picked up the phone and said, 'he says things like that,' and people didn't care, because people liked him." And that's why, despite the incident of the Blue Dress, President Bill Clinton is an international icon, the world's most popular elder statesman.
Which leads to the final question: what to do?
Someone, says Dezenhall, has to be banished from the Garden of Eden.
"As shallow as it sounds, there is no more powerful human impulse than the impulse to blame, and to figure out, what is the price to be paid?" he says. "That's what brings the narrative arc to its conclusion."
But who should it be? Gorney thinks it should be the man with the lowest likability rating in this administration: Karl Rove, she concludes, because the apparent involvement of Bush's political adviser in the deliberations has stoked the fire.
"He's very controversial and has already raised the ire of a lot of people in Washington," says Gorney. "It looks like another one of those manipulation things going on."
Once someone is punished, says Dezenhall, there will undoubtedly be redemption. That's why Martha Stewart is back on top, he says, earning the big bucks, because she did her stint in jail.
"We're willing to let you up again, provided you demonstrate pain," says Dezenhall. "The problem with modern America is everyone wants redemption without the pain. But it doesn't work that way."
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