Political gaffe
A political gaffe is an error made by a politician that is reported to the public.[1] When made by a politician who is campaigning for office or party leadership, gaffes can affect standings in polls.[2] While in office the opposition can refer to them in governmental debates over policy.[3] Gaffes can be classified in different types.[4]
Gaffes can be overplayed by the media as side stories to more important issues at the time.[5]
Gaffe is of French origin, originally a 'boat hook' as in 'gaff rig' where the relation is apparent, but the sense association to a blundering remark is obscure.[6]
Kinsley gaffe
A Kinsley gaffe occurs when a political gaffe reveals some truth that a politician did not intend to admit.[7][8] The term comes from journalist Michael Kinsley, who said, "A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say."[9][10]
The term gaffe may be used to describe an inadvertent statement by a politician that the politician believes is true while the politician has not fully analyzed the consequences of publicly stating it. Another definition is a statement made when the politician privately believes it to be true, realizes the dire consequences of saying it, and yet inadvertently utters, in public, the unutterable.[11] Another definition is a politician's statement of what is on his or her mind—this may or may not be inadvertent—thereby leading to a ritualized 'gaffe dance' between candidates. While exhibiting umbrage or shock, and playing on the mistake, the 'offended candidate' must not exhibit anything resembling glee.[12][13] A propensity to concentrate on so-called 'gaffes' in campaigns has been criticized as a journalistic device that can lead to distraction from real issues.[upper-alpha 1] The Kinsley gaffe is said to be a species of the general 'political gaffe.'[4]
Kinsley himself posed the question: "Why should something a politician says by accident automatically be taken as a better sign of his or her real thinking than something he or she says on purpose?"[13]
Steven Pinker says that politicians use vague and indirect language to avoid making concrete statements, and that lazy journalists base political coverage around "gaffe spotting" rather than analysis of political platforms.[14]
The rise of Internet activism has created a new generation of negative campaigning where a political campaign can create attack ads within an hour of a politician making a gaffe.[15][16]
Notable gaffes by country
Australia
- On August 12, 2013, at a Liberal Party function in Melbourne as part of the 2013 Federal Election campaign, Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, criticising Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said "No one, however smart, however well-educated, however experienced, is the suppository of all wisdom." The word he meant was "repository". It did not take long for the clip of Mr Abbott's gaffe to be featured on the websites of some of the world's biggest news organisations.[17]
Azerbaijan
- The Central Election Commission showed Ilham Aliyev to be winning with 72.76% of the vote via the Commission's official smartphone app a day before voting had even started for the 2013 elections.[18]
Canada
- "Air pollution is the smell of money" – Philip Gaglardi.[19][20]
- Pierre Trudeau and the fuddle duddle incident, 1971
- Jacques Parizeau's 'money and the ethnic vote' speech, 1995
- Peter MacKay calling his ex-girlfriend Belinda Stronach a dog after she joined the opposition party.[21]
- "Evil reptilian kitten eater from another planet" – Ontario general election, 2003
Portugal
- "Everyone will give their best for a poorer country" – Prime Minister José Sócrates.
Romania
- Victor Ponta's televised admission, after his party lost the 2008 election, that "their [the opponents'] system of electoral fraud worked better than ours"[22]
The United Kingdom
- Winston Churchill's election broadcast in the campaign for the 1945 general election in which he suggested that the Labour Party would create "some form of a Gestapo" to implement their reforms.[23]
- John Major calling some of his cabinet ministers bastards.[24]
- Gordon Brown referring to a member of the public as a "bigoted woman" during an election campaign.
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has become famous for making remarks that were often construed as being offensive or stereotypical in nature.[25]
The United States
- The Gerald Ford Soviet Domination answer.[26]
- "I see nothing wrong with ethnic purity being maintained" – Jimmy Carter[27]
- The Jimmy Carter "Lust in the Heart" interview [28]
- We begin bombing in five minutes. – A joke by Ronald Reagan in a sound check prior to his weekly radio address that was later leaked.
- "Oh, the vision thing." – George H. W. Bush
- "Potatoe" - Dan Quayle[29]
- "You forgot Poland" and numerous others -George W. Bush
- "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American, who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man!" – Joe Biden[30][31]
- Legitimate rape, Todd Akin, United States Senate election in Missouri, 2012
- Rick Perry's "Oops moment"
- Joe Biden's declaration of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act being a "big fucking deal"
- 47% speech by Mitt Romney
- Farmer from Iowa comment, Bruce Braley, United States Senate election in Iowa, 2014
- "I’ve now been in 57 states — I think one left to go." - Barack Obama, During a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon.[32]
- Joe Biden's remarks that: "No matter how deeply involved you are in the U.S. … there’s only one guarantee ... and that's the state of Israel" [33]
- United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy — favored as successor to Speaker of the House John Boehner — "made Kinsley proud" as he bragged on Fox News Sean Hannity show, that the House GOP's investigation was all politically motivated, was a 'tempest-in-a-teapot' and 'much ado about nothing' but had been effective in eroding Hillary Clinton's popularity.[34][35]
- Hillary Clinton linking her Wall Street donors to 9/11[36][37][38][39][40]
- John Kasich's response to a question as about why District of Columbia is unrepresented in the United States Congress: i.e., purposefully, so as to disenfranchise as many Democrats as possible.[41]
- Maine governor Paul LePage vetoed a bill that would have made Narcan available to save addicts from overdoses.[42][43]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ ". . . the episode is a perfect gaffe precisely because its content was so meaningless. . ." Chait, Jonathan (June 14, 2012). "The Origins of the Gaffe, Politics' Idiot-Maker". New York Magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
References
- ↑ "Definition for gaffe – Oxford Dictionaries Online (World English)". Oxforddictionaries.com. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ "Reagan jokes about bombing Russia — History.com This Day in History — 8/11/1984". History.com. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ "CBC News In Depth: Canadian government". Cbc.ca. 2006-10-27. Archived from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- 1 2 Amira, Dan (June 14, 2012). "A Taxonomy of Gaffes". New York Magazine. New York, NY USA. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
- ↑ "Jimmy Carter explains 'rabbit attack' – CNN Political Ticker – CNN.com Blogs". Politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com. November 21, 2010. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com.
- ↑ Webster, Merriam (June 3, 1972). "Merriam Webster definition of Gaffe". Merriam Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ↑ Goddard, Taegan. "Kinsley Gaffe". Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary. Political Wire. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ↑ Kinsley, Michael (April 23, 1988), "Commentary: The gaffer speaks", The Times
- ↑ Friedman, Nancy (August 22, 2011). "Word of the Week: Kinsley Gaffe". Fritinancy. Archived from the original on April 10, 2012.
- ↑ McKim, Brian; Skene, Tracy (January 17, 2012). "Brill makes a "Kinsley gaffe"". Shecky Magazine.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- ↑ Smajda, Jon (October 23, 2008). "Michael Kinsley on the ritual of the gaffe". Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- 1 2 Kinsley, Michael (March 6, 2012). "Kinsley: Limbaugh and the hypocrisy of the gaffe". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ↑ Political Rhetoric, Explained - Steven Pinker. 14 October 2008 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Matthew McGregor Kevin Rudd Attack Dog, Mitt Romney Gaffe Video". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ↑ "Rudd flies in Team Obama". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ↑ "Abbott's gaffe goes global". ninemsn.
- ↑ "Oops: Azerbaijan released election results before voting had even started". The Washington Post.
- ↑ "Making BC a Green Jobs Machine - The Tyee". The Tyee. 21 October 2010.
- ↑ "ABCBookWorld". ABCBookWorld. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ "MacKay denies referring to Stronach as a dog – Canada – CBC News". Cbc.ca. 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ Victor Ponta a recunoscut in fata intregului popor roman ca PSD a furat!. 7 December 2009 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "5 July 1945". BBC News. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ↑ "UK | Curse of the open mic". BBC News. 2001-01-29. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ Duke of Edinburgh: Five Decades of Prince Philip's Gaffes. 10 October 2013 – via YouTube.
- ↑ M.J. Stephey (2011-06-13). "Gerald Ford, 1976 – TIME's Top 10 Gaffes and Mistakes in Political Debates". TIME Magazine. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ "Rejecting U.S. Support for Palestinian 'Ethnic Purification'". FrontPage Mag. October 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Jimmy Carter's 'Lust in the Heart' Playboy Interview". The Washington Post. July 21, 1998. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Dan Quayle's 'Potatoe' Incident – 1992". 1998.
- ↑ Liberman, Mark (1 February 2007). "Biden's Comma". Language Log. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ Lim, Christine; Stephey, M.J. (9 December 2007). "Top 10 Campaign Gaffes". Time Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ ""Top of the Ticket"". Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ Robin, Corey (March 29, 2015). "Joe Biden's Israel stunner: American Jews should let Israel protect them". Salon. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ↑ Prokop, Andrew (September 30, 2015). "A top House Republican was accidentally honest about the Benghazi investigation". vox.com. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ↑ "Head of House Benghazi panel says McCarthy 'screwed up'". Reuters. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- ↑ "Hillary Clinton's Big Debate Gaffe: Bizarrely Linking Her Wall Street Donors to 9/11 Reconstruction". Alternet.
- ↑ White, Ben (November 19, 2015). "Will Hillary's 'clumsy' 9/11 remark come back to haunt her?". CNBC. Retrieved April 23, 2016..com
- ↑ Janell Ross (15 November 2015). "Hillary Clinton invoked 9/11 to defend her ties to Wall Street. What?". Washington Post.
- ↑ Emily Jane Fox. "Hillary Clinton Still Can't Shake Her Wall Street–9/11 Debate Comment". Vanity Fair.
- ↑ Andrew Freedman (15 November 2015). "Hillary Clinton's 9/11 moment was her biggest debate misstep". Mashable.
- ↑ Benen, Steve (April 22, 2016). "Kasich makes a mistake by accidentally telling the truth". Rachel Maddow Show. MSNBC. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
- ↑ Aleem, Zeeshan (April 23, 2016). "Health: Maine's Governor Just Said the Worst Possible Thing While Vetoing an Anti-Overdose Bill". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
- ↑ Petersen, Lilli (April 21, 2016). "Maine Governor Blocks Addicts From Buying Lifesaving Drugs". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
In his veto letter, LePage, who is a Republican, said that naloxone “does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose. ... Creating a situation where an addict has a heroin needle in one hand and a shot of naloxone in the other produces a sense of normalcy and security around heroin use that serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction,” LePage wrote.
Further reading
- Michael Kinsley quotations at Brainy Quote.
- Amira, Dan (June 14, 2012). "A Taxonomy of Gaffes". New York, NY USA: New York Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- Chait, Jonathan (June 14, 2012). "The Origins of the Gaffe, Politics' Idiot-Maker". New York Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- Morgan, A.W. (January 6, 2016). "BONE TOMAHAWK Disguises A Kinsley Gaffe About "Native American" Savagery". Retrieved January 6, 2016.