"No Questions"
Nothing gets under my reportorial skin more than two words from public officials and their handlers: "No questions." Reporters will always have questions. Our primary job is to ask questions and, more importantly, to elicit responses so we can inform our readers, listeners and viewers. Elected officials and political candidates are, of course, free to decide how and whether to respond.
As if it weren't hot enough at the Iowa State Fair last week, an aide to Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney got my blood boiling when he stepped in with the "no questions" admonition as I tried to follow up on a comment made by the former Massachusetts governor. I reminded the Romney handler that there would always be questions from reporters. The aide's ill-advised response was, "There's no answers." I knew better than to assume that the Romney campaign has "no answers" since the candidate has been holding events called "Ask Mitt Anything."
In fact, at the state fair appearance, Romney had a very terse exchange with a man whose soldier son is in Iraq. When the man asked if any of Romney's five sons would "go over to Iraq," the candidate responded,"No they are not." He added, "We have a volunteer army. That's the reason."
By the way, I had hoped to ask Romney about his statement that, "We need to have leadership that will tell us the truth, lay out the vision for where we want to go, show us the track to get there and actually lead and do it on a bipartisan basis." I wanted to know if that was a comment on the current administration. (I also found it interesting that while Romney quoted his former political rival Ted Kennedy in a complimentary manner, he made no mention George W. Bush during the state fair appearance.)
A Romney press spokesman promised, "We'll get back to you" with an answer to the question about the context of the comment about national leadership. I'm still waiting. But there's a long campaign ahead and plenty of time for MORE QUESTIONS at events where reporters will "Ask Mitt (and all of the candidates) Anything."