All Blog Posts from Public Eye

After losing the Democratic nomination for her seat in the House to challenger Hank Johnson, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) unloaded on the media during her concession speech this morning, identifying the press as one of several reasons for her loss. “In a bizarre concession speech early Wednesday morning, McKinney criticized the news media, claimed electronic voting machines were a threat to democracy and refused to congratulate Johnson by name,” wrote the Associated Press.

McKinney has seen a whole lot of unfavorable media attention -- especially lately, following her kerfuffle with a Capitol police officer and the unfortunate series of interviews that followed to her caught-on-the-microphone scolding of an aide after a television interview.

But you don’t have to read too much of any of the articles today about McKinney’s loss to get a sense of just how tightly those public gaffes tend to stick. You can just read the quick, go-to descriptions of McKinney: “The fiery congresswoman” AP called her, “known for her conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11 attacks and a scuffle with a Capitol police officer.” The New York Times settled for “the controversial incumbent congresswoman.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was a bit more pronounced, with: “perennial firebrand Cynthia McKinney.” Eric Umansky’s prefix in Slate’s daily round-up of newspaper coverage, while pithy, might have just been the most on target: “wacky Dem. Cynthia McKinney.”

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Hopefully, Rep. Cynthia McKinney won’t be uttering the phrase “Much ado about a hairdo” (coined following a series of media appearances after a recent run-in with the Capitol Police) anytime soon. And after an appearance on local television in Georgia, let’s hope some other choice words aren’t repeated on television. Or she’ll make sure her microphone is off before berating staff members. Reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

The flap-plagued congresswoman, who has been in the media spotlight since she scuffled with a Capitol Hill police officer last month, was caught bad-mouthing a senior staffer Saturday.

Unfortunately for McKinney, a DeKalb County Democrat who is running for re-election in the 4th Congressional District, a TV microphone she was wearing picked up her indelicate grumbling.

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It’s certainly a long and often practiced rhetorical device in politics: when faced with a question you don’t want to answer, change the subject. The best politicians, of course, are those who can accomplish this without their audience – or even the interviewer – really noticing what’s happened.

Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately, in the interest of comedy) that tactic does not always work, something evident in Rep. Cynthia McKinney 's round of interviews this week (on pretty much every network) about her kerfuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer.

Instead of what some might call evading, or perhaps, artfully dodging direct questions about what happened that day, McKinney opted to simply ignore them entirely, relying on the catchy go-to unrelated response, “Much ado about a hairdo.” Clever, no? It rhymes and it’s a reference to Shakespeare. Apparently, the strategy was that if repeated often enough, McKinney’s description of the actual event – the facts, let’s call them – would become less of a concern. Indeed it’s a slightly odd plan of attack: appearing on a series of programs to tell your side of the story and then, well, refusing to tell your side of the story.

Let’s go to the transcripts.

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