Time for Campaign ‘Advisers’ to Zip It!

With 24/7 news channels, bloggers who are on top of all things political and the highest level of interest in a presidential campaign in decades, the mistakes and misstatements by policy advisers to candidates are becoming a serious problem.

Whether it has been private NAFTA discussions with the Canadian consulate, calling Hillary Clinton a “monster,” or stating that neither Clinton nor Obama were ready to answer the “3 a.m. call,” these are comments that should not come from “advisers.”

Never mind the disasters from far-right talk show hosts and anti-Catholic ministers on behalf of John McCain!

From Samantha Power to Susan Rice to Dr. Austan Goolsbee, we have seen comments that would have been buried in the B Section of the daily papers suddenly not only on the front pages but repeated for days on cable news. These advisers, who in the past would have “advised” on substance and produced position papers, are now making the news. The tradition was to be not seen and not heard, remaining in the background.

It is probably time for the presidential campaigns to get control over their press operations and to have only spokesmen be spokesmen. The opportunity for shooting from the hip and the lip is just too high. The attention that these comments are getting far exceeds their actual importance. So, advisers, do your job — advise, and zip it!