Every January, a professional
organization of which I’m a member hosts a meeting at which the biggest public
relations blunders of the previous year are discussed. One of the sources of
those blunder lists tends to include as many goofs by conservative political
figures as possible. Most of the events referenced are from elsewhere other
than Kentucky, but there’s a very good chance that will change when the lists for
2015 are compiled.
Had Agriculture Secretary and
former Republican gubernatorial candidate Jamie Comer better handled the
brouhaha over allegations that he was in an abusive relationship with a college
girlfriend, he might be planning how to push his winning primary campaign
forward into this fall’s general election. Instead, he’s licking his wounds
after his narrow primary defeat three weeks ago and is most likely staring at
the end of his political career.
The story is well-known by now. A
Lexington resident named Michael Adams heard rumors of the incident and started
a concerted anti-Comer movement, establishing a blog and a Facebook page to
spread the story. Once the mainstream press picked up on the subject, months
after the blogger began his efforts, the woman in question felt compelled to
speak out. A number of reporters had been trying to contact her about the
matter, but she chose to send a letter to The
Courier-Journal’s Joe Gerth in which she confirmed she’d been in a
physically and emotionally abusive relationship with Comer.
That led Comer to issue a blanket
denial, which in turn led others to come forward to confirm the ex-girlfriend’s
account. Comer also lashed out at election rival Hal Heiner, accusing his
campaign of being behind the blogger’s actions and claiming Heiner had paid the
ex-girlfriend to fabricate her story. Comer’s wife penned a column in his
defense for the C-J which was riddled
with factual inaccuracies. Comer’s supporters began mirroring his statements and
accusations on social media and on comment sections of news stories about the
matter. The ex-girlfriend even began getting messages from strangers, accusing
her of selling her soul for politics.
Heiner had led in most polling
prior to the election, but Comer had been considered the frontrunner since he
was sworn in as agriculture commissioner four years ago. Political observers
didn’t give Matt Bevin much of a chance of winning until the battle between
Comer and Heiner got ugly. The acrimony between Comer and Heiner allowed Bevin,
previously known for his failed attempt to “primary” Mitch McConnell last year,
to claim an 83-vote victory over Comer. The outcome didn’t change after a
recanvass, Comer opted not to proceed with a formal recount, and Bevin became
the nominee.
If Comer hadn’t acted so angrily,
it’s entirely possible that he could have persuaded a few dozen more people to
vote for him, and he could have won the gubernatorial primary.
What if Comer had stated that he
had sometimes acted in an immature and ungentlemanly fashion in his youth?
(Didn’t we all, at one time or another?) What if he had said that he regretted
the way he may have treated her at times? What if he had apologized to her for
any pain he may have caused her, and said he was sorry that she had been pulled
into the middle of the election by a blogger operating on his own agenda? What
if he had directed more of his ire toward blogger Adams, who started the whole
thing, and less of it toward Heiner or Gerth? It’s quite likely that enough of the
electorate would have accepted his statement to give him the victory, even if
he didn’t directly answer questions about whether or not he’d been physically
abusive to her.
Comer’s position toward his
ex-girlfriend changed during the process, which didn’t endear him to a lot of
people. He originally said he thought she was a good person and wouldn’t have
been involved in Adams’ campaign against him. But when she finally spoke out
under duress, he claimed that she had been paid to make up the stories. His
lawyer also was hostile to her in comments he made to the media. The lawyer
also threatened to sue the C-J over
the story, but no libel suit has yet been filed as of this writing.
The public values sincerity and
honors honesty. We’re a forgiving bunch. A little admission and contrition from
Comer would have gone a long way. Instead, he remained defiant, choosing
instead to blame others for the situation instead of taking some responsibility
for his own role in it. And that, more than anything he may have done two
decades ago as a college student, is what led to his downfall.
“It’s not the crime, it’s the
coverup.” How many times have we heard that statement since Watergate?
Something similar applies here. “It’s not what you did, it’s how you respond to
it.” Comer responded improperly, and paid a price for it. His blunder should be
a cautionary tale for politicians on how not to handle such a situation.
