Botox lessons [View All]

[Carl Spackler]

I thought that the press would have a field day with the botox thing - the visuals were just too compelling and the opportunity to make a frontrunner squirm by repeating the question ad nausium. But it appears that Kerry has put this to rest through a strategy of denial and subsequent refusal to engage. No clarifications, no excuses, just the stone wall.

I've been thinking about this from a strategy standpoint - this is the strategy Bush has used on many issues. Just say your lines with conviction and refuse further discussion and it blows over, even if the response is BS. I don't think it will work on the really big consequential stuff (WMD, etc.), but for AWOL it certainly worked in the past election cycle.

Most of the people I've discussed this with basically think "yeah, he lied about the botox but who cares". There is a lesson in this in terms of handling these little "slow news day" scandals: deny and move on and refuse to engage.