A GAFFE is a goof, a blunder.
It's when a politician tells an indiscreet truth or foolish lie. It's a tactless act that reveals insensitivity, ignorance, or hypocrisy.
Some say the media are obsessed with gaffes. But for voters trying to appraise a candidate's character and judgment, gaffes can be illuminating. After all, candidates can seem programmed. Their rhetoric and "convictions" are often first poll-tested. So, a gaffe can give voters a glimpse of the candidate unplugged.
Since gaffes increasingly affect elections, we shouldn't just bemoan their impact and blame the media. We should better understand them.
Both Democratic presidential candidates recently committed revealing gaffes. Barack Obama said: When small-town folks "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them. . ." Hillary Clinton said she remembered landing at the Bosnia airport under "sniper fire."
Just as we measure earthquakes on the Richter scale, let's measure the "bitter" and "sniper fire" gaffes with the do-it-yourself Gaffe-o-meter.
Rate each gaffe from 1 to 10 (10 means devastating) on these 10 criteria, and add them up. Which was the bigger gaffe?
Cruel coverage: How often and how prominently was the gaffe reported?
Clinton, 8; Obama, 8.
For weeks, both gaffes triggered scandal-like coverage.
Vividly visual: Was the gaffe caught on video, and was it memorable?
Clinton, 7; Obama, 2.
TV networks showed Hillary claiming she landed under sniper fire, and then footage of her peaceful arrival - proving she fibbed. There was no video of Barack making his "bitter" remarks at a closed-door San Francisco fund-raiser, so TV used poor-quality audio and a text graphic.
Viciously viral: Did the gaffe spread like wildfire?
Clinton, 8; Obama, 8.
Both campaigns publicized the opponent's gaffe, rationalizing their attacks by saying: Republicans will advertise this.
Disturbingly dishonest: Did the gaffe make the candidate seem untrustworthy?
Clinton, 7; Obama, 3.
Clinton was deceitful or delusional about "landing under sniper fire." The actor Sinbad, a fellow passenger, contradicted her account: "The only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place?' " Obama seemed disingenuous in arguing that he didn't mean what he'd carefully said.
Igniting indignation: How much were voters offended?
Clinton, 5; Obama, 5.
Clinton's gaffe reinforced cynicism about the Clintons (Hollywood mogul and former Clinton friend David Geffen once called Bill Clinton "an unusually good liar"). Obama offended some cultural conservatives he'd been courting in Pennsylvania.
Comedic caricature: Did the gaffe make the candidate look ridiculous?
Clinton, 8; Obama, 4.
Hillary's sniper-fire claim became a sure-fire punch line. Barack's more complex gaffe required too much set-up for most stand-up comics.
Demoralized donors: How much did the gaffe hurt fund-raising?
Clinton, 3; Obama, 1.
Hillary raised half as much as Barack in March. Her gaffe made fund-raising more difficult.
Collapsing credibility: Did the gaffe maim the candidate's message?
Clinton, 7; Obama, 7.
Hillary undermined her argument that she had the courage and experience needed in a commander in chief. Obama undermined his image as a "unifier" by denigrating small-town folks.
Plummeting polls: How much damage was indicated in polling?
Clinton, 6; Obama, 5.
Hillary's negatives spiked. Obama's negatives went up, too. And he lost his momentum in Pennsylvania.
Abject apologies: Did the candidate make things worse with a lame explanation or poor apology?
Clinton, 7; Obama, 6.
Hillary admitted her "mistake" but then her husband made a gaffe, implying she'd just had a senior moment. Barack apologized ("if anyone was offended"), but sounded bitter.
TOTAL ON THE GAFFE-0-METER:
Clinton, 66; Obama, 49.
Hillary was lucky that, during this period, Barack suffered from gaffes too.
Hillary won Pennsylvania, so she's persevering. But, to win superdelegates, she needs Barack to make a super-gaffe, like one of these. . .
HISTORIC GAFFES, rated on the Gaffe-o-meter:
George W. Bush, 27: "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Jimmy Carter, 29: "lust in my heart"; John McCain, 43: Sunni/Shi'ite confusion; Michael Dukakis, 68: posing in a tank; Gerald Ford, 73: Poland was "free" of Soviet domination.
John Kerry, 79: "I voted for the $87 billion, before I voted against it"; Trent Lott, 89: wished segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948.
Bill Clinton, 95: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"; Gary Hart, 99: urged reporters to follow him - then was caught having an affair.
Gaffes can be good. Oops - is it a gaffe to say that?
Todd Domke is a Boston-area Republican political analyst, public-relations strategist, and author.
