Should Spouses Be on the Front Lines?
Q: What do you think about candidates who use their spouses as surrogates to say things they themselves aren’t willing to take the heat for saying?
A: The problem is not with the spouse; it’s with using someone else to take the penalty for the candidate’s opinions. No campaign worker should be used this way. A spouse, in particular, creates the perception that we are hearing the candidate’s private thinking, but the ethical issues apply across the board to any surrogate used this way. The surrogate strategy is unethical, and though not a technical ethical term, it strikes me as “weasely.”
If a surrogate says something reflective of the candidate’s opinions and a firestorm ensues, the candidate should have the courage to accept responsibility for holding that position. Without evidence of such courage, the candidate may find the public wishing the spouse were running instead.
Q: Is it appropriate for a candidate to plant questions at campaign appearances?
A: Campaign appearances are political theater. They are orchestrated to portray candidates at their best and are staged as media events. Sometimes the audience is prescreened to eliminate any serious challenges to the candidate by his or her opponents. It is not unethical to plant questions. The staged questions can guarantee that the candidate has an opportunity to provide answers that put him or her in the best light. It is unethical, however, to stage an event in such a way as to pretend that all questions are spontaneous and unscripted; deliberate deception is dishonest. Fake spontaneity is deception.
Given the inanity (boxers or briefs?) of some questions and the challenges of turning a bad question into a good answer on the spot, I must confess I’d welcome someone standing up and saying, “I’ve agreed with your staff to ask this question about [health care, climate change, the war or any number of issues more important than jewelry choices] because this is an important concern to many Americans and they should know where you stand on it.”
Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock is founding co-director of Faith Voices for the Common Good, and was a fellow at the Harvard Divinity School Center for Values in Public Life.
Family Matters Can Be Public Concerns
Q: Let's say the spouse of a candidate has a history of addiction. Is it fair to bring this up as a campaign issue?
Rest the Politics of Revenge
Q: Is it ethical to stay in a race you cannot win to damage your opponent?
A: ‘Cannot’ is a parlous word. Mistakes and unforseen events can make the ‘evident’ winner an also-ran. It’s difficult on prudential grounds to insist a candidate has no chance. Little chance, certainly; no chance, never.
However, it is unethical to seek to damage your opponent out of personal pique. Politics is not a vehicle for revenge. To treat it as such damages the public trust, the unspoken bond between a people and their presumptive representative.
But if a candidate believes the leading opponent would be damaging to the national interest, you could make the opposite case—that pulling out of the race is unethical. Motivations are always somewhat shrouded and mixed: “The secret things,” as the Bible reminds us in Deuteronomy 29:29, “belong to God.”
Q: Why do some people have a problem with Rev. Jeremiah Wright going on a nationwide speaking tour in the midst of the heated Democratic race for president? A: The spectacle of Rev. Wright choosing a delicate moment to say controversial things struck many as unsavory, at best. But this was a human drama as well as a political tussle.
Preachers everywhere have experienced the dilemma: Do you say what you believe when it will hurt those close to you? Is there a responsibility that overrides public policy or an election? At what point are you being wholehearted with your faith and at what point is speaking out publicly simple self-righteousness?
Pastor Wright could easily contend that there would never be a more propitious time for his message to be heard by the public. The world was listening. Would he hurt the candidacy of his former parishioner? Perhaps so, but should that constrain him from teaching what he understands to be the truth? Much of Wright’s message was repellant, but the act of speaking was not inconsistent with his responsibility.
As a final caution, clergy should always be aware that a pulpit gives their views added heft, which is not always warranted by their expertise. Why should religious knowledge be equivalent to wisdom in public policy? Humility is not only a value to be preached, but a value for preachers.
Rabbi David Wolpe is the rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. E-mail him at dwolpe@sinaitemple.org.
The Foreign Candidate
Your Dilemma…
You’re an American consultant. A foreign candidate who opposes America’s current foreign policy agenda wants to hire you for his campaign. What do you do?
Your Choices…
It is rare to completely agree with a client, so the void here might be only a little more than you’re used to. I would probably take the client.
—K.T., Democratic consultant for Congressional and down-ballot races
From my perspective, my conscience would be in check if the foreign candidate’s views refl ected my personal views as well.
—C.M., Republican consultant
How much are they paying? As long as they don’t want to bomb us and recognize the right of Israel to exist, other agenda items fl ow with public opinion.
—R.O., Democratic media consultant
I support the U.S. Democratic Party fi rst. So my answer must be no—it would be counter-productive for me in future gigs with the U.S. party. Of course, if the opportunity had materialized last year…
—L.D., Democratic grassroots organizer
It depends on which part of our foreign policy agenda they disagree with and to what degree. I’d probably take the client unless they were nuts.
—B.W., Democratic PR consultant
I wouldn’t work for a foreign interest wanting representation to change domestic foreign policy. It’s not within my ethical framework to undermine national democracy by allowing other interests to undermine the domestic policy agenda.
—J.B., Australian political strategist
Have a better answer? Let us know in the High Road comment section on the Campaign Insider blog.