Mitt Romney has engaged in “reckless chest-beating” while Barack Obama has done “absolutely nothing” for the Middle East, their adversaries say. Buckle up, you’re in Spin Alley.
Its name should be sufficient warning: reporters in the spin room at Lynn University at the final US presidential debate must prepare to get twisted, taunted, and turned around by some of the smoothest pols in the business.
For the Republican and Democratic spin doctors crammed into the room with many of the 3,000 registered reporters, it is their job to elevate their man as the most presidential — while kicking their opponent in the shins.
Wander out to the food tent for chicken paella in a carved out pineapple, or to the brewery cart for craft beer, and you miss House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen blasting Obama’s “hostile behavior toward Israel.”
Stand by the front doors when star Senator Marco Rubio strides through, and risk getting trampled by swarms of cameramen.
In one corner stands an elevated stage under a large blue “Forward” banner, complete with the Obama horizon logo. In the other corner, a stage with two large “R” letters, for Romney-Ryan, under a “Believe in America” sign.
Veteran Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a foreign policy expert of the first order, is holding forth, as is his Democratic colleague John Kerry, who knows a thing or two about debates — and their pitfalls.
He ran for president in 2004, losing to incumbent George W. Bush, and seems to have it in for Romney, whom he has been playing in Obama’s mock debates.
“I was chosen from binders of senators,” he joked, playing off the awkward “binders full of women” line uttered by Romney in the second debate.
But he also turned serious, telling reporters that “it’s time tonight for people to get real.
“We’re choosing a commander in chief for the United States of America, in one of the most dangerous times in terms of the challenges abroad,” he warned.
“I don’t think it’s time to have an unsteady, inexperienced, unclear hand on the tiller of American foreign policy, period.”
With several dozen lawmakers and political luminaries making their way through the room trying to sell their take, separating the political wheat from the chaff takes some doing.
“Well, we’re telling the truth and they’re not,” a helpful congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz clarified to AFP.
“All kidding aside, this is an opportunity to make sure that before and after the debate, that there’s not just the lens of pundits who are on air and interpreting for the voters.
“It’s an opportunity to get our message out directly.”
And her message of the moment was: Romney’s foreign policy platform is nothing more than “reckless chest-beating.”
The lawmaker from Florida said she’ll do about 100 interviews on Monday before and after the debate, but insists she’s not concerned about blurting out the wrong talking point.
The same can’t be said for Peter King, the fast-talking House Homeland Security Committee chairman, who said he stays awake in bed after participating in spin rooms, wondering if he could have made his point better.
“You can’t let your guard down at all” in Spin Alley, he said.
“But at the same time, she’s trying to do exactly what I’m trying to do,” he said of Wasserman Schultz. “So I can empathize, if you will.”
Wasserman Schultz was just a step away, talking to reporters. “Hey Pete!” she said as King leaned into her field of vision.
Ahead of the debate, no expert, talking head, analyst, campaign official or lawmaker was making himself more visible than Senator John McCain.
The veteran Republican, who during his failed 2008 presidential bid debated then-senator Obama, roamed the room in slow motion, a constant pack of a dozen or more reporters in tow.
He ripped Obama’s weak leadership at home and abroad, stressing the president has done “absolutely nothing” to help stabilize the Middle East — then reminded reporters how Obama surrogates after the first debate came out and “just called Mitt Romney a liar… which is really not too effective with most Americans.”
Spin Alley: getting out the message over debate din
