Why do some verbal gaffes stick, while others are forgotten?

By {/%BYLINE%} {%AUTHOR%}Michael Sebastian{/%AUTHOR%} {%TITLE%}Why do some verbal gaffes stick, while others are forgotten? {/%TITLE%} {%ALTERNATIVEURL%}{/%ALTERNATIVEURL%} {%IMAGE%}/Uploads/Public/gum-shoe.jpg{/%IMAGE%} {%ROLE%}87d65c27-6e78-4e5c-b423-78d47d4f2768{/%ROLE%} {%KICKER%}Media Relations{/%KICKER%} {%CATEGORIESID%}9b04de1d-f7bc-4de7-842e-c9c833ff24e9{/%CATEGORIESID%} {%CAPTION%}Your high-profile client just uttered a forehead-slapping remark that will land in blogs, newspapers. But will it stick? Here’s how to find out.{/%CAPTION%} {%BODYCOPY%}Jon Huntsman committed a gaffe last night. The GOP president candidate told CNN’s Piers Morgan that he would be open to run as Michele Bachmann’s vice president. It was the answer to a hypothetical question—“I would be the first to sign up, absolutely”—and one that he should have avoided. This morning’s headlines have not been kind to Huntsman, all striking a similar tone: Huntsman says he’d be Michele Bachmann’s VP candidate. Even though the answer was far more nuanced than that. Will this gaffe hound Huntsman? Will he be forever known as the Bachmann VP wannabe? Depends on what journalists think of Huntsman, says Paul Waldman, a senior correspondent for the American Prospect. In a column for The Washington Post published last week, Waldman tackled the question on many a communication director’s mind: What makes a gaffe stick? What makes an incident or gaffe “major” is the interpretation that journalists—and these days, the blogosphere, Twitterverse as well—give it. Some mistakes are largely ignored, while others are portrayed as enormously consequential, haunt the candidate for weeks or months. The difference reveals far more about journalistic biases than it does about the candidates themselves. The gaffes that stick, Waldman explained, are the ones that reinforce what journalists already think of a candidate. “The politicians’ so-called gaffes don’t tell us anything new,” he wrote. “Instead, they allow reporters to explain how what they’ve thought all along about a candidate is true.” One way candidates—and, by extension, high-profile PR clients—can know a gaffe is going to hang around is if they become fodder for late-night comedians, according to Waldman. Looks like Huntsman will have to wait, see what Stewart, Colbert,, the rest decide to do with this statement. In the meantime, Huntsman, his team will likely spend the day monitoring headlines, hoping another candidate makes a more significant—and "stickier"—gaffe. (Image via){/%BODYCOPY%} {%ID%}9307{/%ID%} {%DATAID%}0010eb09-5eef-4a62-a8e7-e64ffb8e4e9a{/%DATAID%} {%CanonicalUrl%}{/%CanonicalUrl%} {%PUBLISHDATE%}8/23/2011 1:53:57 PM{/%PUBLISHDATE%} {%LINK%}https://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/9307.aspx{/%LINK%} {%BYLINE%}Richard Meyer
Aug. 23, 2011