We need better candidates - and better political advisers

It appears that there are more than a few bad political advisers in the recent campaigns, and that it might be necessary for both parties to consider a training program before appointing candidates for this position. Someone who might have said, “Hey Ben, we really don’t know if China is involved in Iran” or someone who might have suggested, “This is a good line Marco, but try not to use it more than three times in the first five minutes; Chris Christie is out there and it could get ugly.” Or, “Jeb, you’ve had eight years to figure out how to respond to your brother’s actions in Iraq; do you have the answer?”

How about, “Hey Mitt, if you talk about women tonight, try not to put them in binders.”

Then there are advisers who try to prepare a candidate for a debate but fail due to other reasons: “OK Sarah, here are seven responses. If you memorize them, you can get through this. What? OK. How about just three of them?”

And then there are times when an adviser should have seen problem coming before a campaign event and stepped in and said something like: “Well Mitt, we know it’s a bunch of white conservative rich people out there, but this 47 percent thing might get out.”

And yes, someone should have said, “Hillary, this personal server thing is going public, so let’s just admit it and get it over with.” Or, “ Bill, I know Loretta is on that plane, but going on it to talk to her would be stupid.”

But the best of them all was in the 1970s when someone said, “Hey Dick, some of our guys broke into the Democratic Headquarters last night in Washington, let’s figure out how to cover it up.”

So, “Give a good speech tonight Donald, but try not to ... well, never mind.”

The writer lives in Surfside Beach.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 11:19 AM with the headline "We need better candidates - and better political advisers."