|
 Sex,
lies and an
ethics
investigation.
With all the
ingredients
present for a
political
tell-all novel
about my time as
Governor Mark
Sanford’s
communications
director, I’ve
had a number of
people ask when
the book is
hitting the
shelves.
Most are a
little surprised
when I tell them
it was never
something I gave
serious thought
to, though it
wouldn’t be true
to say it didn’t
at least cross
my mind. After
all, an
inside-perspective
novel after a
public implosion
is just as much
a part of the
formula these
days as the
scripted public
confession
alongside the
wronged-but-supportive
spouse.
Incidentally, it
doesn’t look
like any of
those
conventions will
end up being
followed in the
Sanford case.
With all the
ingredients
present for a
political
tell-all novel
about my time as
Governor Mark
Sanford’s
communications
director, I’ve
had a number of
people ask when
the book is
hitting the
shelves.
So as much as I
would love for
people to
associate me
with the picture
from my book
jacket rather
than the picture
of me literally
pulling my
former employer
away from a
podium and a
media scrum,
that’s going to
have to wait.
Simply put, I
fundamentally
believe it isn’t
appropriate for
former aides to
cash in by
writing
kiss-and-tell
novels. I don’t
mean to indict
or condemn those
who have written
these books, but
I think it’s a
trend that
should end for a
few reasons:
Why does the
desire to tell
people “the
whole story”
only hit once
someone has left
an
administration
or a campaign?
Pardon the
cynicism, but I
have a hard time
buying the
high-minded talk
of transparency
and openness
from many who’ve
written such
projects.
Any political
organization is
a team effort,
and decisions
are made every
day about what
parts of those
inner workings
will and won’t
be discussed
publicly. If you
don’t like the
decisions, you
leave, period.
But when
authors later
recount episode
after episode
worth telling to
the public years
after they
occurred, it
leaves the
impression that
the only reason
they stayed as
long as they did
was to
accumulate
anecdotes.
Obviously, an
enormous caveat
to the above
would be
revealing
evidence of
wrongdoing or
malfeasance.
But there
again, is a
highly-publicized
novel the
appropriate
venue for
revealing such,
and are you
really acting in
the public’s
best interest by
doing so? More
likely, the
motivation is
moving up the
best seller
list. If you
know of
potential legal
breaches, you
have an
obligation to
report them when
they happen, not
when it is most
profitable.
As old fashioned
as it sounds, I
also believe in
the idea that
you ought to
treat someone
how you would
want to be
treated in
similar
circumstances.
If someone
places their
trust in you,
you’re faced
with a clear
choice of either
validating or
violating that
trust.
A critic of this
rationale would
say that the
ultimate trust
placed in a
staffer is that
of the taxpayer
who is providing
their salary.
And that is
absolutely
true. But
taxpayers elect
officeholders,
not staffers.
By serving that
officeholder,
you are
fulfilling the
role the
taxpayers are
paying you to
fulfill. If
those same
taxpayers decide
that they’re not
happy with what
decisions are
being made and
how those
decisions are
being made,
that’s what the
ballot box is
for – and it’s
the
responsibility
of a free and
strong press to
give voters the
information they
need to hold
officials
accountable.
It’s not up to
a single staffer
to unilaterally
veto the
decisions made
by the team he
or she was a
part of. Most
professional
athletes would
lose their
credibility in
similar
circumstances
(see Jose
Canseco).
Most are a
little surprised
when I tell them
it was never
something I gave
serious thought
to, though it
wouldn’t be true
to say it didn’t
at least cross
my mind.
But perhaps the
worst part of
this trend is
the degree to
which these
books have
contributed to
the
tabloidization
of American
politics. Let’s
face it – these
novels typically
aren’t weighty
discussions of
policy nuances,
and instead bear
a closer
resemblance to
airport fiction.
It’s undeniable
that there’s
been a marked
degradation of
discourse
surrounding
government and
politics.
Average people
from my
generation
couldn’t tell
you three
substantive
policy
accomplishments
of the Clinton
Administration –
but they could
tell you heck of
a lot about
Monica Lewinsky.
I’m certainly
not laying the
blame for that
at the feet of
tell-all
authors. I’m a
free-market guy,
and it’s clear
that these books
are filling a
demand in the
marketplace.
But just
because you have
a right to do
something
doesn’t make it
the right thing
to do, and these
authors ought to
ask themselves
whether their
work is serving
to elevate
politics in this
country, or
diminish it in
the eyes of
those it is
intended to
serve.
--###--
Joel Sawyer is
the former
Communications
Director to
South Carolina
Governor Mark
Sanford. He owns
a communications
consulting and
public relations
firm, New Level
Strategies, and
can be reached
at
joel@newlevelstrategies.com.
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