Talking Points No More

Please? [Link] Emphasis added.

When Montagne pressed, even politely offering she didn’t want to dwell on old news but did want to get an answer to her question of what impact the ad played, Hagan did the same redirect to the issue babble. By reciting campaign talking points over and over again two things became very clear to me. First, Hagan isn’t very smart. She won the election. There’s no need to continue campaigning. Second, and more importantly, in today’s media environment, she’s not a good communicator.

Several communications and public relations professional just uttered, “WTF?!”

Was she on message? Yes. Did she hit her talking points? Yes. Did she steer away from a sensitive or negative subject to refocus the conversation? Yes. So why am I claiming she isn’t a good communicator?

She didn’t answer the question.

I hate when politicians just give prepared talking points, or even worse, 'answer' a question by ignoring it and spouting off more talking points. I would love it the media would occasionally point out that the person they just asked a question of, just evaded or ignored it, but reporters don't seem to do that anymore.