Oct 8th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Tough Press Conference
Unlike Marc Ambinder, I’ve never met Cullen Sheehan and have no idea whether or not he’s a nice guy, but it’s impossible to watch this and not feel kind of sorry for him. I note that if Al Franken wins, he’ll earn the prestigious title of Only Senator to Have Ever Had Some Beers in a Bar With Matt Yglesias (and other TAP staff) Once.
38 Responses to “Tough Press Conference”
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October 8th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
If you’re going to go down like this, at least do a strip-tease while giving your stock non-answers. Cullen Sheehan would have come out as the victor if he were grinding on that female reporter in nothing but pasties and a G-string.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
If he’s working for Coleman he is by definition a major league douchebag and not a nice guy.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Why do you feel sorry for him? He’s a paid shill representing someone in a cushy public job who doesn’t want to explain something that looks bad.
It’s not fun –but believe me, many people have harder jobs.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
“Many people have harder jobs” — that’s a terrible standard, and not very…human, is the only word that fits.
Anyway, it sucks because Coleman sent him out to the wolves armed with a wet noodle. Yes, it’s his job. But it still sucks.
Vote Franken.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I don’t feel anymore sorry for him than for Tony Snow when he had to knowingly go out and lie for the President. If your job description includes “Lying For The Boss”, and you’re willing to do it, don’t expect any sympathy from me when you look pathetic doing it.
John
October 8th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Tire swing warning.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Can a Norm Coleman “Checkers Speech” be far behind?
October 8th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Wow, reporters doing their job!
(This kind of video must be in Sarah “What’s A Press Conference?” Palin’s nightmares, BTW.)
October 8th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Are you serious, Yglesias? How dare reporters ask a press secretary about possible ethics violations. We wouldn’t want our media to act as a check on corruption or anything.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
A time to feel sorry for someone is when they’re getting their balls busted by their boss or coworkers. If it were Cullen himself running for office, and he were getting hammered about masturbating in the shower, I’d feel bad.
Covering for his boss? I could care less.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I don’t get all the bloggers expressing pain for the guy either. No one has a gun to his head. On top of which, he was likely part of the team that came up with the idiotic strategy to say only a single sentence, over and over and over.
Admit Coleman got a suit or two from an old friend — the fallout couldn’t possibly be worse than what they’ve done to themselves here. Coleman is no Clinton. This level of parsing is absurd.
I don’t feel sorry for the guy. I feel angry that politicians and their hacks think it’s OK to lie the public.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
What? You never joined Senator Schumer in his well-known penchant for benders?
October 8th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Campaign training courses usually have trainees simulate a rapid response situation paired with a press conference. The scenarios were always tough; our team had to play the part of a campaign who had just caught using a brother as a stand-in for the candidate during a parade and meet and greet.
This looks one trainers could add to the list.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Damnit Matt, I live in St. Paul and I emailed you saying I wanted to have a beer with you and your commie leftie friends. And now I find out that Al was there too. Did you email or call, no? When I’m Senator, there will be no beer with me (unless you’re buying [and it's under the non-disclosure gift limit]).
October 9th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Why am I supposed to feel sorry for people who are terrible at their jobs? The press secretary business was not invented by Dana Perino — why do all GOP press secretaries act like her model of obstructionism is actually effective?
October 9th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Awhile back, Ambinder wrote an entry about how good of a guy a former colleague of his is. This guy happened to live on my hall freshman year of college seven or eight years ago, and he was by the far worst human in the dorm. But I could see how this smooth, good-looking dude might make D.C. policy nerds feel cool after three minutes of attention.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Personally, I think he comes off as an asshole. I would’ve liked him better if I could see some sense of shame in him, or some attempt to stir up ‘Look I’m just a poor sap doing an impossible job’ cameraderie between him and the reporters.
Instead, he just has this smug grin on his face.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:45 am
Re jdw’s fine comment, #5:
Just to clarify, this guy didn’t even have the guts to lie for the boss. What he did was not to lie, but smugly refuse to answer questions. This is what we’ve come to now: we increasingly have politicians who won’t even do us the honor of lying. They simply act as if they are not required to respond to questions from the public or from our media.
Anyone who takes such a job knows very well what he/she/it is getting into, I can assure you. They deserve no sympathy and shall have none, at least from me.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:03 am
i think mr. sheehan would rather lose his soul than lose his job.
he’s now accomplished the first, and by nov. 6 should have accomplished the second.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I think one of the reporters should’ve tried asking him why he didn’t pass the time by playing a little solitaire. The queen of diamonds might have loosened him up.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:33 am
He’ll also be the only Senator to:
1. Appear in an Eddie Murphy film that didn’t suck (”Trading Spaces”)
2. Star in a film that DID suck (”Stewart Saves His Family”)
3. Appear on Saturday Night Live more than John McCain
October 9th, 2008 at 8:23 am
I think this was a legit answer (albeit lame). The reporters can examine the list of NC’s gifts — either the suits are there or they’re not. The fact that he gave the same lame answer over and over is what looks bad.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:50 am
The kind of a guy who aspires to a job like that isn’t going to be the most imaginative person in the room. Or sensitive. After it was over, he went and got 4 beers. He’ll live.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:18 am
The reporters can examine the list of NC’s gifts — either the suits are there or they’re not.
This isn’t even necessarily true; it’s possible that the guy bought Coleman suits before he was a senator (when he was St. Paul mayor), in which case they wouldn’t appear on federal disclosure forms. But it would still be sleazy, since Coleman wa a public official at the time. See the Ken Silverstein post that started this all.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Ahem, of course “either the suits are there or they’re not” is necessarily true, literally so as it’s a rule of logic (Excluded Middle). It just isn’t necessarily a legitimate defense. In fact the press conference seemed design to leave the impression that the guy bought Coleman the suits but for some reason Coleman didn’t have to disclose them.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Matt W: thanks for the background info. I just checked the clip again. “Every gift he’s ever received” is quite a claim, and obviously should include whatever he got as mayor. However, the claim is so ridiculous that it cannot be taken seriously.
Most charitable explanation: the mouthpiece doesn’t actually know the answer and is falling-back on whatever list NC has made public.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Well, arguably you could say that “The Senator’s reported every gift he’s ever received” means every gift he’s ever received as a Senator — before that he wasn’t “the Senator.” It’s a stretch though. But since no one could take the claim to encompass, say, the fountain pens he received on his thirteenth birthday, it’s got to start somewhere, and I think the flack might be able to say that everyone understands this to mean gifts received as a Senator — there may not even be any mechanism for the Mayor of St. Paul to receive gifts.
The real problem is that it’s such a ridiculous non-denial denial. As the reporters point out, “We don’t respond to ridiculous accusations from blogs” doesn’t wash after the twelfth time the reporters from your local papers ask you the question.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Kid Bitzer– He’s gonna lose his job on Nov. 4, and after that performance will have some trouble getting a similar one in the future.
I think it’s a beautiful clip because Cullen is appropriately smug and superior; it sums up the contempt with which the Republicans regard the American people. Cullen looks and sounds the part of the preppy douchebag, which helps tremendously.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:54 am
And then there’s the “We’re not going to answer questions from anonymous sources or blogs”
We’re not going to answer a question because of who asks it is simply reprehensible–and of course these are reporters asking the questions.
With, I assume, names.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I agree with Matt – when I’ve tried fraud cases against unscrupulous government contractors, I can never help but feel bad for the employees (most of them, at least) the defendant would put up on the stand after dozens and dozens hours of coaching and prep, with strict orders what to say and not to say, and watch the witness visibly uncomfortable when they get caught in front of the jury in a half truth, lousy attempt to stonewall, or outright lie. It doesn’t stop me from trying to eviscerate them, of course, that’s my job, and in some sense they’re getting paid to hide the truth (at best), but like the hapless press secretary in the video, this isn’t what they signed up for.
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