Say It! Just Sayin'

 

For some time, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s critics and many media outlets had been calling on her to agree to a sit-down interview, which she had been accused of avoiding. It finally happened last week, as she and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, faced CNN’s Dana Bash. For the most part, it went pretty well, but I have one criticism, and it’s not a new one when it comes to candidate interviews: why does it take three or four questions to get them to give a straight answer?

This happened when Harris was asked about an apparent flip-flop on fracking, a somewhat controversial method of extracting oil and natural gas from the Earth. As a presidential candidate four years ago, Harris had opposed fracking, but switched to support when she became a running mate with Joe Biden in his successful presidential bid, and she still is not opposed to fracking. When Bash asked her to explain, it was like pulling teeth. Harris said she had learned that green initiatives could be successfully pursued without banning fracking, but didn’t really elaborate.

Then, Bash asked Tim Walz about a comment he had made about carrying military weapons “in war,” which he had not done. Did you misspeak, she wanted to know. He had served honorably in the National Guard for 25 years, and said his military record speaks for itself. But Bash persisted. “Did you misspeak?” It took a couple of tries to get him to finally admit misspeaking. It’s not easy being a candidate; you have to watch what you say, and I get that. But I almost yelled at the TV, “Answer the question!”

There are two principles here. First, it’s OK to change your mind about something. It happens all the time. Didn’t President Obama “evolve” on gay marriage? And Tim Walz is revered for being such a plain speaker, so why couldn’t he say “yes” to Bash’s question, right out of the box?

Now it should be noted that Dana Bash herself was in a tough spot. Bash had to make it plain that she wasn’t a mainstream media cheerleader for her interview subjects. In that respect, she did well – maybe too well.

Defenders of Harris and Walz say they are being unfairly held to clear a much higher bar than their opponents on the other side – and that’s true. But it’s because the newly awakened supporters of the Democratic hopefuls expect more of them.

So answer the questions, already! You will be appreciated for it.