Big Sky Cairn

David Crisp has recently fancied himself a monkey on the back of Republican strategists. Lately, he criticizes the GOP for denying Kelleher a speaking slot on the main stage at their convention. He sets up this faulty dilemma:

1. Give the guy the five minutes at the convention podium that he has earned and then let everybody have dessert.
2. Turn our dissatisfaction into a front-page news story that makes us look more divided and inept than ever.

The problem here is that he assumes giving the guy five minutes at the convention wouldn’t be front page news. I think it would under the headline “State GOP Endorses Kelleher” or “Kelleher Finds Himself at Home in GOP.” Kelleher is a nut-job liberal, so giving him a microphone and a stage would make reporters drool. It might even turn into a national story.

There’s plenty of precedent here for the no-win media situation. The GOP comes across badly (in the press) no matter what they do with regard to RINO Lt. Governor Bohlinger - invite him or exclude him. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t and my preference is that they keep Kelleher as far away from my party as possible. I don’t want to the convention to be about that.

From a media perspective, Kelleher is the story - it doesn’t really matter what the GOP does.