Repetition creates reputation. For Hilary Clinton, her repetition of awkward conversations about racial diversity has given her a less than positive reputation in the Black community. For a female presidential candidate, it is ironic how diversity is a troublesome topic for Mrs. Clinton.
Photo Courtesy www.racismreview.com
In our Los Angeles media training, we teach clients to address a question as a topic (diversity) of conversation. And to have some planned-ahead messages for bridging.
During a 2016 campaign stop in Minnesota, a Black Lives Matter activist challenged Mrs. Clinton about the lack of racial diversity in the Democratic Party. In our mock media training, we might have crafted a response like:
“You’re right, help me bring more diversity to the White House with your vote for the first woman President in U.S. history.”
Instead, a not Ready for Prime Time Mrs. Clinton fired back by saying,
“You know what, Dear, we have different opinions … why don’t you go run for something, then?”
And
“Respectfully, if that is your position, then I will talk only to white people about how we are going to deal with this very real problem.”
In the book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People (and isn’t that what someone who is running for office is trying to do?) Dale Carnegie writes,
“If you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent’s good will.
“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.
“I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way under high heaven to get the best of an argument— and that is to avoid it. Avoid it as you would avoid rattlesnakes and earthquakes.”
As a former First Lady, Secretary of State and current presidential candidate, Mrs. Clinton should be wise to the ways of the media by now. It’s often said that the camera doesn’t lie, nor does it blink. And its memory chip lasts forever.