Off-hand remarks can destroy a candidate.
In August of 1967, for example the then-governor of Michigan, George Romney, a leading contender for the Republican nomination for president explained his shifting change of opinion on the war in Vietnam from “for” to “against” as a result of being “brainwashed” by American generals. The admission was a P.R. disaster that quickly ended his presidential aspirations.
The latest illustration of a disastrous gaffe concerns Kristi Noem, South Dakota’s telegenic governor who was seriously considered a potential vice presidential candidate for Donald Trump.
In her forthcoming book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward she admitted to personally shooting her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, who was unsuitable for hunting due to her aggressive nature. Cricket also killed chickens, seemingly for the fun of it. She further dispatched a goat that smelled “disgusting, musky, rancid,” and loved to chase her children, even knocking them down and dirtying their clothes.
The shooting incident happened 20 years ago but the current re-telling immediately went viral and her identity became Kristi Noem, puppy and goat killer.
Her reasons for dispatching the unruly animals were dismissed along with her explanation that such killing regularly occurs on farms.
Predictably, Democrats treated her as a surrogate for Trump given her outspoken support of the ex-president. The Democrat candidate for governor of Montana, Ryan Busse, opined, “Anyone who has ever owned a bird dog knows how disgusting, lazy, and evil this is. Damn.”
Like Romney, her political career ended over a seemingly trivial matter.
Kristi Noem did nothing unusual.