Cheney's hunting accident backfires

Cheney's hunting accident backfires

US Vice President Dick Cheney turned a tragic hunting accident into a public relations disaster by maintaining his business-as-usual approach to his life: that it's nobody's business.

His refusal to announce his involvement in the shooting irritated an already suspicious press corps and even prompted some Republicans to complain.

And his failure to make a more public show of his regret over his friend's injury might have enhanced his image among many as an aloof and remote man.


At the start of George W Bush's presidency six years ago, Dick Cheney was viewed as the grown-up in the administration, the seasoned hand to guide an inexperienced president.

Now he's the centre of controversy.

To weather the political storm now, some spin doctors said Cheney should show more candour, perhaps by taking questions at a press conference.

Yet at least one issue management expert said that wouldn't help.

Others advised patience, saying that the story and the uproar would fade if the victim, Texas attorney Harry Whittington, who suffered a minor heart attack today, recovers.

"The temptation is to say there is a textbook way to handle this sort of thing. There isn't," said Peter Mirijanian, a corporate public relations consultant who specialises in crisis management and has worked for several Democrats in the past.

Most experts agreed, however, that Cheney should have announced the shooting on Saturday evening when it occurred and that he should have issued a public statement of his concern for his friend's wellbeing.

"I am appalled by the whole handling of this," Marlin Fitzwater, who served the elder President George Bush as White House press secretary, told Editor and Publisher magazine.

He recalled that when the elder Bush once collapsed at the Camp David presidential retreat, "the statement was on the wires before the helicopter had left to take him to the hospital".

"I can't believe they didn't have a similar plan here," he said. "It is all Cheney; he is the key that has to start this."

Cheney is secretive to the point of defiance about his public and private life.

He often doesn't release his schedule. His trip to Texas for the hunting trip wasn't announced.

"Their bunker mentality hurts them at a time like this," said Dan Gerstein, a Democratic public relations consultant.

"Cheney should go out publicly and take responsibility.

"He should say, 'There was no wrongdoing, but I made a mistake and I will do everything I can to help Whittington'.

"I haven't seen any expression directly from the vice president."

Cheney hasn't appeared publicly since the shooting. His office issued a statement today that didn't quote Cheney directly but said, "The vice president said that his thoughts and prayers are with Mr Whittington and his family."

Mirijanian said he didn't expect Cheney to hold a press conference.

"I don't think he'd be a great asset," he said. "It wouldn't help the situation."

He said Cheney had already decided that it's not necessary to "feed the media beast every day". If that makes the news media angry, so be it.

"The fact that the White House press corps is very hungry for information isn't necessarily a negative to the supporters of the president and vice-president," Mirijanian said.

"This White House is very good at triangulating the press. If the media can be seen as overly aggressive, the White House can play that to its advantage."

One final pint to make is that Cheney - unlike many other vice-presidents before him - has no ambitions to become commander-in-chief. When Bush leaves office in January 2009, so will he.

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