Richard Burr is an interesting guy. Not personally - I mean, I'm sure his immediate acquaintances think the Senator's lovely, but he's never been the type to make the rounds on the Sunday talk shows or accuse other Congressmen or Senators of being "unAmerican," for instance. For the 14 years he's repped this area of North Carolina, Burr's been a moderate conservative (though a more reliable Republican vote since he joined the Senate in 2004), never really an idealogical wingnut. (Full disclosure: I ran into him once in Advance Auto. And his wife and I went to the same college. Also, she sold my friend's house.)
So, bless his heart, he and his staff were probably completely unprepared for what happened this week. One minute, Burr's telling a private audience the same charming story he's been telling for months about how last fall he advised his wife to withdraw as much money as she could before the banks collapsed, and the next minute he's Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World." And just like that, another formerly anonymous elected official learns the hard way that nothing is ever private.
I have the same questions that everyone else has: has Burr never heard of the FDIC? If he was so worried that his family's finances would disappear into a zombie-bank void, why did he assure North Carolinians that they didn't need to withdraw their own funds? If the banks were in such dire trouble, why didn't he prevail on then Senator Elizabeth Dole to vote for TARP (as Burr himself did)?
It was a silly thing to do, and a really silly thing to say in public. But I'm more concerned with the media treatment of the story. Burr is up for reelection next year, and marked for a takedown by Democrats salivating over the fact that President Obama won N.C. and Senator Dole lost. (And we will beat him, btw.) That makes this newsworthy locally, but nationally? MSNBC, really? Could it be that progressive PR folks were desperate for a story to counteract the current media fascination with anti-tax "tea parties"? What could be better than a promising conservative caught in a financial semi-goof? (If they'd caught Burr's comments on camera, that's what!)
For the record, I think the Democrat/progressive response is maybe a little much. Have you ever heard that expression, "don't brag; let others do it for you." The same goes double for bashing your opponents. Score your points and let it go. We've got a year and a half to go before the election, and the last thing we want to do is allow Burr to paint himself as a victim of a left-wing media persecution. And on that subject...
I've said many times that I don't think the media has a liberal bias - compare coverage of Iraq War protests to this "tea party" BS if you don't believe me - but they do have a "what's right in front of me" bias that's been made worse by shrinking editorial staffs. An ever-more organized and energized progressive blogging network is going to get better and better at bringing small issues before media outlets with big reaches. The Richard Burrs of the world - and the spokespeople who work for them - have to be ready for it.
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