Gotcha: In the long run, questions are nothing but a diversion

There is a fundamental rule of presidential -- and really any -- campaigns.

If you are a person with a strong voice and a public microphone -- and if you stand for something -- you are going to once in a while end up with your foot in your mouth and a target on your back.

And your words will come back to haunt you.

You might legitimately have earned the attack -- because you did misspeak. Or, you might simply be the person who is in the crosshairs.

And no one is immune.

There will be gotcha questions on both sides this campaign season. And as you listen to them, think about the fact that there are few people in the world whose lives could survive a gotcha-question examination.

They might make for great TV, but these are nothing more than sideshows.

Pay attention to the substance, the policy discussions and the poise under pressure.

Those matter much, much more.

Published in Editorials on August 7, 2015 11:54 AM