Omission when the sky is falling

The dwindling days of the 2016 presidential race have been anything but calm. Stymied by a troubling candidate, down ballot Republicans are making difficult decisions between supporting their party or acquiescing to their conscience.

This National Review article about Mike Pence offers an eloquent description of his particular strategy; simply pretend it isn’t happening. Referring to criticisms from former allies, “he has tuned them out, retreating deeper into the safe confines of Trump’s bunker to block out the antagonism and gloom.”

On Morning Joe the article’s author stated that Pence’s struggle to “stay true to who he is while also trying to stay loyal to his running mate” is taking a toll. In order to do this, Pence has had to “put on blinders,” be “willfully insulated,” and “pretend that it doesn’t exist.”

When Pence was asked whether Paul Ryan should be reelected – an area where he has publicly disagreed with his running mate – he “declined three times to answer the question.” A campaign staffer quickly corrected the issue but the words – or lack of words – were out. It generated a lot of coverage.

This week has seen two additional instances of strategic reticence: On Thursday Ted Cruz campaigned with Pence in Iowa but did not mention Trump by name in his speech (Salon wrote, “Ted Cruz treats Donald Trump like Voledmort”); and Senator Patrick Toomey, despite pressure from his opponent and the media, will not reveal who he supports for President. In this local TV interview, he flat out refuses to answer the question even though the Senate race is considered one of the most contentious in the country.  Both of these omissions have generated enough buzz to appear on memeorandum.

Less than a week from Election Day the pressure is rising on candidates and their staffs to make the final case and get out the vote. The pressure is also rising on the media to cover every moment like a deal breaker lest it affect the outcome. Stories are not given an opportunity to mature and coverage is apocalyptic in nature. Thus Toomey's reticence, Cruz's failure to say Trump's name and Pence's hesitation over Paul Ryan are given new dimensions of importance leading up to Tuesday.