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November 11, 2009
Did I Hear You Correctly?
Earlier this fall, I met with Mike McWherter for an hour or so of discussion about the campaign for governor, and how he intends to address some of the challenges facing Tennesseans. As that conversation drew to a close, I asked a couple of questions that had been solicited from readers earlier that week.
McWherter's answer to one of those questions, as posted here, touched off some controversy in the online political arena, and there have been more conversations with the candidate on the subject—some of which may indicate that I misinterpreted the candidate's response, and thus inadvertently attributed to Mike McWherter a specific policy position that he does not, in fact, hold.
Let me state first that I would never intentionally twist, spin, or otherwise distort an interviewee's words, for political reasons or for any other purpose. My intent here is to provide readers with information about candidates and their views, and if I have an opinion about that information, I try to demarcate that opinion clearly from the facts that I'm presenting.
The original question asked the candidate to declare whether or not he supported a proposed ban on adoption by unmarried couples.
When I asked McWherter whether, if he were governor and such legislation passed in the General Assembly (effectively prohibiting same-sex adoption), he would veto that bill, I understood his answer to be "no," which meant, to me, that he would allow the ban to go into effect.
I did ask a couple of follow-up questions, but I did not inquire whether McWherter would allow the bill to become law without his signature. I felt at the time that his responses, overall, to the question made his position clear on adoption by gay couples.
The McWherter campaign has now stated, according to Sean Braisted, that a bill with this intent would be very complex, and that McWherter would not be in favor of it.
If I misinterpreted, and erroneously published, Mr. McWherter's earlier remarks, I sincerely apologize.
I plan to use a fully disclosed digital recording device in future interviews.
The story remains a little muddled, but I have learned some things. Hopefully voters have as well.
Further reading:
Policy , TN Gubernatorial Elections | By joe lance | 9:53 PM
Comments
I still have a hard time believing you misheard though. The Nashville Scene confirmed his stance, and if either of you were wrong, the campaign has had several weeks and opportunities to correct the record. It sounds to me like McWherter was put on the spot this morning and told the audience what they wanted to hear.
Posted by: GoldnI at November 11, 2009 10:34 PM
>. I am so tired of Tennessee politics.
Posted by: alice at November 11, 2009 10:40 PM
Never use greaterthan/lessthan symbols in comments. That prefix was supposed to be a ::sigh:: ...
Posted by: alice at November 11, 2009 10:44 PM
Goldni,
I'm pretty sure they had already discussed changing his position long before I asked the question, most likely due to complaints by donors about his stance on the issue. Mike Kopp was rather adamant that his new position was his stance all along.
Posted by: Sean Braisted at November 12, 2009 9:21 AM