Romney Ropes Off Media to Avoid Making Unscripted Gaffes

[MindMover]

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is clamping down on unrehearsed comments by the presumed Republican nominee, tightening control of his message to limit gaffes as he courts a broader swath of the electorate that will decide the November election.

Aides to the former Massachusetts governor, who has created political headaches for himself with unscripted comments, have taken to barring reporters from asking questions as he greets voters and blocking the media from even observing the chats.

He has held question-and-answer sessions with national reporters covering his campaign twice in the five weeks since he sewed up the nomination.

Also, he has begun a practice of meeting privately with a small group of voters before public events, for what aides call “off-the-record” sessions to hear their concerns. Reporters are shut off from the encounters.

That was the case yesterday in St. Petersburg, Florida, where reporters covering Romney’s speech were told in advance they couldn’t ask questions as the candidate greeted voters along a security rope line.

Those who defied the order were blocked by Secret Service agents and campaign volunteers and given stern warnings not to try it again.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-17/romney-ropes-off-media-to-avoid-making-unscripted-gaffes

[applegrove]

1. Puck puck puck puck!

[d_r]

2. they'll make fun of Obama for a teleprompter

[Control-Z]

3. Gee - who else had to be protected from the media

in 2008? They can't let their nominees for higher office speak off the cuff, whether they are plain stupid or supposedly literate. It doesn't matter when the nominee is self serving and greedy.