Christie was asked to weigh in on the debate in the United States over the measles outbreak. On Sunday, Obama told NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, “You should get your kids vaccinated.”
“I understand that there are families that, in some cases, are concerned about the effect of vaccinations,” Obama said. “The science is, you know, pretty indisputable. We’ve looked at this again and again. There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren’t reasons to not.”
Christie, however, said “there has to be a balance and it depends on what the vaccine is, what the disease type is, and all the rest.” He added, “Not every vaccine is created equal and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others.”
Wrong answer, governor. The president, for once, got it right and there was no need to pander to ignorant vaccination truthers. The return of childhood diseases is a serious public health issue and as a public official, you should be as definitive as possible. Christie’s office is now trying some damage control, sending out an e-mail blast that insists, “The Governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated. At the same time different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate.” I’m not sure that — or the full exchange his press office provided — helps matters. At another point in the exchange, Christie tries to dig himself out:
Question: But you’re leaving people the option of not getting vaccinated and that potentially presents a great public risk.What does “balance” mean then? It is far from clear.
Governor Christie: Michael, what I said was that there has to be a balance and it depends on what the vaccine is, what the disease type is and all the rest. And so I didn’t say I’m leaving people the option. What I’m saying is that you have to have that balance in considering parental concerns because no parent cares about anything more than they care about protecting their own child’s health and so we have to have that conversation, but that has to move and shift in my view from disease type. Not every vaccine is created equal and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others. So that’s what I mean by that so that I’m not misunderstood.
But Christie should not have been answering questions anyway. He violated one of the key rules of candidate travel abroad. There are several for GOP presidential hopefuls.
The first rule is that you don’t criticize the president abroad. The rule is broken, but for the MSM looking to ding a candidate for foreign policy uncouthness, this is an easy call. Christie violated that rule as well. (“‘You need an effective negotiator at the top, and, as I’ve said before, I think the president has shown over and over again that he’s not the most effective negotiator, whether you’re talking about the Iranian nuclear talks or whether you’re talking about his recent foray into Cuba,’ Christie said. ‘The president has not proven himself to be the most adept negotiator, in my opinion, on behalf of American interests.’”) You can indirectly criticize the president by stating what you would do (“I would make sure in dealing with dictatorships that I got something concrete before giving up anything,” would have been a better formulation.)
Second, don’t take news conferences when you are likely to get tripped up on details, lose control of the message or be baited into saying something you will regret. There is no need for it as a candidate. You can give speeches, do photo ops and engage in private talks, but chatting with the media overseas (U.S. or foreign) is asking for trouble. The foreign media are notoriously left-wing, even more so than the U.S. MSM. A Republican expecting anything but a hostile question is kidding himself. However, if there are conservative media outlets or associations (the Henry Jackson Society in Britain, for example), it is worthwhile to engage them.
Even in the U.S., an interview that will include foreign policy requires preparation. A one- or two-line answer gets you through the first question, but then there are the follow-ups, usually involving, “So what would you do?” Plainly, candidates like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) need little, if any, preparation because they have been talking about this for years; however, unless you have that same level of confidence, it is best to have a lot more material at your disposal before engaging in tough questioning about national security.
Third, give a positive vision of the U.S. role in the world. Your chief criticism of the president is that he does not want to lead and does not understand the critical role the U.S. plays. Allies view us as untrustworthy and adversaries think they can push us around. So explain what the U.S. role has historically been, why it is critical and why our alliance with the host country (if you are visiting an ally) is critical.
Four, in keeping with the theme of U.S. leadership, it is worth restating that the U.S. supports free peoples. To make this point, it is highly advisable when visiting a country with a less than stellar human rights record to meet with local nongovernmental organizations, advocates for free expression or oppressed minorities. You don’t need to talk to the media afterward, but the fact of the meeting speaks volumes about your commitment to human rights and your unwillingness to give dictators a free pass.
Fifth, do not comment on domestic controversies in the host country. Don’t root for a candidate in an election season or opine on that country’s troubled economy. You are there to talk about America and American leadership. And, as Christie learned, it is not a good idea when abroad to talk about U.S. domestic issues either. If you do, you soon find your foreign travel showcase swamped by mundane domestic matters.
In sum, foreign travel can be harder than it looks. It is one more reminder that the presidential campaign stage is like no other. And Christie’s troubles should remind other candidates that being a media maven back home does not mean you should be trying to wing it on foreign policy, especially overseas.
Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.
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