When you're running for president -- or doing a national bus tour while teasing the press that you might run for president -- everything you say is fair game. Especially whatever you say in front of a TV camera.
So when Sarah Palin was asked about Paul Revere and gave a mangled summary of his ride, it made the news.
Here is what she said, according to a transcript in The Washington Post:
“We saw where Paul Revere hung out as a teenager, which was something new to learn. He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”
Paul Revere didn't ring bells. He did make bells. He didn’t warn the British -- he warned the colonists, the rebels, about the British coming. And he wasn't riding around town, shooting his gun. He was on a secret mission to quietly warn the rebels. He used two lanterns, because his mission was about stealth.
Palin got her history wrong, and this being history that every elementary school student learns, naturally the national media gave it plenty of play while late-night shows made plenty of jokes.
Gaffes happen to every public figure. You can't be perfect.
The lesson for other public figures is to study how Palin and her supporters mishandled this gaffe.
Mistake No. 1: Denial.
Palin went on FOX News to say that she hadn't mangled the history at all.
This gave the story legs. Reporters and pundits went back to her original statement and highlighted the errors.
Mistake No. 2: Trying to Change History.
That's not a typo. Palin supporters went on a massive spree of attempting to rewrite the Wikipedia entry on Paul Revere so it better matched Palin's original mangling of the story.
This prompted others to edit right back, and to comment that (a) Sarah Palin had nothing to Paul Revere and (b) as she wasn't a historian or expert, whatever she said about Paul Revere had no business showing up on his Wikipedia page.
The fight on Wikipedia also made news and gave the story extra legs.
Palin also tried to change history herself, rephrasing what she said on TV to make it seem better than her answer really was.
Mistake No. 3: Blaming the Messenger.
Palin's last resort was to blame the "lamestream media" for another gotcha question.
Except the question wasn't remotely tough. It wasn't a pop quiz -- the question that generated her bizarre retelling of Paul Revere was a softball, something along the lines of, "So what'd you see today?"
Reporters and pundits nailed her on this one. They replayed her "gotcha question" defense, then replayed the actual question.
What Palin Should Have Done
Everybody makes mistakes. Have cameras and reporters follow you around ten hours a day for a week and they'd have hours of gaffes and unflattering footage.
The press, however, does try to be fair. They don't go out of their way to run mistakes, show bad film or print photos that make you look horrible. That would be cruel and pointless.
What's interesting is the difference between Palin and other politicians. President Barack Obama famously made a mistake when talking about the number of states in the union.
Vice President Joe Biden is constantly making gaffes. Yet he doesn't get hammered for them. Why not? The mainstream media isn't giving him a pass. Biden doesn't deny that his gaffes are mistakes. In fact, he makes fun of his propensity for saying the wrong thing.
This is key. Whatever flaw a public figure has -- and every person has one -- the worst thing you can do is be sensitive and defensive about it.
I can't imagine Biden being defensive and denying that he'd made a mistake. Somebody like him would laugh at himself, maybe make a crack about his daughter or grand-daughter asking him at dinner if he wanted her to tutor him about the American Revolution.
The story wouldn't go anywhere. In fact, somebody making a mistake like that, and having the sense to laugh at himself, and joke about it, comes off as more human and real than anybody who tries to be perfect.
Human nature is such that we want the high and mighty to fall, to knock them off their pedestal. The press sees this as their job. Every public figure, and everyone in the public relations business, needs to recognize this. Because mistakes will happen. Guaranteed. What isn't guaranteed is how you react to those mistakes.