I certainly don’t want to buoy this idea that Meet the Press is somehow sacrosanct and canceling on an appearance on the show is like violating a monastery or something. And frankly, I don’t know what Rand and his media handlers were thinking having him kick off his general election campaign with an hourlong appearance on the Rachel Maddow show (who, frankly, was eminently fair to him). But this canceling on his Meet the Press appearance just casts in really high relief how totally not ready for prime time Rand Paul is.
He seems first to have told Meet The Press that he was exhausted and had to cancel, according to MTP producer Betsy Fischer.
Now the campaign tells Dave Weigel: “Rand did Good Morning America today, set the record straight, and now we are done talking about it. No more national interviews on the topic.”
I mean, what topic? His senate campaign? Spokesman Jesse Benton seems to have meant that he would no longer discuss his views on the Civil Rights Act. But that’s it? He won’t talk to the press anymore? From a campaign perspective these really are nightmare scenarios. I’m sure even the political operatives that are enjoying the hell out of watching this are still getting a cold ‘there but for the grace of God’ chill about the whole thing. But this is the big leagues.
