Ready for a close-up

When capturing political video is the goal

In the political, business or nonprofit worlds, few things can be as frustrating as a meeting intended to achieve one goal that gets hijacked by someone trying to achieve something different.

It’s not that the hijacker’s issues aren’t important; it’s just not his meeting to commandeer.

That’s the situation some federal lawmakers have faced in coming home to visit with constituents, and Northwest Arkansas’ U.S. Rep. Steve Womack had a moment of his own at a town hall meeting several months back. Apparently as the event breaks up and participants are socializing and eating, a woman active with Boone County Indivisible starts following Womack around. It turns out an associate just happens to have a video recording device following her every move.

The woman demands Womack answer her question, the substance of which we never hear on the video. But Womack clearly decides not to engage. The activist follows him into a kitchen then outside, loudly accusing him of ignoring her questions in “every” town hall meeting. She also claims Womack doesn’t answer questions from other black constituents. Womack calmly walks toward a car and gets in. “Am I that worthless to you as your constituent?” she says. As the congressman shuts the car door, the woman turns to her videographer and, with excitement in her voice, says “Please tell me you got that on video.”

Mission accomplished. Boone County Indivisible uploaded the video to YouTube, showing the congressman doing nothing wrong but making the most out of such a dramatic confrontation by one of its activists. From time to time, it gets picked up by another blogger and the conjured-up outrage is revealed yet again.

In September, at another town hall meeting, the activist returns and Womack tries to answer her questions. According to a report in the Harrison Daily Times, she interrupted Womack several times and referred to Womack as a racist. Womack said he ignored her at the other event not because she was black, as she claimed, but because she was “obnoxious.”

Welcome to modern politics. We’re not saying it’s a bad tactic to excite people who already tend to agree with the activist. For others, however, it’s worth remembering the intention of these social media-fueled tactics is the creation of theater, not solutions to problems.

A congressman should often return home and meet with constituents, giving them a chance to ask questions. But in today’s climate, activists show up ready to hijack the proceedings with video rolling. And if the congressman does nothing wrong, activists will create their own drama to make their video exciting. It’s gotcha activism.

Womack has been known to be a little hot-headed and impatient sometimes when he’s challenged, so perhaps that invites his critics to crank up the drama in hopes of a reaction. But let’s not pretend the video-wielding activists are there for a reasonable exchange of ideas.

“Please tell me you got that on video,” says it all, doesn’t it?

WHAT’S THE POINT? In this modern age of politics, sometimes creating drama is a bigger goal than creating solutions.