While I don’t waste my time watching some dude in a marble building give a speech I do like to read about highlights of stupid shit politicians say. When it comes to stupid shit the Republican Party (GOP) has a much longer track record. The Democrat Party seems to be able to better muzzle its candidates. That means the Democrats enjoy a better public image whereas the GOP get to explain away shit like this:
Patterson also proposed a fix to Detroit’s financial problems: Turn the city into a reservation for Native Americans.
“I made a prediction a long time ago, and it’s come to pass. I said, ‘What we’re gonna do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and the corn.’”
Obviously the GOP went into damage control mode and tried to claim that the person who interviewed Patterson had an agenda. Agenda or not, saying something a idiotic as turning Detroit into an Indian reservation, building a wall around it, and tossing in blankets and corn isn’t going to turn out well. There’s no reason to say such a thing because any potential benefit you derive from it will certainly pale in comparison to the amount of ammunition you hand your political opponents.
If you’re a politician then you should know enough to keep your statements unoffensive. Failing to do so only leads to your opponents using it to make you look like an ass. The GOP would do well to hire some public relations coaches for its candidates so it can avoid having to explain away stupid statements like the one Patterson made.