In the instantaneous digital era of social media and YouTube’s ubiquitous online stage, anything political candidates say can go viral in a heartbeat — especially their gaffes. Scottie Mayfield, one of several GOP candidates trying to oust incumbent Rep. Chuck Fleischmann in the Republican primary, got a full dose of the Youtube gotcha’ treatment Wednesday when he was filmed stumbling for an answer to the basic question he was asked by one of the college students to whom he was speaking. What would be the “top two or three things … (he) specifically would want to accomplish in Washington?”
“Well,” he said, closing up his briefcase as he ended his opening remarks to the College Republicans at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, “I talked to some guys today about that and, uhh, I mean other than the tax code thing, I don’t have any specifics at this point because…”
Because, he rambled on, “it really depends a great deal on the committees on which you get on, and until you know what you’re on, I can tell you what I’m going to do, but if I don’t get on the committee that can do any of those things, I probably will not.”
And so on.
So much for fire in the belly.