A basic tenet of any sort of media tradecraft, whether in print or on-screen, is that you should have some knowledge of the things of which you speak or write; a revolutionary concept. When that doesn’t happen, we get what we saw tonight- an assortment of drive-bys beclowning themselves over the meaning of a quote used by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a callback to Ronald Reagan.
The meaning of “pale pastels” within GOP political discourse is not something that is readily discoverable subsequent to a 10-second Google search. I get it. But the term does have historic significance.
Ronald Reagan used the term multiple times, most notably during his unity speech at the 1976 GOP convention. “Bold, unmistakable colors with no pale pastel shades,” Reagan said when contrasting the GOP platform with that of the Democrats. That phrase has been broadly used by conservatives ever since- with the crystal-clear understanding that it comes from Reagan.
And yet, while live-posting (formerly live-tweeting) about tonight’s Republican primary debate on CNN, NBC reporter Ali Vitali took notice of DeSantis’ use of “pale pastels” when drawing distinctions between himself and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. And immediately, Vitali thought that DeSantis had committed a SEXISM, posting:
A color scheme, “pale pastel” or otherwise, is not the way you attack a presidential candidate. None of the men who’ve been on these debate stages have had their clothes used to criticize their policies.
At a certain point, the “pale pastels” commentary could start to ring a little sexist. None of the male candidates are being taken to task for their bright red ties’ somehow being akin to their policy stances.
OOF.
Her colleague Alec Hernández brought no knowledge to this discourse, either, indicating that the line is part of DeSantis’ stump speech but ultimately co-signing on Vitali’s accusations of sexism:
DeSantis’ “pale pastels” reference is a line pulled from his stump speech. He often says that Republicans need to lead with “core convictions” and govern with “bold colors, not pale pastels.” That said, saying it out of context here standing next to Haley does come off differently.
Ten minutes later, the AP’s Meg Kinnard would add to this nonsense by firing off her own item with its own overt accusation of sexism (scroll to 9:42):
DeSantis has twice used the phrasing of “pale pastels” as a knock on Haley. She is the only woman in the race, and she is standing next to him on stage, clad in a pastel pink dress.
DeSantis first used the reference to portray the former South Carolina governor as in favor of raising taxes. He said, “We need to fly a flag of bold colors. Carrying the banner putting the American people first — not the pale pastels of the warmed-over corporatism of people like Nikki Haley.”
Minutes later, he said it again in reference to immigration, saying Haley is “bankrolled by people who want open borders” and adding, “You should work with corporate CEOs, Governor, that is pale pastels.”
One symptom of the corruption of our journalistic institutions is the willful elevation of propaganda over facts obtained through knowledge of the subject matter you are writing about.
Exit question: How soon before the media try to wriggle out of it with a “DeSantis plagiarizes Reagan” news cycle?
