Posted January 18, 2000 The Art of Apology By Alan Ehrenhalt Browsing through the self-help aisle in a bookstore the other day, I thought of a book I’d like to write for politicians: “Apologize to Win!” A really clever apology can be a devastating weapon. And yet so few elected officials know how to use it for maximum effect. That’s been clear the last few days as an epidemic of inept remorse has swept across state and local government. Each of the current apologizers is violating one or more of the established rules of effective political contrition. Rule 1: Don’t make it look like you’re just going through the motions. John Lindauer, who ran for governor of Alaska in 1998, broke the state’s campaign finance laws by covering up the source of his donations. As part of a plea agreement, he promised to run ads in the state’s three largest papers, apologizing for his mistake. Last week, he did. Sort of. “I acknowledge and publicly apologize,” he wrote, “for knowingly misleading statements in my 1998 campaign.” His mea culpa had all the emotional power of a drivers’ license application. Rule 2: Don’t imply that you were essentially right all along, you just got misinterpreted. Massachusetts state Representative Ellen Story got in trouble for remarking that the state underfunded mental health because of the “predominance of Irish Catholics in authority-making positions.” Story said the Irish considered retardation to be God’s will. After colleagues called her view “bizarre,” she apologized to “anyone I offended” by the “poor choice of words.” Did she really regret what she said? Hard to tell. Rule 3: Don’t start out defending yourself and then change your mind. You may have read about Jane Swift, the Bay State lieutenant governor, who used state employees to babysit her infant daughter. One day Swift proclaimed defiantly that “I’m not going to apologize for trying to be a good mother.” The next day she said she should not have done it and would be careful not to repeat the mistake. It doesn’t exactly sound sincere. Quick-turnaround apologies never do. The truly accomplished apologizer takes a completely different approach. He doesn’t wait to be accused of anything specific. He apologizes proactively, as an offensive weapon. Several recent U.S. senators, said to be losing touch with the electorate, have struck back by airing commercials laced with proactive remorse: “It’s true,” they say. “Over the last six years, I’m afraid I have lost touch with you. I need to listen better, so I can complete the agenda you sent me to implement. Please give me a chance to do that.” It almost always works. Better yet, the effective apologizer expresses regret for things that aren’t his fault. When Bill Clinton apologizes for mistakes he has actually made, such as sex with Monica Lewinsky, he isn’t very convincing. But when he apologizes for distant historical events, such as slavery, World War II internment camps, or the Spanish-American war, he is extremely effective. Moral: The less you had to do with a problem, the more contrite you can afford to be. A politician who isn’t willing to apologize to win probably shouldn’t risk apologizing at all. He should consider doing what Earl Long, the late governor of Louisiana, used to do. One year, Long won re-election vowing that never to raise taxes. As soon as he was sworn in, he announced a tax increase. Then he held a press conference. “What are we supposed to tell the people?” reporters asked him. “No problem,” the governor said. “Tell ’em Ol’ Earl lied.” This works in Louisiana. Warning: Be careful trying it anywhere else. Alan Ehrenhalt is executive editor of Governing magazine. Agree? Disagree? Want to expand on a point? E-mail us at mailbox@governing.com, and we'll post your comments here. Please include your name, location, government or business title or job description, and a daytime phone number (for verification purposes). Previously in View: The State vs. the Wild, Wild Web: regulating the Internet (posted January 14, 2000) Back from the Dead: party control in the South (posted January 11, 2000) Welcome to Governing.com (posted January 2, 2000) Copyright © 2000, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, City & State and Governing.com are trademarks of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.