In politics, the cliché is especially true: A photo really is worth a thousand words – and possibly a couple attack ads later on during the campaign.
Perhaps that’s why none of the Democratic senators who have sat down with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have agreed to let press photographers into the room. Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota defied their leadership by agreeing to meet the nominee. None, however, were brave enough to allow a press spray into their offices.
This is deliberate, of course. Without a press spray, as Igor Bobic of HuffPost points out, exposure is limited.
Vulnerable Dems Donnelly and Heitkamp are meeting with Kavanaugh this afternoon, but neither senator is doing a photo op. Means photographers only get a pic of Kavanaugh walking into their office — not together.
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) August 15, 2018
Obviously, optics drive the decision to keep photographers away. A picture next to the justice who could overturn Roe v. Wade or reinforce Citizens United wouldn’t play well with liberal voters. And the same picture would only enrage conservatives if any of these senators ultimately decide to vote against Kavanaugh.
Less visibility then, affords more flexibility, something red state Democrats take where they can get it.
Manchin, to be fair, released a single photo of the pair, and a handful of Republican senators have also opted to keep photographers at bay during the confirmation process. But it is ironic that at a moment when Senate Democrats demand tens of thousands of documents from Kavanaugh’s time in the White House, they are too afraid to let photographers snap a quick picture of what they’re doing today to serve the people of their states.
