They always go on during any campaign and any of us who are smart enough to understand the intent of a “hunting trip” by a political candidate can usually smile and hope. Hope? Yeah, hope that someone will be able to capture one of those pictures that ends up hurting the candidate more than helping them. Afterall, you always get what’s coming to you in the end, right?
Any politician knows that they are also fair game – no pun intended – when they call in the press in an attempt to paint themselves in a light that doesn’t always work out the way they had hoped.
In Texas democratic candidate for governor Chris Bell, did just that. He went on a dove hunting escursion on Sunday and invited the press. This knee-slapping report was filed by the Star-Telegram.
Bell, a lawyer and former U.S. House member from Houston, said the Sunday hunt was his first since a 1998 venture in the Panhandle.
“I’m certainly trying not to be anything I’m not,” Bell said before the hunt. “A lot of what you do in a campaign is symbolic. Plus, I think I’ll have some fun.”
Hunting guide Tony Timmons said Bell didn’t fire a shot during the twilight excursion. The candidate’s borrowed shotgun was in the safety position when he took aim on a bird and tried to pull the trigger.
Oh if we had only had a photo of that moment in history.
For those who might not remember other incidents, let me see if I can refresh your memories in this photo op during a recent presidential campaign.
In case you didn’t pick up on the obvious things in the photo, let me help. The first obvious “oooops” is the dog in the background. The dog is heading in the opposite direction of where the “hunter” is aiming his gun. The second is his left thumb is completely blocking any attempt at sighting the weapon.
It would be hard to tell in this photo who knows less about hunting, the shooter with the gun or the shooter with the camera.
Tom Remington
