Parsing the meaning of 'campaign event'

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/30/14805057-parsing-the-meaning-of-campaign-event?lite

By Steve Benen
Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:47 AM EDT

The Romney/Ryan campaign won some plaudits yesterday for agreeing to scrap its scheduled events as Hurricane Sandy battered the East coast. It turns out, however, there may have been some fine print.

Yesterday, the Republican team said it had canceled today's campaign event in Ohio. Mitt Romney was set to headline a "victory rally" at a specific venue in Dayton, alongside specific celebrity guests, but out of sensitivity, the event was scrapped.

Instead, Romney will appear at the exact same venue at the exact same time with the exact same celebrity guests, but it will be billed as a "storm relief event." What about yesterday's promise about cancellations? A Republican official said Romney/Ryan hadn't broken its word because, technically, this is "not a campaign event per se."

Hmm. The badge for today's "storm relief event" says "victory rally"; the sign on the door described the event as a "campaign rally"; they're playing the campaign warm-up songs for the audience; and before the "storm relief event" could begin, campaign officials showed the official campaign video on Romney's awesomeness.

But don't worry, it's "not a campaign event per se."

Those who praised Romney/Ryan for their restraint in the face of a national disaster yesterday may want to rethink the acclaim.