May 30, 2016 08:44 AM UTC

Progressive PR pro has advice for Keyser

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Coulda, shoulda, woulda – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jon Keyser has gotten a ton of advice on social media about how he should have reacted when it became obvious that signatures on his ballot-access petitions were actually factually forged.

You recall, when asked to comment on the forgeries, Keyser first said nothing, then exploded, and eventrually threw others under the bus.

The best package of how-to-be-a-better-interviewee advice for Keyser came from my friend Jenny Davies, who runs a progressive communications firm. Davies wrote in her newsletter:

We spend a lot of time coaching clients on the “do’s” of handling media interviews to convey our best messages in a trusted way. So we thought we’d use Keyser’s media meltdown as an excellent opportunity to go over some “don’t” pro tips in interviewing under pressure:

DON’T be defensive and combative
DON’T call a reporter the wrong name – repeatedly
DON’T completely ignore the question
DON’T repeat the same thing like a robot, especially if it doesn’t make sense
DON’T threaten a reporter with your big, scary dog
DON’T accuse the reporter of working with others against you

Just keep calm and call Progressive Promotions (or review our materials) the next time you need to handle the media.

A progressive outfit like this might be perfect for Keyser, who appears to think progressives have more power than they actually do–since he’s been blaming, among others, ProgressNow and George Soros for his own troubles.