Pat Toomey has no shortage of indefensible positions to answer for. Whether it’s his support for a racist and deranged presidential candidate, his obstruction of the constitutional process on the Supreme Court or his long ties to Wall Street — Toomey is a prime target for inquisitive Capitol Hill reporters. Clearly lacking a convincing response, or any response for that matter, Toomey has employed the courageous strategy of escaping into the Senate’s members-only elevator to avoid the press.
Today, PennLive has a helpful rundown on the meek maneuver frequently used by our own Pat Toomey (R-Elevator).
KEY POINT:
Then there’s the method preferred by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who has found that the bank of Senators-only elevators outside the ornate Senate chamber make for an excellent question-avoidance device.
Don’t like a question? Duck into the elevators and then smile genially as the doors close on your erstwhile interlocutor.
Toomey has come to employ the elevator dodge so frequently that the national press corps is starting to take notice as well.
PennLive: Does Sen. Pat Toomey have elevator issues?
By John Micek – June 17, 2016
If there is one thing we have learned in these, lo, three decades that we’ve been covering politics, it’s that politicians can find all sorts of interesting and occasionally entertaining ways to avoid answering uncomfortable questions.
Some politicians feign polite deafness. Others ignore the query altogether, changing the topic to something they feel more at ease discussing.
Some angrily stomp off when confronted with a line of inquiry they dislike.
… And there are those such as, say, the mayor of a medium-sized city in a former Rustbelt State or a Republican presidential candidate, who petulantly try to cut off journalists’ access entirely in the vain hope they’ll go away.
That never, ever works.
Ever.
Then there’s the method preferred by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who has found that the bank of Senators-only elevators outside the ornate Senate chamber make for an excellent question-avoidance device.
Don’t like a question? Duck into the elevators and then smile genially as the doors close on your erstwhile interlocutor.
Toomey has come to employ the elevator dodge so frequently that the national press corps is starting to take notice as well.
There’s this from our pal Tracie Mauriello of The Post-Gazette:
“Mr. Toomey insists his support for Judge Restrepo hasn’t changed since he and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., first put his name forward for the president’s consideration. He reiterated that support this week but dodged questions about why he hasn’t submitted his blue slip. Instead, he said he was in a rush and disappeared into a senators-only elevator in the Capitol on his way to a caucus luncheon.”
Or this from NPR:
“I think the next president should make the decision about filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court. And you need to move back so that my elevator can go down. Thank you.”
Here’s The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“But in Washington the next day, national reporters mobbing him only wanted to ask about Trump. A stone-faced Toomey referred them to his op-ed article on the topic and ducked into a senators-only elevator.”
Or, more recently, from The New York Times:
“Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, often twists his face into a grimace and races away from reporters before they can ask him about Donald J. Trump’s latest statements.”
Read the full article here.