Ask the modern day “Mad Men” on New York’s Madison Avenue about the GOP's efforts to rebrand and they point to the recent episode involving Rep. Don Young's use of the term "wetback" as a missed opportunity. Speaker John A. Boehner quickly demanded that the Alaska Republican apologize, but in the following days, his spokesmen did not even respond to emailed questions about whether Young would face any concrete punishment for using the racially offensive term in a radio interview. “When someone does something like that, it should have been a clear censure,” said Peter Hempel, CEO of DDB New York. “There has to be consequences because otherwise people don’t know what Boehner stands for.” “You need a high-powered Republican to step forward, authoritatively, and say, ‘That is not me.’ And they really need to throw Don Young over the side. They need to throw him under the bus," branding consultant Rob Frankel said. "He would be the representative of the old guard. That’s the beauty of this whole thing.” (more…)
