At least the doll didn’t ask for campaign contributions

By Larry Persily

For those who remember, Mattel’s Chatty Cathy talking doll was revolutionary when it came out in 1959.

For those too young, I’ll explain.

The doll was a toy sensation. Kids would pull the string hanging out of her back and listen in amazement as she “spoke” one of a dozen or so phrases recorded on a small vinyl record built into her torso. That was before cassette tapes, CDs, memory cards and microchips.

Giving a voice to a 20-inch plastic doll was big news. Though she wasn’t as talkative as the first time Alexa answered your commands more than 50 years later or when AI started giving bad advice a decade after that, it literally was a baby step of some kind for mankind.

Cathy was consistent — as you would expect from a prerecorded set of answers — and never veered from her script. She never adlibbed, never refused to answer but never said anything new either.

She never ever said anything controversial, unless anti-sugar health food advocates were offended by her squeaky voice: “May I have a cookie?” 

In many ways, Chatty Cathy was ahead of her time, she was a role model for many of today’s politicians.

Ever listen to candidates for elected political office? It sounds like they have a repertoire of memorized, if not prerecorded, answers, pledges and promises, blames and games they recite at the pull of a string.

No matter what question a reporter or panel moderator or member of the public in the audience asks, far too many candidates skip the question and launch into memorized campaign talking points. Same old speeches, probably recorded on their phones instead of a vinyl record tucked near their heart.

It’s as if they figure they need to say it often enough and loud enough so that the person who asked the question will accept it. No point asking the question a second time.

No doubt many candidates believe there’s political safety in not being specific. There’s too much risk in blunt honesty and too many chances of offending a voter. Keep it chatty and keep it general. Real facts that add up just get in the way of their math.

Though it’s too bad if a few people go away disappointed at the lack of any real answers, it’s too good to be true for the campaign when most go away happy because they thought they heard what they wanted to hear even if the candidate never said it.

Political campaign answers often are a lot like Silly Putty. Lacking specifics, they can be twisted and pulled and stretched into any shape that fits the moment, then reshaped for the next moment to reflect the image of the crowd.

As the Alaska campaigns for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and the state Legislature start moving into summer gear ahead of the August primary and November general election, an older and wiser Chatty Cathy might give some useful advice.

She might tell voters to pay close attention to candidates’ answers, their speeches, their social media posts. If they don’t say anything specific, if they don’t really answer the questions, if they promise no taxes, play time and free cookies, look for the pull-string in back. Vote for the ones with no strings attached who can speak for themselves.

• Larry Persily is the publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel, which first published this column.