Stagefright

It is one of those unfortunate realities of being a politician that you must overcome your fear of public speaking.

Some people have never considered this:After 2 tries, Parra flees debate over stage fright

A case of stage fright sent Democrat Maria Parra off a TV stage Thursday, abruptly ending what would have been her only debate with Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd.

“I’m not used to being in front of the camera. … I couldn’t get my words out. I was just overwhelmed,” she said after the aborted debate, which was being taped at WPTA and which would have been aired this weekend. The matchup has not been rescheduled and is not likely to be...

...In the first attempt to tape the debate, Parra did not make it through her opening statement before leaving the set. Observers were asked to leave the room, and the taping began again. Souder and Parra made their opening statements, and Souder responded to a question about health care from the moderator. When Parra was given a minute to respond, instead she left her seat, saying, “I can’t do this. I just can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

But she regained her composure and was able to lob a few insults out of the view of the crowd.

But Parra, before taking off her microphone and leaving the TV set, called Souder “an embarrassment” and said his performance in Congress was “do little, do nothing, do damage.”

And she promised to be an excellent congressperson - from the privacy of her own home.

- posted by total @ 10/27/2004 04:31:00 AM .