reaction vs. response

In yesterday’s interview, Katie Couric asked John McCain about a new Washington Post poll that shows Barack Obama recapturing the lead in the presidential race. “What’s your reaction to that?” she asked.

McCain proceeded to share his “response” to the poll, and here at Grammar Guard, we applauded.

A reaction is a sudden, spontaneous response to a stimulus, such as shrieking, cussing or fainting. It is not a synonym for opinion, judgment or any kind of measured response.

Couric sounded foolish when she asked for McCain’s reaction, as if he heard about the Washington Post poll and yelped or vomited.

It’s all too easy to parrot the word “reaction” back when you’ve been asked for it, as President Bush did in Beijing when Bob Costas asked for his reaction to something. We’re impressed that John McCain took the high road here.

Kind of strange to see news anchors needing linguistic cues from politicians, no?