off message

off message

Deviating from or being untrue to the official or agreed upon view, plan, or ideology. We just feel like having a spokesperson with such strong religious convictions is a little off message for our organization. The candidate usually maintains an unflappable demeanor during these interviews, rarely stepping outside of a set of carefully crafted responses, so it was odd to see him going so drastically off message.
See also: message, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

on/off ˈmessage

(of a politician) stating/not stating the official point of view of their political party: Despite their internal problems, the party maintains a public front of staying on message.
See also: message, off, on
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

off message

Deviating from a planned set of remarks or positions: The aides worried that the candidate would make a gaffe if he went off message.
See also: message, off
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • on/off message
  • on message
  • wall-eyed
  • get the wrong idea (about someone or something)
  • up the booay
  • screwy
  • down to the last detail
  • mouthpiece
  • down to a gnat 's eyebrow
  • down to a gnat's eyebrow
References in periodicals archive
Notifications Image Credit: Supplied How to turn off message preview on iOS 7 devices:
By Oasis Dream, she is the first foal of Off Message, a winning half-sister to Mount Nelson, who took the Group 1 Criterium International at two and the Eclipse Stakes at four, and to Monitor Closely - like Palm Pilot, by Oasis Dream - who won last year's Great Voltigeur Stakes before finishing third to Mastery in the St Leger.
"Being in the dark is a big adventure for the Beavers and they all say they'll take the Switch It Off message home with them."
We know he's just an Ordinary Joe - oh, really - but his MPs are clearly off message charging taxpayers for maintaining their vast country piles.
Only one person was off message: the bloke doing the interviews in the tunnel.
Speaking to a scrutiny committee yesterday, Coun Summerfield veered alarmingly off message, ignoring an implausibly optimistic written report in his name, to announce that high street spending is slumping at unprecedented levels.
The McCain on display in the 24-minute interview was prickly, at times abrasive, and determined not to stray off message."
According to the Canadian Press, "Ian Brodie, Harper's chief of staff, has warned cabinet ministers that if they stray off message they face an escalating scale of sanctions, ranging from public humiliation to removal from cabinet" (May 26, 2006).
But Hatch, in the course of an extended rant against Senate Democrats for holding up a handful of Bush judicial nominees, inadvertently strayed off message, becoming too frank in his longwinded analysis.
She demanded to know whether Bush thinks the Iraqi people "are a threat to us." At that point, Fleischer went off message with a weird statement.
The man who cocked up a Scottish Cup draw - twice - then led the longest recruitment process in football history, went off message again as he introduced the new Scottish boss at Hampden.
He said: "I need to speak to my captain Nicolette and the players to work out why they went off message against the Wildcats.
SIR - It is sad to see that a party that once held freedom of speech as a goal worth aiming for has tried to silence Dafydd Elis-Thomas, a senior Plaid Cymru Assembly Member, by threatening to stop him standing at next year's Assembly elections for speaking off message.
However one of the country's most powerful men, Secretary of State John Kerry, sees it quite differently, choosing to go off message and claim the Russian defector wasn't the only man responsible.
In 1999 he published The Welsh Illusion, followed by Wales Off Message in 2000, A Year in Wales in 2001 and When Arthur Met Maggie in 2006.