http://www.enterstageright.com/0899talkshow.htm
Government by talk show, and how to beat it
By Lawrence Henry
web posted August 9, 1999
When the Sunday New York Post came out with its
screaming headline, "Bill Lied to Protect Me," accompanied
by a picture of Hillary, full-page, it should have told
Republicans something important. Alas, Republicans have
missed the point again, as they missed the point -- however
honorably -- during President Clinton's impeachment
proceedings.
Here it is: The Clintons don't care about facts. They don't
even acknowledge them (except to make sure, by hook or
crook, that no ornery fact happens to put one of them in
jail). They have perfected governing as a TV show, and it
works.
So forget what the polls, even the
estimable Zogby, say about Hillary
trailing Rudolf Giuliani by 10 points or
more. It doesn't matter.
Instead, remember three names: Matt
Fong, Lauch Faircloth, and Alfonse
D'Amato. (Indeed, you may have
trouble remembering them. They all lost in the last election.
They were all targeted Clinton enemies.)
Instead, remember President Clinton's persistently high job
approval numbers during the worst of the impeachment
crisis. Those numbers didn't indicate "job approval." They
were, in effect, his Neilsons -- his TV ratings. He soared as a
high-flying villain, beset on all sides by snapping, growling
enemies. Now that that particular TV show has ended, those
"job approval" numbers are dropping once again.
Instead, remember that not one single attack on the Clintons
based on facts -- their criminality, their stuporously bad
character -- has ever really worked.
The Clintons are a TV show. Just get that, and you've got
the whole point. And if you think a TV show can't beat a
regular old politician, well, you just don't know, or don't
acknowledge, what most Americans spend most of their time
doing.
If you condemn the Clintons for their smarminess, their
trashiness, their egotism, their bad character, their villainy,
their egotism, you're simply reinforcing their TV show's
value. ("Please don't throw me in that briar patch!")
Indictments just feed their ratings.
(N.B.: I think Kenneth Starr's widely reported "tin ear" for
politics was in fact quite acute. I think he could have indicted
either Bill or Hillary before the 1996 Presidential election. I
think Judge Starr knew that the country would have elected
Bill anyway, and that that election would have done even
worse damage to the country than it finally did.)
So how do you attack the successful, high-popularity leading
actors in the country's leading TV show? TV shows fail when
their character's cool runs out. TV shows fail when their
leading characters start to look ridiculous. TV shows fail
because a competing show fields an even cooler character,
and the volatile audience starts to watch somebody different.
That's about it.
Thus the George W. Bush juggernaut. As a competing
character, he's showing signs of being able to out-cool
Clinton.
Thus the occasional effectiveness (so far) of Rudy Giuliani,
who's got the chutzpah to make Hillary look ridiculous.
And thus the greatest hope for Republicans: The Clintons
themselves -- with this latest "Talk" shot from Hillary -- may
even make themselves look foolish. Hillary, after all, just
gelded her husband in public. And her husband is President
of the United States.
There is one final piece of good news: Hill and Bill,
inevitably, will suck all the gas and most of the money out of
Al Gore's bid for the Presidency.
But watch it, Republicans: If you think a TV talk show
hostess can't win a Senate seat just because she acts like a
TV talk show hostess, you've got your heads on backwards.
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
Government by talk show, and how to beat it
By Lawrence Henry
web posted August 9, 1999
When the Sunday New York Post came out with its
screaming headline, "Bill Lied to Protect Me," accompanied
by a picture of Hillary, full-page, it should have told
Republicans something important. Alas, Republicans have
missed the point again, as they missed the point -- however
honorably -- during President Clinton's impeachment
proceedings.
Here it is: The Clintons don't care about facts. They don't
even acknowledge them (except to make sure, by hook or
crook, that no ornery fact happens to put one of them in
jail). They have perfected governing as a TV show, and it
works.
So forget what the polls, even the
estimable Zogby, say about Hillary
trailing Rudolf Giuliani by 10 points or
more. It doesn't matter.
Instead, remember three names: Matt
Fong, Lauch Faircloth, and Alfonse
D'Amato. (Indeed, you may have
trouble remembering them. They all lost in the last election.
They were all targeted Clinton enemies.)
Instead, remember President Clinton's persistently high job
approval numbers during the worst of the impeachment
crisis. Those numbers didn't indicate "job approval." They
were, in effect, his Neilsons -- his TV ratings. He soared as a
high-flying villain, beset on all sides by snapping, growling
enemies. Now that that particular TV show has ended, those
"job approval" numbers are dropping once again.
Instead, remember that not one single attack on the Clintons
based on facts -- their criminality, their stuporously bad
character -- has ever really worked.
The Clintons are a TV show. Just get that, and you've got
the whole point. And if you think a TV show can't beat a
regular old politician, well, you just don't know, or don't
acknowledge, what most Americans spend most of their time
doing.
If you condemn the Clintons for their smarminess, their
trashiness, their egotism, their bad character, their villainy,
their egotism, you're simply reinforcing their TV show's
value. ("Please don't throw me in that briar patch!")
Indictments just feed their ratings.
(N.B.: I think Kenneth Starr's widely reported "tin ear" for
politics was in fact quite acute. I think he could have indicted
either Bill or Hillary before the 1996 Presidential election. I
think Judge Starr knew that the country would have elected
Bill anyway, and that that election would have done even
worse damage to the country than it finally did.)
So how do you attack the successful, high-popularity leading
actors in the country's leading TV show? TV shows fail when
their character's cool runs out. TV shows fail when their
leading characters start to look ridiculous. TV shows fail
because a competing show fields an even cooler character,
and the volatile audience starts to watch somebody different.
That's about it.
Thus the George W. Bush juggernaut. As a competing
character, he's showing signs of being able to out-cool
Clinton.
Thus the occasional effectiveness (so far) of Rudy Giuliani,
who's got the chutzpah to make Hillary look ridiculous.
And thus the greatest hope for Republicans: The Clintons
themselves -- with this latest "Talk" shot from Hillary -- may
even make themselves look foolish. Hillary, after all, just
gelded her husband in public. And her husband is President
of the United States.
There is one final piece of good news: Hill and Bill,
inevitably, will suck all the gas and most of the money out of
Al Gore's bid for the Presidency.
But watch it, Republicans: If you think a TV talk show
hostess can't win a Senate seat just because she acts like a
TV talk show hostess, you've got your heads on backwards.
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"