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POLITICS & COMMUNITY
Fear and Loathing: On the Cyber-Road to Election '96
by harry goldstein
Don't miss Harry Goldstein's other columns on Campaign '96.
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 Dole quote from a speech in Baker, Louisiana, 9/11/96:
"...Don't believe all the scare ads. That's all [the Democrats] have got. They haven't had an idea for four or five years, but they've got a way to scare people. That's all they have is fear, fear, fear." And then this curious reversal, quoted in the 9/20/96 "New York Times": "If a new report shows that crime is going down, no matter. They're scared to death in America," Mr. Dole declared. "They're scared to death in America!"
C-SPAN -- the next best thing to being there:
C-SPAN was somewhat better; you got to see the not-ready-for-prime time speakers reveal some of the divisions in the major parties, but there was really not a helluva lot that was unrehearsed. C-SPAN also covered the Green Convention, which nominated Ralph Nader, and the Natural Law Party Convention, which nominated John Hegelin. Watching the Little Cable Network That Dares to Bore might not have been the same as actually being on the floor of the conventions, but it gave me a good idea of what was going on just beyond Corporate Journalism's radar screen.
Gridiron Jack's game plan for two thousand zero zero:
I'm not the only who's noticed that Kemp is speaking to traditionally Democratic constituencies while simultaneously courting the extreme religious right. Tonight, Sept. 22, 1996, ABC News ran an extended segment on how Kemp is appealing to "blacks, women and Hispanics," with an eye to winning them -- and everyone else -- over in 2000.
Kids Say the Darnedest Things:
By the time the '76 campaign rolled around, I was in second grade, running a hard race as Gerald Ford; trying to crush my nemesis, Keith Goldberg, who was running as Jimmy Carter. Keith was attractive, funny, popular and a bit strange. Liked to hop into bed naked with his pet poodle and cuddle aggressively. I knew that, but hadn't spent enough time boning up on Tricky Dick's covert campaign handbook, so I went down in flames on election day, garnering only my pal Morty's vote and my own. I was pleased Morty didn't jump ship -- he was my running mate after all: Bob Dole. He even had his own cheer: "Dole, Dole he's our man. If he can't do it, his banana can!"
Bob Dole, aka, The Hatchetman:
This is what Bob Dole was dubbed by his vice presidential opponent, Walter "Fritz"
Mondale, in their 1976 debate. Dole's image at the time was far from the kindly old war hero persona he projects today. Indeed, the affable, befuddled Jerry Ford dumped Nelson Rockefeller (who had served as Ford's veep since Nixon's abdication) as his running mate in favor of Dole -- precisely for Dole's mastery of the sort of vicious campaigning that Ford was himself unable to carry off. Back then, Dole leaned hard into the podium on his left side, hiding his withered right arm from view, so that it looked like he was wielding some kind of blunt instrument behind his back, just in case Fritz got out of line. And he barked and snarled and growled his way through the debate, in sharp contrast to Mondale's maddeningly smooth, and ultimately winning, style.
The Rules of the Game:
But what exactly does make me different from you -- or from anyone else for that matter? That's the most Frequently Asked Question I get from the campaign officials -- and the way they deal with me is an indication, I think, of how they view the Internet. "Tripod? What's that? Who are you again? Can we get that on letterhead? Sorry, Mr. Goldstein, freelancers don't count." Those were the initial responses from the people running the Clinton/Dole debate that I'm trying to get access to. I'm told that I have to be a full-time employee, an "organ" of a "recognized" news organization. But I am an organ, I insist, a horrible mutation, the virtual, vicarious ears, eyes, nose, skin and tongue of untold legions of Tripod readers.
Harry Goldstein is a writer and
editor living in Manhattan. His work has appeared in "Utne Reader,"
"American Book Review," "Promethean", AltX, word.com, and other
periodicals.
© 1996 Harry Goldstein, All Rights Reserved.
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