Debasing the process:
McCarthy, Abigail
I I II Of several minds: I I I I I I Abigail McCarthy I 11 DEBASING THE PROCESS THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATES II ~ ~ i ~ OBBLEDYGOOK!" shouted one II aspiring leader of what we like to call the free...
...shouted one II aspiring leader of what we like to call the free world...
...The subject then, however, was the current administration effort to control leaks by requiting lie-detector tests and requiring appointees to sign lifetime agreements to precensorship of anything they might write after leaving government...
...Mondale and Mr...
...ABIGAIL McCARTHY Commom~ml: 108...
...It is not just another form of contest...
...But the language he used in each was language appropriate to a president mindful of the dignity of his office...
...Oh, that's what the public under~ stands," said one person to whom I mentioned it...
...Ah, political drama...
...I have never heard that the private language of either Glenn or Mondale is as colorful as that of those mentioned here, but they have the same need to be aware of the level of language...
...It was he who reminded his fellows that they must be serious...
...There are northerners, too, who have mastered TV -- John F. Kennedy most prominent, perhaps, among them...
...Yet there is an eloquence which plays on TV...
...I seem to be alone in remembering with dismay the low level of public discourse to which it fell, and alone, too, in being bothered by it at the time...
...Kennedy, too, is an example of the speaker who understood the levels of language...
...The high seriousness of his state addresses contrasted with the witty evasions with which he handled troublesome questions in the more relaxed format of press conferences...
...Koppel contributed a great deal to the effect by his patronizing attitude toward the exercise itself and its participants...
...each knew the precious value of air time (one could almost hear the admonitions of their me.dig consultants), and was determined to have a large share if he could get it...
...The Democratic debate which diverted Amercans on a Sunday afternoon without football is behind us now...
...Nor did Lyndon Johnson who was certainly given to law guage of the earth earthy...
...Nor did Harry Truman to whom the language of top sergeants and the stockyards was familiar...
...One can look to the southern preachers' style for it...
...He introduced with a tired toilet joke worthy of Johnny Carson at his worst, and then did his best to prod the candidates into unpresidential behavior...
...Admittedly the television format and the either-or framework set by talk show hosts trying to make their programs lively have most candidates in a trap...
...Jesse Jackson was a perfect example that afternoon in January...
...You are in the viewer's living room...
...Each felt it necessary to show that he was "stronger" and better than the other...
...It is also the conventional wisdom that eloquence which would stir a crowd will not work on the small screen...
...Never mind that the man who is in command has the advantage...
...breathed commentator Bill Moyers...
...No one seemed to note that Mr...
...Language is the tool of leaders and it must be mastered...
...Baloney...
...Ah, conflict at last...
...Both have a better sense of the public problems we must deal with at home and abroad than does the present incumbent...
...Billy Graham has an eloquence and manner which plays well on television...
...There was general agreement the next day that the debate hadn't changed anything...
...Each of the front-runners was fully aware of the television realities and the television audience...
...But I feel strongly that in using such weak, slangy, and inappropriate words to characterize each other's programs for the nation they collaborated in the continuing, if perhaps unconscious efforts of the media stars to debase the political process...
...Is that fair to the public...
...cried the other...
...And there is a dignity of demeanor...
...Glenn...
...John F. Kennedy could be exceedingly salty and monotonous in the use of epithets in private conversation, if we are to believe his friends' memoirs, but he never mixed the level of private discourse with that of public, whether formal or informal...
...People for Mondale were people for Mondale...
...He was just that in conducting another panel some nights later...
...And then there is the hard fact that the candidates are dependent on exposure and highly aware of the need to provide the excitement producers crave...
...They must be genial and take all gibes in good humor...
...Manufactured rage and simulated high dudgeon was what it really was...
...A good many people -- mostly camera or print media people -- thought that Ted K oppel, the moderator, looked more presidential than all the rest put together...
...Remember, advise the consultants, television is one-to-one...
...They dare not be dull...
...They have to talk like that," said another...
...And how well does it serve them...
...I would like to be clear that I respect both Mr...
...There are levels of language suited to it...
...Not that Mr...
...Political debate requires high seriousness at all times but especially in this, the nuclear age...
...I will undoubtedly vote for either if nominated...
...What a superb journalist that man is...
...Koppel's polite cynicism about the political process and the men who have given their livesto public service, it is true, paled beside the aggressive bullying attitude of Phil Donahue whose pointless questioning brought about the tiff between Glenn and Mondale which so delighted the media...
...But do they...
...And who can forget the ringing rhythms of Barbara .Jordan at the last Democratic convention7 Hers is the speech we remember...
...Each has a good legislative record...
...Koppel cannot be superbly solemn and respectful when he chooses...
...People for Glenn were for Glenn and so on...
...This discussion, since it touched journalistic sources, was undoubtedly closer to his heart and more serious to him than the choice of a potential president...
...It is the conventional wisdom that it is the laid-back and cool personality who is successful on the little screen...
...Aye, and there's the rub...
Vol. 111 • February 1984 • No. 4
