THE
30-SECOND CANDIDATE
program
transcript
(part three)
Man:
He said, Craig Duehring is going to surprise some folks. I said, well, that's
why we wrote him a check, 'cause we plan on him doing that.
Narrator:
Craig Duehring needs money to get his commercials on the air. But he also
needs money to get money. By showing off a healthy bank account, he hopes
to win the support of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Vin Weber:
...Meet Mr. Chairman...
Narrator:
And Duehring may have just caught a break. Former Minnesota Congressman, Vin
Weber, introduces him to Congressman Thomas Bliley. Bliley is the Chair of
the House Commerce Committee and a key figure in Republican campaign circles.
Thomas Bliley:
We've got $500,000 from Armey, $500,000 from Drier, $500,000 from Newt, $500,000
from Livingston...
Narrator:
Congressman Bliley is talking about a new $37 million fund the Republican
Party will use to finance one of those issue advocacy campaigns. The ad, like
this one, targeting a Democratic candidate in Nevada, focus on ethics and
values. And since they just say call the candidate, they aren't subject to
regulation.
Bliley:
And we're going to raise big money to make sure in these competitive races,
like yours, that we are there with the resources, that you don't get out-resourced.
Narrator:
It's all connected. To get those resources, Duehring needs to impress the
party hierarchy. To do that, he needs to show that he's competitive. To do
that, he needs to get his commercials on the air.
Walter:
All along the way, I want you to talk with Craig listening, a couple of nods.
Craig, talk-- use your hand, put it down. Give me about ten seconds of conversation
using your left hand.
People using that channel clicker-- that's the political consultant's worst nightmare. Click, click. Poof! You're gone. So, the ads need to be positive and tell a good story. And we have good stories to tell.
So, everyone's going to look at Craig. When you're about right here-- slow push in-- There's so much good stuff here. We could make the documentary right here...
Narrator:
Don Walter may not be Ken Burns, but he knows he has the right message at
the right time.
Walter:
About a third is going to be biographical material about Craig growing up
here-- vintage footage from Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War-- That's going to
be used to introduce and create the image of someone who knows what dedication
and integrity and honor are. I think those words, those value words, translate
very properly into what people want out of a Congressional candidate, particularly
with what's going on with Clinton.
One more time.
A little pull out. Slow, very slow. Okay, nod!
Everyone is so intent in listening that they're not going to nod as freely
as they might.
Duehring:
So, you want more nodding?
What he was looking for was facial expressions, you know, the head movement back and forth, the eye contact.
Walter:
So, it's tight. It's not really-- not a lot of talking. Your heads are up
and you're looking forward. If you want to hold hands, hold hands. If you
don't-- (laughter) Decidedly no hand holding. There's no hand holding here
in the Duehring house!
Hey, tight! Nice and tight! Happy, happy, happy!
Craig Duehring is a very nice, decent guy, who deeply believes in things that most candidates ask me, "How should I believe?" You know, "What should I say? What's the poll say?" We'll take a poll this week for the first time, but we don't need a poll-- Oh, we're about to get on a paved road, hang on. Ooh, feel the smoothness.
Narrator:
It's hard not to feel the smoothness around Don Walter. But in his own way,
he is every bit as straight forward as his candidate.
Walter:
I've got some guys who have no business being in Congress. They don't know
why they're there. They don't know what they're doing there. But they saw
an opportunity, they spent a couple hundred thousand bucks and they won. Isn't
America great?
Music:
Why can't you behave? Oh, why can't you behave? After all the things you told
me...
Checchi:
These are my thoughts about what we should be doing for the future...
Music:
And those promises that you gave...
Davis:
...and what the voters are looking for...
Music:
Oh, why can't you behave?
Narrator:
California. Where the pursuit of excellence and the pursuit of excess sometimes
goes hand in hand.
Music:
...why can't you behave...
And winning the Governorship of this Golden State is a gilded prize, as well, second only to the presidency in electoral scope and size. Seeing politics play out here is like seeing our political system on steroids.
Philip Trounstine:
A candidate does not exist in the minds of the California voter, until he's
appeared on television.
Narrator:
The spring on 1998 saw the most expensive statewide race ever conducted in
America. The three Democratic candidates for Governor spent nearly $65 million,
almost all of it for television advertising.
Advertisement:
Al Checchi wants everyone to vote. And in this year's primary..
Narrator:
Businessman Al Checchi spent the most, a stunning $40 million. Congresswoman
Jane Harman, $15 million. And the least well-funded, Lieutenant Governor Gray
Davis, a mere $9 million. For veteran political reporters, like Phil Trounstine,
Hank Plante and David Wright, it meant covering a different kind of campaign.
David Wright:
Well, it's really been a virtual campaign. The candidates really haven't been
out on the stump very much. And it's been conducted largely in 30-second chunks.
Some of them positive at first...
Advertisement:
California's trillion dollar economy needs a governor who works as hard as
we do...
Wright:
Then they went negative.
Advertisement:
Jane Harman, a record you can't trust.
Wright:
And now, they're just constant. Part of that's a function of it being such
a big state. But I think, also, part of it is through a desire to control
the message in these 30-second increments.
Davis:
Well, you know, it's a truism in California politics: If you're not on TV,
you don't exist.
Jane Harman:
I could not have run for this office without a certain amount of money so
that I could communicate a message.
Checchi:
We had all hoped once we got underway, you'd start to be covered, you'd have
people asking you questions. They'd hear how your mind works and there would
be an exchange. And unfortunately, there hasn't been much of that. So, we
have had to rely on commercials. It's a horrible way to present yourself.
What can you do in 30 seconds?
Advertisement:
What kind of man would try to smear his opponents?
Checchi:
This isn't the way to convey yourself. But it was the only one that we all
had.
Hank Plante:
I think that a lot of that talk about how bad the coverage has been is being
fed by the campaigns, in order to justify their record amounts of spending.
I mean, they're spending tens of millions of dollars on 30-second spots. And
I think that in order to justify that in the public's minds, they blame the
media for not covering them. We are covering them.
Narrator:
The candidates were covered, but often it was simple photo opportunities like
this one. And even here, the results could be disarmingly revealing.
Reporter:
How come you know who Mr. Checchi is? How did you ever hear of him?
Children:
He's on TV! The commercials!
Reporter:
Do you remember anything from the commercials?
Children:
I do! Yeah! Yes. He was helping kids. He was helping kids, sitting down after
school. Teaching them.
Reporter:
Do you remember anything from the news that you saw?
Children:
Um... Nope.
Narrator:
In this race, kids along with voters got to know candidates through their
commercials. Al Checchi lead the way.
Trounstine:
There was this arms race in advertising that was taking place, where Checchi's
campaign was willing to spend whatever it took to buy whatever spot they needed,
including the most expensive sports shows, the most expensive primetime shows.
They didn't care. They would just buy the spot in order to be there.
Narrator:
Then, Jane Harman entered the race with her own ad blitz. Checchi responded
with a series of attack ads.
Advertisement:
In Congress, Jane Harman's missed 63 percent of the votes this year-- 63 percent...
Narrator:
Harman returned fire.
Jane Harman:
Mr. Checchi can waste his money attacking me. I'll spend my time on real problems,
schools...
Narrator:
The attacks hurt both, but Checchi most of all.
Squier:
He thought that he could attack one opponent and that somehow, the votes would
either go into undecided or would come back to him. I think most people in
that same circumstance would say, "Well, what about Gray Davis?" He's a perfectly
acceptable recipient of those votes. And of course, that's exactly what turned
out to be the case.
News Announcer:
Gray Davis reacting in the wake of his win at the Biltmore Democratic headquarters.
Narrator:
Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis, a cautious career politician went on to win
a convincing victory over Congresswoman Jane Harman. Businessman Al Checchi,
who had spent $40 million of his own money, was a distant third. Which brings
us to California primary lesson number one. Beware the volume, volume, volume
approach to advertising.
Squier:
Sometimes, I think you get into a situation where once you've made your point,
to continue making it over and over again eventually wears out your welcome.
It's almost as if a person is proposing to a woman and he says, "You're wonderful.
You're beautiful. I want to marry you." And she says, "Well, that's very interesting.
What else have you got to say?" And he says, "You're wonderful. You're beautiful..."
Well, after he said that about ten time, you know, she's ready to call the
police.
Trounstine:
The problem was the message wasn't resonating, or it was backfiring. That's
sort of the lesson of this whole thing. You can't just buy the spot. You can't
just have the exposure. You've got to have something to say that people will
believe.
Castellanos:
Sometimes, the problem is not the label on the can, it's the dog food. And
sometimes there's just dog food dogs don't like.
Checchi:
Leaders who empowered us...
Narrator:
And that's lesson number two. The content of the message counts. And Al Checchi's
message was one people weren't ready to hear.
Checchi:
I came along and said, look, the reason I'm doing this is I think we're on
entirely the wrong track...
Narrator:
Checchi believed California was headed in the wrong direction and that it
was time to rock the boat. But that may not be what people want from government
in 1998.
Greenfield:
Sixty years ago, if you wanted to keep your job and wanted a Union to represent
you, there was a reason to get involved in politics because somebody had to
pass the Wagner Act-- or Social Security to protect retirement. If it's not
doing any of that stuff, and you sort of-- you don't have an unrequited sense
of passion for the government, why isn't the government, what? Finish the
sentence. Why isn't the government-- ? I don't know what, you know.
Castellanos:
When the people deciding elections are a bunch of baby boomers who are investing
in mutual funds, these are kind of risk-averse people. So, I think this is
going to be a good year for experience...
Advertisement:
Gray Davis. Experience money can't buy...
Davis:
That's what they want the next governor to do, to preside over a continuation
of that recovery...
Narrator:
In Gray Davis, primary voters selected the candidate of continuity and caution.
The candidate most likely to keep it "all quiet on the western front."
Television Director:
Take "B," up on 2, transform, go Pete, stand-by to roll...
Narrator:
But as the air war between Davis and Republican Dan Lungren heats up during
the campaigns final weeks, quiet may be a relative term.
Music:
...why can't you behave. Oh, why...
(quick montage of political ad sound bites)
Music:
In olden days a glimpse of stockings was looked on as something shocking,
now heaven knows, anything goes...
Narrator:
For almost 50 years, television advertising has shaped American politics,
from the days of "I like Ike" to role of outside groups. But as the 1990s
come to a close, everything is going to change all over again.
Walter:
In a few years, very soon, I'll be able to send an e-mail with video on it
as an attachment. And as soon as other people have computers that will allow
that to happen, I'll be sending stuff out for free and TV ain't going to be
so important any more.
Narrator:
Political advertising is finding its way to the internet, opening the door
for more political opportunism, but also opportunity for citizens.
Bob Stanton:
We can get them hooked up with e-mail lists. We can get client feedback through
the internet. We can target messages to various audiences. And really, you
can put an entire campaign online, if you wish.
Kim Alexander:
I do think we have a new kind of voter emerging in this country. There was
a great survey that was done by "Wired" magazine and "Merrill Lynch Forum,"
which started to identify what they called the digital citizen. And these
folks are more optimistic, more politically involved, more hopeful of the
future. These are people who will not be satisfied with a 30-second spot to
help them make an informed choice.
Cynthia Allen:
"Campaign and Elections" magazine now features somewhere in the neighborhood
of 500 vendors throughout this country, that for anywhere from $2,500, will
get you a very good political campaign page. These allow you to have your
position paper, your bio, perhaps a couple of pictures.
Stanton:
You can do online surveys and things that you can't do in traditional media.
You can have a far more dynamic relationship with the person at the other
end than, say, in a 30-second TV spot or a radio spot.
Candidate (at
doorstep):
I have both a web page and an e-mail...
Narrator:
But the web does more than send political messages out. Voters can use it,
too.
Alexander:
A lot of the debate around campaign finance reform has focused on this idea
of getting special interest money out of politics. Now, because of the internet,
we can expose that money.
Music:
...got the whole world swoonin'...
Alexander:
We can put campaign contributions on the internet where everybody can view
them. The voters can see ahead of time who's funding this ballot measure,
who's funding this candidate, and make a more informed choice based on that
information.
Music:
It's a simple little system any child can understand...
Narrator:
Above all, the web changes how we send and receive political messages. And
new interactive services, like WebTV, may bring about that change even faster.
Allen:
Where we all guessed that web page technology would be important and helpful
for politics-- we guessed ten years. It took two from the point we guessed
that. So, if we're guessing right now that it's going to be another seven
before WebTV becomes a player on the market, it's probably two hours and 40
minutes.
Narrator:
The internet does represent an opportunity for change. Of course, that's what
people thought about television 50 years ago.
Baughman:
And there was this sense of wonderment, similar to what we're hearing about
the internet, that television was going to change and enhance democracy. We
thought, it's going to make it possible for tens of millions of people to
sit in their living room, with their slippers on, as one commentator said
at the time, and be citizens again.
Narrator:
But being citizens again will always take more than technology.
Paul Taylor:
We're going to briefly describe what the Alliance for Better Campaigns is
and what it hopes to accomplish...
Narrator:
This fall, a new organization called the Alliance for Better Campaigns began
an effort to encourage citizen engagement, to try and change the show called
politics.
Taylor:
The show doesn't work anymore. The show-- by the end of the show, the theater
is half, two-thirds, three-quarters empty. Let's make it a better show. It's,
of course, more than a show, but you can't be less than a show. And at the
moment, it is less than a show.
Narrator:
Taylor's group is working with bipartisan organizations in ten target states.
In California, the goal is to encourage more debates. And by election day,
Gray Davis and Dan Lungren will have debated five times.
Man:
We won't tolerate it. And when it starts to happen...
Narrator:
In Minnesota, its encouraging candidates to run a clean ad campaign.
Man:
So today, we're putting sleazy ads into the washing machine to help clean
up the dirtiness in campaigns.
Narrator:
And it's encouraging candidates everywhere to novel, actually appear on camera,
talking, in their own ads.
Taylor:
Because it seems to me just by that sort of full facial frontal accountability--
This is me, this is my ad, it's more likely, and we have research to show
this, that the ads are going to be substantive, that they will be well-supported
by facts, that there won't be low blows.
Squier:
It's a pleasure to be here and to have Alex on my left...
Narrator:
But perhaps the most interesting reform effort sponsored by the Alliance involves
Bob Squier, the man behind Bill Clinton and Alex Castellanos, the man behind
Bob Dole. They're producing a new series of television ads. This time, designed
to put people back into politics.
Castellanos:
And if there's something that we can do to engage folks, then I certainly
can't let Bob Squier do that alone.
Squier:
It's the dark side of the moon. We all talk about the voters, nobody talks
about the non-voters. What we're going to try to do is see if we can find
ways to intrigue non-voters with the process and to get them engaged.
Castellanos:
So, I think we have an opportunity to remind folks that politics is actually
how we govern our governors, that politics is freedom, it's our freedom to
choose who governs us, that there's a lot of good stuff, and that it is important
to be involved somehow, that, you know, ultimately, there's no "them." It's
us.
Taylor:
Let's try anything, you know. I don't know what's going to work, but let's
try to engage both the media culture and the political culture, which sort
of wants to keep things limited to attack ads and sound bites. Attack ads
and sound bites give us turnouts of 16 percent, which is what we had in the
primaries this year. Let's see if we can't do better.
Music:
I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you. I'll make you love me, wait and see...
Narrator:
As election day approaches, the question surrounding the future of political
advertising loom as large as the dollars that are spent. Will huge amounts
of money continue to be poured into television advertising? Should new regulations
limit the impact of outside groups? And can any reform effort turn people
back on to politics? As the ads bury us in one last blitz, it's worth remembering
what all this advertising is actually for. So, to paraphrase a popular advertising
slogan, "just do it."
Music:
I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you. I'll make you love me, wait and see.
Both day and night, and night and day, you're gonna see a lot of me. I'm gonna
haunt you. I'm gonna haunt you. Oh, what a pest I'm gonna be. Both day and
night, and night and day, you're gonna see a lot of me. I'll be the spoon
in your coffee, the knife that butters your bread...
© 1998-2001 Wisconsin Public Television, All rights reserved.