Big plays frequently open off Broadway. Carson City, Nevada, is a long way from Broadway. The tiny capital of the state that holds the second-in-the-nation contest in the 2008 Democratic presidential sweepstakes hosted the first forum of the presidential campaign yesterday. The event showcased a promising field that needs a lot of work.
The need for work begins with the frontrunner, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Carson City is an Old West frontier town. It’s not hard to hear the faint echoes of gunfire looking at the desert vista that surrounds it and the snowcapped Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Yesterday the echoes of a different sort of gunfire emanated from Los Angeles, where a former patron of the Clintons ripped into them, calling them liars and all sorts of nasty things. He did it on behalf of the second place candidate in the field, media phenom Barack Obama, who curiously chose to skip the event at the very moment in which his substantiveness is coming into question. Rather than laugh off the comments as those of a vain billionaire angry because he failed to gain a presidential pardon for an activist who killed FBI agents, Clinton’s campaign allowed a dustup to occur that overshadowed her Nevada performance, just as Obama’s campaign allowed his triumphant visit to Los Angeles to be overshadowed by a willful financial supporter.
Clinton, like all of the candidates, actually did rather well in the forum itself. Moderated by her husband’s former communications director, ABC commentator George Stephanopoulos, the format was quite straightforward if ultimately disjointed. Each candidate appeared separately, gave a brief opening statement, took three questions from Stephanopoulos, made a closing statement, then went off to do a brief press conference with waiting reporters. Since the press conferences took place while another candidate was performing in the forum, this made for interesting choices for the crowd of 100 journalists in attendance.
After longshot Senator Chris Dodd led off (his main impact at the forum was to help Stephanopoulos learn how to pronounce “Nevada” after the talk show host was booed by the crowd for calling it Ne-vah-da), Clinton appeared. Her casual “Hi, George” to her husband’s old advisor got a big cheer from the crowd, as did her lauding of the the event’s co-host, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the big public employees union.
Clinton immediately launched into a litany of positions designed to identify with the union crowd that is key in Democratic primaries, noting how she’d stood with them against President George W. Bush on overtime, working conditions, minimum wage, and social security. She ran through her opposition to privatizing government, saying this administration has three times as many private contractors as her husband had. She called for cutting the contractors back, to save $8 to $10 billion. (Thought actually contracting out can be more cost effective than going with unionized benefit packages.)
She talked up universal health care, a “new and secure clean energy future,” and more opportunity for college education. She didn’t mention Iraq, which of course dominated most of the discussion at the forum.
So of course Stephanopoulos began with Iraq, as she might have anticipated. Calling her vote to authorize the war “sincere based on the facts and assurances of the time,” Clinton said the focus now needs to be on what is to be done to force Bush to change direction. She called for stopping the escalation, getting proper equipment for the troops, placing the Iraqi troops more out front than our troops, who she wants to start “redploying,” i.e., withdrawing, in 90 days. And she wants to required new congressional authority for Bush’s actions in Iraq, saying what he was authorized to do ran out long ago.
Asked about health care, she said she would achieve universal health care “by the end of my second term.” And on the nasty interview given New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd by Hollywood billionaire David Geffen, now backing Obama, she softpedaled her campaign’s earlier harsh response, saying she wants a positive campaign that focuses “on what we want to do for America. Let’s not engage in the politics of personal destruction.” She closed by saying she thinks Bill Clinton was a good president — Geffen had blasted his old friend in the typically waspish Dowd column — a line almost guaranteed to get a rousing response from Democrats. Something Geffen and Obama would do well to keep in mind before they blunder on further themselves.
So far, so good for Clinton. She had walked back off the limb her campaign had gone out on by attacking Obama for his backer’s remarks (the Clinton campaign inaccurately identified Geffen as Obama’s finance chairman, which Geffen spokesman Andy Spahn clarified in an e-mail during the forum). But it quickly became apparent that Clinton would stiff the press on hand by being the only candidate not to do a press availability following her forum appearance.
Not to worry, as a number of us realized that there was only one way for her to leave the building. Soon over half the journalists in attendance were waiting for her to walk past a doorway around which we all gathered. We waited. And waited. Meanwhile, the forum droned in the background. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the former UN ambassador, entering the building, saw the waiting media crowd with apparent delight and turned to engage us. Whereupon I called out: “What about David Geffen?” Richardson, a fine banterer, quickly got that we were waiting for Hillary — okay, with some prompting — laughed and went on to get made up for his appearance. Meanwhile, Clinton’s staff was aware the press was waiting for her, but made no effort to engage.
It turned out, according to a Las Vegas newspaper reporter, that she was shooting an appearance on a Vegas TV show, a rather lengthy one. Clinton’s staff could have avoided wasting the media’s time by passing that on. When Clinton finally did leave, she swept past the few reporters still waiting, taking no questions. Which was another mistake. A pro can easily deflect the Geffen scandalette with a quip about not being cast in the sequel to Dreamgirls. Much bigger problems than the personal pique of a disappointed financial supporter loom ahead.
Meanwhile, back at the forum itself, John Edwards was turning in a typically polished performance. Making heavy note of his own apology for his vote to authorize the Iraq War, he didn’t say that Clinton should also apologize, but the intended inference was clear. Asked by Stephanopoulos if her answer on Iraq was good enough, Edwards said: “Whether it’s good enough is between her and her conscience. It’s not for me to judge.”
Among the candidates below the first tier, Richardson and Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did perhaps better than the others. And Congressman Dennis Kucinich, turning in an eccentric performance on stage replete with a physical demonstration of how he is the candidate with “no strings attached,” served notice that he is the Cassandra of the field, having warned about the peril of Iraq from the beginning, castigating the others for being against the war but not for cutting off funding, a position likely to become influential later this year.
While this first presidential forum was not a big newsmaker, it did accomplish several important things. First, it established that the Nevada presidential caucus is for real. Partisans of the longtime early states Iowa and New Hampshire had sought to denigrate the Nevada event. Some East Coast journalists, used to the winter wonderland delights of Des Moines and Manchester — a term used very advisedly, of course — had talked of ignoring Nevada. But with all the well-advised candidates on hand, and a schedule of more Nevada forums and debates to come — people close to Obama tell NWN he will be at the Las Vegas forum next month — it’s clear that Nevada will be an important early contest.
In fact, as Biden pointed out, it may turn out to be pivotal. Iowa will begin the sorting process in the field, but Nevada will show if anyone has recovered from an initial poor showing going into the New Hampshire primary. And it gives a candidate like Richardson, an impressive figure who should appeal to many in the party and the press, an important opportunity to wedge himself into the race in the face of more famous and better funded opponents like Clinton, Obama, and Edwards.
The event also reminded how the more casual atmosphere of politics in a smaller state is conducive to a good campaign. Bantering with and questioning, usually on the record, the likes of Richardson, Edwards, Biden, and Kucinich among others brings a useful and revealing flavor to the process that is missing with the formal and stylized events that increasingly dominate politics in California and elsewhere.
Richardson picked up on the banter about David Geffen and announced in the forum that Geffen should apologize to the Clintons and Obama should distance himself from the remarks. He called for a clean campaign pledge. Biden and others picked up on that. Of course they all love the Clinton and Obama campaigns choosing to make spectacles of themselves.
I’d run into Biden, in amusing fashion, as he picked up a box lunch before his forum appearance. Later we all got into it with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman on what needs to be done in Afghanistan. You don’t get this sort of interesting give and take with a classic frontrunner campaign. Such campaigns tend to run into trouble early on if they don’t make needed adjustments.
An important note for the Clinton campaign, whose candidate is in California today and tomorrow but will have no public events.
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I thought Hillary was fine but I couldn’t see the off-stage mistakes.
I heard Karen Hanretty yesterday on the Geffen/Clinton /Obama flare-up and I found myself agreeing with everything she said…
Who is this pompous David Geffen character anyway?
David Geffen is someone I’ll get into more in a later item. He made his fortune initially in rock music, then got into movies.
Bill, you identified Andy Spahn as an Obama spokesman. I believe he is working for all the Dreamworks guys and is not exclusive to the Obama campaign.
I really like Dodd-he may get this years Bruce Babbit award for impressing the most while not really having a chance to win. I thought that person would be Biden but he has got such a chip on his shoulder.
It seems like Edwards, while not fading completely, is on the precipice of falling into the 2nd tier. He is well positioned politically, but he isnt getting the attention of the top 2, and Im sure his money isnt coming easily.
Bill, the Los Angeles school board races are pretty important to our Mayors future. Will you be covering them at all?
Final thought-have you thought of trying to host the Presidential candidates for an online interview, where we ( your loyal posters) can ask questions. You could moderate so it doesnt get stupid.
The part of the forum that made me lean closer to the TV was when Kucinich started out making good points and then ended with what I at first thought was his imitation of an airplane. Somebody should tell him that magicians use hoola hoops to show there are no strings attached.
And then there was Mike Gravel, who addressed the 1972 Democratic Convention to nominate himself for Vice President. When he compared Bush to LBJ “who lied to us 30 years ago” I couldn’t help but think that in 1977 LBJ was 4 years in his grave. (Gulf of Tonkin was 43 years ago when Hillary was a “Goldwater Girl”.)—And I for one still have not forgiven him for defeating Ernest Gruening, one of two Democratic Senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1968.
After the ’08 campaign ends, perhaps we can persuade Bill to compile these articles for the book that might supplant Fear and Loathing on my son’s high school lit. reading list.
Mitch, thanks for suggestions on more things for me to do!
Regretfully, I will not be covering the LA school board races. I will pay attention to what happens and file it in my mental dossier on the state of Antonio Villaraigosa.
The presidential suggestion is interesting and I’ll think about it. But foremost is getting the principal handle on the contests in California and Nevada.
Thanks, Hap. Er, sounds like more work.
How do the candidates pronounce “almonds”?
Not the way that George Stephanopoulos pronounces it.
I like Bill Richardson. He’s a mensch.
Richardson came off well to most of the press and to the crowd on hand.
I wish the alleged Richardson dirt would be outed and dealt with. If indeed there’s a background buzz about serious undefined skeletons, as has been alleged here, it’s gotta be holding him back on fundraising, and it seems to me that bad things are best burned and buried early. (See, Boat, Swift, ante.) He could be an attractive candidate, but the whispering campaign stuff worries me.
I thought the Senate confirmed Richardson to two Cabinet jobs.
Giuliani’s buddy Bernie Kerrik had to withdraw after Bush appointed him head of Homeland Security because the Senate found things in his background.
On alleged “Richardson dirt”
Nothing factual JUST Blog world gossip… done for amusement, sport, mischief or to be totally destructive…who cares what the motivation is? …we should dismiss it!….There is a wonderful Spanish proverb: “Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.”
Richardson has more skeletons than Giuliani? That I gotta see to believe.
Hey, I definitely have a better impression of Richardson now thanks to BB’s column a few weeks ago.
But there has always been the problem of Richardson skirt-chasing (he was alledgly well-known for it on the Hill)and they would be a problem for him in small doses. There have been some questionable “Jack Abramahoff” type relationships with lobbyists, etc. Also, some of the business dealings over the years — particularly in the energy industry — could be linked to his work as Clinton’s Sec Energy.
To what extent it hurts him…who knows. I don’t think anyone can hurt Richardson’s fundraising other than the Governor himself. He has a remarkable tendency to be lazy and unfocused in raising money and,like alot of candidates, views it as beneath him. Strangely enough, he doesn’t mind doing it for others but he REALLY hates raising his own money — consultants struggle with him on this particularly. Juxtapose that with Hillary who is a MACHINE when it comes to raising money.
But he is a good candidate on paper…steady hand…experienced, etc. I kinda like the guy.
Barbara…what is said about Richardson has some strong kernels of truth to it. While some of its gossip, some of the “issues” out there have some truth to them.
I forgot to mention he has incredible international experience that virtually none of the Dems have — and I mean REAL hands-on experience.
And political professionals NEVER casually “dismiss” any rumors…and I would be willing to bet that none of Richardson’s people “dismiss” it either. And neither will voters across the country if the problem is serious enough.
BTW, if Hillary is such a great candidate with top flight people, why the hell does she continue to make such stupid rookie mistakes…
To wit, I have a thought:
Idea 1.) Hillary is truly pissed off and is trying to strong arm Geffen. David Geffen, a slight Napoleon type of character, does not strong-arm easily. He is a worth close to a billion (if not more) and doesn’t give a good goddamn what HRC thinks about him.
2.) Hillary is using the Geffen thing to show moderates that she ain’t beholden to the Hollywood liberals…think the Bill Clinton-Sister Souljah moment. Many political people believe that was a positive and defining moment for Clinton showing he was tough enough to stand up to the African=American community when they have said or done something that was utterly wrong.
Hillary is trying to create lightning in a bottle twice…and it won’t happen.
Hillary hasn’t made that many mistakes. She’s the frontrunner and has actually been pretty adroit thusfar.
She and her campaign made two mistakes yesterday. I think this has been called to their attention.
Part of this whole thing with Geffen and Maureen Dowd, and I will deal with this when I’m not dealing with technical bottlenecks and other things, is her unique role with the elites of Hollywood, New York and Washington.
I stopped reading Dowd years ago because I have to read for information rather than attitude, but she is very big in Hollywood and New York and certain elites see her as one of them. She used to go out with Michael Douglas and so forth.
Anyway, short form, she is something of a message deliverer at times and this particular message was very personal and nasty for the Clintons. Seems like at least some of the crew overreacted.
See, I think we are treating Hillary like she is just a regular run-of-the-mill yahoo running for President.
In short, this ain’t a Dennis Kucinich campaign. This is a top-flight, consultant heavy campaign with INCREDIBLY talented people running the show. One of her pollsters is Doug Schoen — a man and a firm that I believe is probably one of the top three polling firms in the country.
While I agreee, BB, that she isn’t making that many mistakes, her mistakes are magnified ONE MILLION times more than anyone else. People, on both sides, are looking for any opportunity they can to knock her around.
The reality is, she doesn’t have the luxury of making stupid mistakes like this.
And, Hillary has the nasty tendency of giving them that opportunity. We can start with not knowing the national anthem, to her war flip-flop nonsense and then this Geffen thing…and now, she blows off the press.
In my world, that has a cumulative effect on a candidacy. It tends to cause sags in the structure of the campaign’s message and, frankly, it makes out to be every bit the part people perceive her to play. That is the liberal, Hollywood-loving elitist — which I don’t think she truly is as a person.
Well luckily and happily, I am not a political professional…so I can continue to be dismissive of “gossip”…which I shall…I agree with what Karen Hanretty said last night on TV:the Clinton/Obama/Geffen story is a stupid story…which those of us who could care less about this stupid story (like Newsom “scandal”)will have to suffer thru all the noise for yet a few more days …she also said most of the country does not even know who Geffen is…that sounds right also …so much REALLY important stuff going on in the world and from 5:00am to 7:00 am this morning the cable news reported on Anna Nicole Smith and the Obama Clinton story…
It is mindblowing…and troublesome.
Nice spin, there.
Seriously, we will see how she and her top people take to constructive criticism. I suspect they’ll get it.
The truth is that most of what is happening now is not that important. Most voters don’t know or care who David Geffen is. The Clinton brand is the name they know.
The flip side of this story is how OBAMA managed to let his very good story coming out of LA get hijacked by this diminutive super-rich guy. Who, incidentally, is a good friend of some friends of mine, not that I know the guy. But I am thankful for his ability to work with the Eagles and the other great LA rock figures of the ’70s, not that the Eagles actually talk to him today, mind you.
Barbara, as you may have gathered, Karen Hanretty and I occasionally have identical views of things. Not that I am actually a fan of “Rome” yet. But I do have the dvds.
Oh, and her blowing off the press — when everyone else was available –is an example of how thin-skinned, control-freak,easily slighted person Hillary Clinton can be. And now, she looks (all at once) to be afraid of taking her medicine press-wise because she can’t take the criticism. She then does this passive-aggressive thing to show the press that she is the one in control.
Also, make no mistake, Hillary is very thin-skinned. She is not one who can take a hit on the trail and spin the ball back on the other guy. She takes it too personally and reacts very passive-aggressively. This is NOT a good trait in a candidate.
Now, with the backpedaling she is doing on Wolfson’s statement (Howard should frankly know better to let his emotions run his dealings with the press), she looks a little desperate. Frankly, it makes her campaign look like the Keystone cops operation — which it isn’t.
Here is another thing. Hillary, in my opinion, has a serious problem often stepping outside the bubble of tight message control to handle problems. Yesterdays angry gut response should say exactly that. Inside the bubble, Hillary is in control of the process and the campaign — after all, everyone tells her so. Outside the bubble, where the world ain’t as nice, she often stumbles and looks somewhat unsure.
And Geffen going after Clinton won’t be tagged on Obama that bad. If anything, Geffen and his money (along with the ENORMOUS network he has) will double their efforts to sink Hillary. Geffen is a petulant angry guy who, like Hillary, feels slights a little too easily and uses his money to nail people to the wall, permanent-like. If anything, I think Hillary validated the thoughts of many who believe like Geffen does — that she is too polarizing and somewhat petty a figure to lead the Democratic Party.
Sorry that Anonymous was me…my bad.
Also, Rome is a great show…very engaging.
BB, sorry for so many posts today — I didn’t realize how many times I had done so…I am now done for the day, thanks.
I saw her for the first time on TV last night…she is very pretty!
You know I have a close friend, an attorney..she will tell you that fighting terrorism is the most important thing we can do…constantly reads up on it etc.. so this morning we went down for coffee together and I said this really bad what happened in Italy…the ultra left co-opted the left of center into bring down the PM over Afghanistan…the left in Europe don’t get it that we are in a battle for our lives …our way of lives against terrorismm..she stopped me and said what are you talking about? I got my NY Times news alert Wa Post News alert this morning …I heard the news before I left the house.. Once I explained the story..she said this is “important”! …so I said right…you will read about MAYBE in 3-4 days from now after Anna Nicole gets buried and Hillary and Obama shake hands or whatever…
No problemo, CADTS. (I know you love Arnold lines.)
Now here is another way of looking at this.
Instead of Obama having a big wave of positive publicity coming out of LA, it’s all about his egomaniacal — and really, everyone, I mean that in the nicest way possible
— financial angel’s feud with the former President of the United States who refused to pardon a Native American activist who happened to have killed a couple of FBI agents.
Geffen wants to buy the LA Times. But it doesn’t seem to be happening. He sold some of his beloved art collection to cash up. He’s frustrated. Etc, etc.
“I saw her for the first time on TV last night…she is very pretty!”
I was talking about Karen Hanretty…
PS. I am not going to apologize for my frequent post Mr. Bradley! Or I would be doing that all the time!
Toodles!!!!
I am not sure what is more annoying. The rise of the arrogant billionaire. Or the rise of the arrogant blogosphere.
Geffen, Kos, jerks. lol
As blondes go, Karen Hanretty is certainly attractive.
I appreciate her married state and her devilish mind.
contracting out can be more cost effective than going with unionized benefit packages
“Can” is different from “is”. The amount of corruption and incompetence in the administration of contracts under this administration is mind-boggling. Billions of dollars for shoddy work, with no oversight…
BTW, Matt Yglesias wrote an excellent article about Richardson, and about what his lack of top-tier status may imply about our political process.
Ack. Link broke. Try this:
http://tinyurl.com/2gobf4
Right, although Hillary was certainly pandering to the AFSCME crowd.
Karen Hanretty is smarter than Ann Coulter and Laura Ingrahm. lol
Geffen has gotten real quite.
I think you mean David Geffen has gotten QUIET.
Karen Hanretty is smart. Saying she is smarter than Coulter and Ingraham is not an enormous compliment.
Are the cyber kids trying to block a Demo debate? Seems typical for idiots.
I think they just hate Fox News. They think they can “change the media narrative.”
Perhaps Senator Lamont will introduce a bill.
The Netroots is a bunch of people jacking off in a chat room.
Which candidate is going to save the victory in Afghanistan that Bush is pissing away?