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American Morning
Humorous Political Candidates Should Be Taken Seriously
Aired September 23, 2002 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, "The West Wing" won the Emmy for best drama last night, but does that mean Martin Sheen would make the best president? Some wonder now. That's what could happen when you mix "The West Wing" with "American Idol" and come up with a recipe for a new reality television show called "American Candidate," a show in which contestants will compete for a chance to run for the presidency in the year 2004.
Jeff Greenfield, our senior political analyst, with his take on political reality.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: More than a gimmick here or not?
GREENFIELD: It is a gimmick, but there is something more intriguing about it. Now, we should recognize, by the way, that television for decades has been in the business, sort of, of picking candidates. In 1952, "Howdy Doody," that famous puppet that was the source of many naughty schoolyard jokes, actually ran for president against Phineas T. Bluster. He was the bad grownup. The gimmick here was you had to buy a loaf of Wonder Bread in order to cast a ballot.
And then suddenly -- there he is, Howdy Doody and his opponent. This was not a debate. Howdy Doody won because they hadn't canceled the show yet.
And then in 1968, Pat Paulson, who was a comedian on "The Smothers Brothers Show," made a highly unserious run for the presidency.
Now, there's a little more serious undertone to this. This need or this belief in America that you can find somebody from the heartland, unsullied by politics, goes way back. I mean if you think of the Frank Capra movies, "Meet John Doe," about a jobless man who became the voice of the common man, "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," the innocent suddenly thrown into the Senate, this is a very much a feeling that Americans have.
And in real life, where did Ross Perot launch his candidacy? CNN's Larry King show.
HEMMER: Yes, very true.
GREENFIELD: He got 19 percent of the vote and, as you said in the tease, Jesse Ventura, who got famous as a professional wrestler and then as a talk show host, is the governor of Minnesota.
HEMMER: So listen now, people are cynical about politics in many corners, anyway. Does this make them more cynical? Does it trivialize the process?
GREENFIELD: Well, if they have a swimsuit competition, it's probably not going to be good for serious...
HEMMER: Please, no.
GREENFIELD: And thinking of some of the candidates, William Howard Taft would not have worked there. But, you know, there are two things to be said about that. First, the idea of actually finding a form where people will listen to people talk about issues, which is one of the premises of this show, is not all that bad an idea, considering how badly politicians and the media have mucked up the business of communicating about politics. People are turned off.
And second, let's acknowledge that real live candidates -- I mean look at how Bush and Gore, they went on "Letterman," they went on "Saturday Night Live" as well as "Oprah." This is a tradition that goes back many years and politicians, Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on "Arsenio Hall."
So we shouldn't assume that politicians are above the idea of using entertainment medium.
HEMMER: Now, I know some of this is said in fun. Some of it is said in satire. But you have an idea, too, for voter turnout?
GREENFIELD: Absolutely. Look...
HEMMER: If, indeed, it goes this way.
GREENFIELD: I think...
HEMMER: What's your thought?
GREENFIELD: I think, frankly, the Nobel Prize is in my future. Look, what is everybody talking about this morning? The Emmy Awards, right? Millions and millions more people would rather vote for the best actor or best actress than they would for senator or governor or president.
So I have a very simple idea, that we change the rules of our electoral system where if you register and actually show up to vote for president or governor or senator, you also get to vote for the Emmys or the Oscars or the Grammys. I think the turnout would be 98 percent.
The only problem is if the people in Florida, the way they count the ballots, Anna Nicole Smith probably would be elected governor.
HEMMER: Well, depending on the way her show's going lately, maybe not, though.
GREENFIELD: Well, this is possible.
HEMMER: If you look at the original episode down to where it is now.
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: Would there be a hanging chad in that, I'm wondering?
GREENFIELD: You know, now, they now have things where they have $5 billion optiscans...
HEMMER: That's right.
GREENFIELD: Which they can't make work...
HEMMER: Which don't work.
GREENFIELD: ... because they forget to plug it in.
HEMMER: And the employees don't show up in time to turn them on anyway, so it's useless.
GREENFIELD: Right. But I do think that before we sort of just mock all of this, we should recognize that the impulse to try to get people somehow connected to politics, even if they have to figure out a way to make it attractive and entertaining, not so bad.
HEMMER: Interesting.
Thank you, Jeff.
Talk to you later this week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 23, 2002 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, "The West Wing" won the Emmy for best drama last night, but does that mean Martin Sheen would make the best president? Some wonder now. That's what could happen when you mix "The West Wing" with "American Idol" and come up with a recipe for a new reality television show called "American Candidate," a show in which contestants will compete for a chance to run for the presidency in the year 2004.
Jeff Greenfield, our senior political analyst, with his take on political reality.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: More than a gimmick here or not?
GREENFIELD: It is a gimmick, but there is something more intriguing about it. Now, we should recognize, by the way, that television for decades has been in the business, sort of, of picking candidates. In 1952, "Howdy Doody," that famous puppet that was the source of many naughty schoolyard jokes, actually ran for president against Phineas T. Bluster. He was the bad grownup. The gimmick here was you had to buy a loaf of Wonder Bread in order to cast a ballot.
And then suddenly -- there he is, Howdy Doody and his opponent. This was not a debate. Howdy Doody won because they hadn't canceled the show yet.
And then in 1968, Pat Paulson, who was a comedian on "The Smothers Brothers Show," made a highly unserious run for the presidency.
Now, there's a little more serious undertone to this. This need or this belief in America that you can find somebody from the heartland, unsullied by politics, goes way back. I mean if you think of the Frank Capra movies, "Meet John Doe," about a jobless man who became the voice of the common man, "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," the innocent suddenly thrown into the Senate, this is a very much a feeling that Americans have.
And in real life, where did Ross Perot launch his candidacy? CNN's Larry King show.
HEMMER: Yes, very true.
GREENFIELD: He got 19 percent of the vote and, as you said in the tease, Jesse Ventura, who got famous as a professional wrestler and then as a talk show host, is the governor of Minnesota.
HEMMER: So listen now, people are cynical about politics in many corners, anyway. Does this make them more cynical? Does it trivialize the process?
GREENFIELD: Well, if they have a swimsuit competition, it's probably not going to be good for serious...
HEMMER: Please, no.
GREENFIELD: And thinking of some of the candidates, William Howard Taft would not have worked there. But, you know, there are two things to be said about that. First, the idea of actually finding a form where people will listen to people talk about issues, which is one of the premises of this show, is not all that bad an idea, considering how badly politicians and the media have mucked up the business of communicating about politics. People are turned off.
And second, let's acknowledge that real live candidates -- I mean look at how Bush and Gore, they went on "Letterman," they went on "Saturday Night Live" as well as "Oprah." This is a tradition that goes back many years and politicians, Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on "Arsenio Hall."
So we shouldn't assume that politicians are above the idea of using entertainment medium.
HEMMER: Now, I know some of this is said in fun. Some of it is said in satire. But you have an idea, too, for voter turnout?
GREENFIELD: Absolutely. Look...
HEMMER: If, indeed, it goes this way.
GREENFIELD: I think...
HEMMER: What's your thought?
GREENFIELD: I think, frankly, the Nobel Prize is in my future. Look, what is everybody talking about this morning? The Emmy Awards, right? Millions and millions more people would rather vote for the best actor or best actress than they would for senator or governor or president.
So I have a very simple idea, that we change the rules of our electoral system where if you register and actually show up to vote for president or governor or senator, you also get to vote for the Emmys or the Oscars or the Grammys. I think the turnout would be 98 percent.
The only problem is if the people in Florida, the way they count the ballots, Anna Nicole Smith probably would be elected governor.
HEMMER: Well, depending on the way her show's going lately, maybe not, though.
GREENFIELD: Well, this is possible.
HEMMER: If you look at the original episode down to where it is now.
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: Would there be a hanging chad in that, I'm wondering?
GREENFIELD: You know, now, they now have things where they have $5 billion optiscans...
HEMMER: That's right.
GREENFIELD: Which they can't make work...
HEMMER: Which don't work.
GREENFIELD: ... because they forget to plug it in.
HEMMER: And the employees don't show up in time to turn them on anyway, so it's useless.
GREENFIELD: Right. But I do think that before we sort of just mock all of this, we should recognize that the impulse to try to get people somehow connected to politics, even if they have to figure out a way to make it attractive and entertaining, not so bad.
HEMMER: Interesting.
Thank you, Jeff.
Talk to you later this week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
