WASHINGTON -- The term 'managed news' was coined in the Kennedy era. Since then it has become an art form with ensuing administrations, particularly in recent years and never more so than during the 1996 presidential campaign. Both President Clinton and Republican challenger Bob Dole and their ever-helpful teams denied reporters the right to seek accountability from the candidates for what they proposed and what they said. The candidates had a heyday never having to explain as they criss- crossed the country, sidestepping the tough questions and virtually ignoring the press. One might ask, 'What were they afraid of?' When a candidate seeks the presidency he -- and perhaps one day she -- ought to be able to hold his or her own under tough questioning, a test of knowledge -- and endurance. As the late President Harry Truman said, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.' The studied attempt to avoid reporters throughout the campaign was highly successful, with a touch of arrogance and no apologies. But democracy suffered because U.S. leaders, as all leaders in the world, must be watched and must have credibility. Their unavailability leads to suspicion and suspicion leads to insecurity, something no nation can afford. Presidential news conferences are not mandated in the Constitution, but they are indispensable in a democracy. All presidents in recent times have understood they must be interrogated from time to time, just as a British prime minister might have to stand for questioning in the House of Commons.
They cannot rule by edict. Despite their persistence, reporters covering Clinton and Dole found both camps artful dodgers. The president played deaf to all questions shouted at him concerning troubling allegations of dubious fund raising. Dole stared down reporters who dared pose questions, or his aides made sure the tenacious ones were not included in 'pools,' the small coterie allowed to be near the candidate or even have the favor of being allowed to ride on his plane. Only reporters who traveled with Dole from the start of the campaign were allowed permanent seats on his plane, a favoritism that may have been his perogative but hardly could be called fair. The strategy of sidestepping any contact with the press was due in part to the normal election-year desire to avoid providing ammunition to the opposition. But more than that was at work. There seemed to be no truly critical, life-or-death issue facing the country. And neither candidate created one. Voters never really doubted the substance of the main charges each candidate leveled against the other. Even Clinton's supporters agreed he deserved the skepticism that should have surrounded his administration's protestations of truthfulness and his personal fidelity and reliability. Even Dole's supporters agreed his central campaign promise of a broad-based income tax cut was a politically cynical, unrealistic sell out. On top of all that, the race was never close. When there was something along the campaign trail that really demanded an answer, and a reporter was allowed close enough to ask, Dole often mumbled and Clinton walked right on. Badgered at one point during the year on the president's lack of news conferences, White House press secretary Mike McCurry said the networks declined to broadcast them. At another point, he teased network reporters by reminding them of their own admissions that the dearth of what generally constitutes news has left them battling their own editors for air time. Both campaigns were happy to answer questions, supply experts and provide sheafs of background papers whenever the candidate felt his position on an issue was stronger than that of the opposition. The two men employed different styles to handle issues that left them politically vulnerable, but with the same bottom-line effect -- shutting down discussion. Dole spokesman Nelson Warfield was generally regarded as unwilling to give more than just an overview when it came to Dole initiatives, and surly and non-responsive when pressed. One day shortly after the campaign had issued a written statement announcing Dole's formation of expert advisory panels to study the implementation of his tax-cutting pledges, Warfield was asked for details as he stood waiting outside Dole's plane on the tarmac in Denver. After enduring two or three questions on scope and membership of the panels, Warfield abruptly refused to comment further when asked whether they would produce recommendations before or after the election. He instead headed to the safety of the candidate, who was posing in front of his plane with another group of reporters -- not answering questions but smiling for group pictures. White House spokesmen, led by McCurry, showed more humor and friendliness. The president's team, though, is well practiced in its tactic of releasing outlines of information while omitting important details or burying them in complexity. He said Clinton would hold a news conference if there were 'any news.' The performances of both candidates were sorry on all scores and bodes ill for the country if it is the blueprint for future campaigns.
