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Jewish World Review July 10, 2000 / 7 Tamuz, 5760
Chris Matthews
Unlike Joseph McCarthy, the red-baiting Wisconsinite of
the early 1950s, Gore has his spokesman speak the
naughty words. Confronted by reporters, he acts as if the
aide were speaking for himself.
The ploy is reminiscent of the late, great ventriloquist
Edgar Bergen, whose dummy, Charlie McCarthy, would
make all the wildly mischievous wisecracks while Bergen
himself took on a stunned look of innocence.
The running gag was that the distinguished Bergen would
never say such awful words. Only a dummy like Charlie
McCarthy would say such terrible things.
Charlie McCarthyism. That's the game Gore is playing,
but with dead seriousness. Faced with high negatives in
the polls, he cannot afford to be seen or heard
bad-mouthing the other side. So he gets staffers like Chris
Lehane to speak what he knows to be the unspeakable.
Lehane accuses Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., of
"McCarthyite tactics" for calling Attorney General Janet
Reno to testify as to why she has not honored her top
investigator's call for an independent counsel to probe
Gore's Buddhist temple fund-raising.
Specter, who knows the poison loaded in the charge, writes the vice president,
demanding that the "McCarthyism" slur be retracted.
In response, spokesman Lehane continues to bludgeon Specter with the charge
of McCarthyism. Mark Fabiani, Gore's communications director, tells reporters
that the Pennsylvania senator "shouldn't expect an apology."
His official "spokesman" and "communications director" having spoken, Gore
himself remains silent.
Having gotten no response to his first letter, Specter now writes the vice
president a second. He notes that Gore is still using "surrogates" to make the
"McCarthyism" charge.
"If you intend to continue your character assassination of me, I think you ought
to be man enough to say it yourself."
Gore continued to play Edgar Bergen to his spokesman's Charlie McCarthy. "I
think Chris does a great job. I'm going to let him speak for himself."
Anyone who knows Gore and watches his campaign knows the rich absurdity
of that remark. Gore's staff people speak what Gore wants them to speak or
they no longer remain Gore staff people. Senate surrogates are held to the
same strict compliance by the daily "talking points."
When Gore wants something said that no senator would say about a colleague,
it's the spokesman's job to say it.
Sen. Specter promises to bring the "McCarthyism" charge up the next time the
vice president comes up to the Senate to break a tie vote. He still hopes to hear
Al Gore's words from Al Gore.
He'd have better luck waiting for the late Edgar Bergen to show up — with or
without Charlie
07/06/00: How Bubba's teapots clang
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