Jewish World Review Nov. 9, 2000 / 11 Mar-Cheshvan 5761
Bob Greene
How do you cross the line
when the line has vanished?
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
WHEN AMERICANS look back upon the
presidential election of 2000, it won't be the
ideological differences between the two major
party candidates that they will talk about; it won't
be the candidates' positions on Social Security or
education; it won't be the disputes about budget
numbers.
No . . . 2000 will be remembered as the election year when the line between
amusement and politics was crossed over and back so many times that the
line became invisible -- meaningless.
For years we have been approaching this. It began when candidates started
to realize that if they appeared on entertainment-and-talk shows, they would
reach more potential voters than if they spoke only on the traditional
political-analysis shows. From the "Tonight" show to "Arsenio" to "Larry King
Live" to MTV . . . the so-called "non-traditional media" became
all-but-required stopping-off points for presidential candidates.
But what happened this year reached a level of weirdness that few people
would have been able to predict a quarter-century ago. Yet -- because all of
this has transpired in a country that lately seems half nuts most of the time
anyway -- it was greeted with not much more than an amused shrug.
Here's what took place:
"Saturday Night Live," as it has always done, made fun of the presidential
candidates in skits. That was no surprise.
But Al Gore's advisers -- evidently impressed by how astutely the television
program zeroed in on Gore's stylistic flaws and quirks after the first debate --
decided to confront the candidate about how he was coming across.
The advisers didn't get tapes of Gore himself, and ask the candidate to watch
his own performances and learn.
No . . . they played the "Saturday Night Live" mockery for Gore. They had
him watch it.
And then they told the press about it.
So an actor poked fun at Gore on television -- and his advisers, apparently
reasoning that if this was how millions of people were going to think about
Gore, then Gore ought to think about himself that way, instructed him to look
at the make-believe Gore. And, for whatever reason, the advisers informed
reporters that Gore was studying the make-believe Gore.
Gore was then questioned about his opinion of the make-believe Gore who
was exaggerating his worst flaws during the most important period of his life.
Gore -- what else was he going to say? -- said he thought his flaws were
hilarious as represented by the make-believe Gore.
Then -- and here is where the line was crossed once and for all -- Gore and
Bush were asked to portray themselves on a prime-time "Saturday Night
Live." They would not be required to be in each other's' presence -- they
could imitate the appearance of a debate, taping their acts at different times,
and it would be edited to look as if they were together.
The script for the fake debate would require them to make fun of their stylistic
failings the same way the make-believe Gore and the make-believe Bush had
done on past programs. The real flaws that the show had been parodying
were not what the producers wanted -- tapes of real campaign appearances
were not good enough.
In other words, the flaws that "Saturday Night Live" had been parodying had
to be done over by the real candidates -- "Saturday Night Live" had tried to
make them look stupid all year by exaggerating their foibles, and now the
candidates were being told that they should exaggerate the foibles even
further. Bush's actual mispronunciations and Gore's actual embellishments
weren't considered sufficient -- they had to give the show scripted
mispronunciations and embellishments.
And they each said yes. They went to New York and imitated their own
worst selves.
Why? Probably not because they each have such wry and self-deprecating
senses of humor. Rather, they each succumbed to a kind of comedic
blackmail -- they knew that if their opponent agreed to go on, and they didn't,
they would be depicted as humorless and grim, and this might make them lose
the election.
So they each did it. You can assume that, by late in the election campaign, the
two men didn't like each other very much. But -- desperate for every vote --
they became a slapstick comedy team. Partners.
Would Ike have done this? Would Woodrow
Wilson?
JWR contributor Bob Greene is a novelist and columnist. Send your comments to him by clicking here.
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