(ventura county reporter) The Spin Room at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley is intimidating, but the formality is all a chintzy blue illusion. The curtains around the perimeter and the occasional placard marking CNN or ABC territory disguise a common area that, by day’s end, will become so permissive, it might as well be a Roman bath house.
Were it not for the regal presence of MSNBC White House correspondent David Gregory, members of the media (including photogs, broadcasters, stringers, production assistants, bloggers and alt newsweekly staffers) could be gathering to watch a sports game. Here in the press room, televised observation is all anybody’s going to get. (The actual debate audience, which consists of invited guests, is in the Air Force One replication hangar.) Journalists are kept at a distance one building over, where they’ll ignore the seven-second delay (and half the debate) to hone in on the rare surprise or possible gaff.
Will McCain let an expletive slip? How many times will Giuliani allude to Sept. 11?
John Oliver, of the satirical news and political program The Daily Show, walks among the Spin Room crowd as an understated outsider. When reporters begin a minor exodus to the outdoor filing center, the British correspondent drops to his knees in the middle of the floor, arms wide, camera rolling.
The atmosphere relaxes an hour before the debate, when it suddenly becomes viable to grab a seat at the table next to the odd BBC correspondent or NY Times blogger in the filing center tent. The goal is to score a place to set the laptop and get a clear view of one of a half-dozen flat screen TVs, tuned to MSNBC.
Why here? Why now?
Pre-debate conversation in the Spin Room wanders to a drinking game built around the debate. Someone recommends taking a shot for every time Tom Tancredo mentions immigration, unprovoked. Another rule for the drinking game? One shot for every mention of former president Ronald Reagan.
As candidates rush to distance themselves from Bush, there seems to be a ritual incantation of Reagan’s name. Perhaps, then, it comes as no surprise that the debate would be held at the former president’s library in Simi. The area has been grouped with Los Angeles by several media sources covering the debate, but the similarity is mostly geographic. (Simi is actually part of Ventura County.)
And Ventura County is choosy about the Southern California stereotypes it embodies. It is a haven for film industry movers and shakers, yes, but a down-to-earth suburbia as well. So, it is both surreal and fitting that Simi would claim for its own Reagan, a president who was the only B-movie star to become leader of the free world.
In conservative political circles, the term “Reagan republican” is currently the fashion equivalent of last season’s skinny leg jeans, the inexplicable must-have item that makes the wearer look just as out of proportion now as she did in the ’80s.
How did this nostalgia for the “Me Decade” come about? Why long for the days when unions were dealt a near fatal blow, when “Reagonomics” were lauded (but also synonymous with “huge national deficit”)? Reagan hero worship implies that he had nothing to do with selling weapons to Iran or with using profits from those sales to supplement the Nicaraguan Contras’ drug trafficking income. Reagan, this supposedly stately adopted son of Simi, was either tragically stupid or out of his own loop, either malicious or misinformed.
History adds a shining glaze to the dull-witted, and now, four years into demoralizing daily reminders of stark foreign policy failure, Iran-Contra is but a hazy memory. Idealists prefer to cling to the happier event of the Berlin Wall crumbling. At a time when Gregory routinely engages in a battle royale to prod a straight answer out of pundit-come-White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, yes, Ronnie is starting to come across as eloquent in hindsight.
By the end of the debate, if the drinking game rules were followed and someone took a shot for every mention of Reagan’s name, alcohol poisoning would ensue. After all, 18 shots in 90 minutes is enough to kill a man.
The meat of the thing
For the first 15 minutes of the debate, members of the press man their laptops religiously. Eventually, the sound of rapid typing dies down; a few correspondents leave to get coffee. Oliver has, by now, convinced many of his colleagues to sign release forms before speaking to him on-camera. Halfway through the debates, he begins walking up and down the aisles aimlessly, hobo stick in hand.
Moderator Chris Matthews, of Hardball fame, loosens his grip on the debate and allows the candidates to wander wherever they may within their allotted 60-second answer slots. Moderator questions are interspersed with reader-submitted queries posted to Politico.com.
On stage, equidistant to each other, are former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, California State Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-San Diego), Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts), State Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas), Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-Virginia), Texas State Rep. Ron Paul (R-Galveston) and Colorado State Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Denver).
Each candidate’s airtime averages nine minutes altogether during the debate.
Giuliani asserts that he learned a lot about crime reduction during his mayoral tenure. He hates abortion but has a tortured relationship with Roe v. Wade and he believes it ought to be overturned but that states should remain sovereign on the issue. He says the he a woman should be allowed to make a choice that he finds unconscionable. He supports stem-cell research — with limitations — and believes every immigrant should carry a tamper-proof identification card.
McCain expresses his faith in an undefined new strategy which he claims is being implemented in Iraq. Despite public opinion increasingly set against U.S. presence in Iraq, McCain cites a nondescript military population who believes the war is not lost. Warning of genocide, he claims the whole of the U.S. will be attacked should the mission in Iraq fail. He identifies Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned and concedes that stem-cell research is necessary and worthy of funding.
He identifies radical Islamic extremism as a threat to American values and life and suggests a $3,000 tax credit so individual Americans might purchase health insurance. When reaffirming his commitment to find and capture Osama bin Laden, he makes a rather warm, brotherly threat to follow bin Laden to the gates of hell (generally accepted in modern usage as a phrase that intimates deep friendship and devotion).
Thompson unveils his three-step plan regarding Iraq: holding a vote within the al-Maliki government to support or reject U.S. military presence in the country; dividing Iraq into 18 self-governing territories; and splitting oil reserves between citizens and federal and state government. He declines to state support for or opposition to stem-cell research and, when asked, says he believes individual businesses should be given license to fire gay workers at will.
Hunter identifies his Iraq exit strategy: readying 129 Iraqi battalions to move into the field. He states that Iran has already crossed a political line and that the U.S. has license to take whatever actions it deems necessary. He said he believes that Roe v. Wade should be repealed and is against stem-cell research except in cases where adult stem cells are used. He accuses China of “cheating on trade” and warns that the U.S. is losing its industrial base to bad trade policy.
Romney warns of the chaos that could ensue if the U.S. leaves Iraq the “wrong way. He expounds on doomsday scenarios of Iran taking the Shia south, and al-Qaida becoming the dominant force among Sunnis and the Kurds destabilizing the Turkish border. He believes Roe v. Wade ought to be repealed, despite his earlier beliefs to the contrary. Although he used to believe in the power of the states to weigh in on the issue, he now decries the “brave new world mentality” which he believes allows for rampant abortion and embryo cloning. He believes out-of-wedlock births are weakening America, and that more marriages are key to strengthening the society. Otherwise, he doesn’t dislike a thing about America, he insists.
Brownback maintains that the key to success in the Middle East is to work with the moderate Muslim regimes that the Islamic fascists are trying to unseat. He believes Roe v. Wade should be repealed, that for the past half-century faith has been run out of the public square and that out-of-wedlock births are an ominous epidemic. He supports stem-cell research only in adult stem cells, and thinks Iraq should exist as a three-state union.
Huckabee takes a comparatively green stance, calling environmental conservation a divine duty. He believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned, because America celebrates a culture of life. To illustrate, he explains that in times of natural disaster — hikers stuck on Mount Hood, workers trapped in a West Virginia mine — the American public always favors rescue efforts instead of leaving the victims behind. He denounces stem-cell research, insisting it is wrong to create life to end it. He rails briefly against corporate kickbacks and outsourcing, insisting that if Republicans as a party allow such despicable behavior, they have no right to be in power.
Gilmore regrets the United States’ neglect of the Middle East following the Cold War and classifies Iraq as a small part of a larger regional issue. He speaks of the need to brighten the country’s image throughout the world. He believes Roe v. Wade was “wrongly decided” but holds that a woman ought to be allowed to have an abortion during the first eight to 12 weeks of her pregnancy. He opposes stem-cell research, believing it morally wrong to create people in order to conduct experiments on them.
Paul asserts he voted against the war in Iraq, pushing a foreign policy of non-intervention. As a strong supporter of original Constitutional intent, he criticizes what he sees as “nation-building” in the Middle East. He defines his mission statement in part as “changing the idea of what the role of government ought to be.” He opposes federal funding of stem-cell research and is opposed any form of national identification, saying such measures goes against the idea of a free society. He speaks of the importance of privacy for American citizens and promises to never “abuse habeas corpus.”
With the exception of the angry Arizona Republican once smeared by Karl Rove (McCain), the sole Mormon (Romney) and the former Saturday Night Live host (Giuliani), the wide spread of candidates, of varying regional fame, have nine minutes each to distinguish themselves from the sea of candidates.
In short: After an hour, Gilmore, Huckabee and Hunter all start to look the same. Another five minutes into the debate, Thompson joins them in the generic conservative blur.
After-party
Far from being an orderly refuge where candidates man their separate stations and let reporters come to them, the Spin Room becomes a mosh-pit-like free-for-all after the debates. Placards bearing candidates’ names are held high above the crowd, airport arrivals gate-style. Notable by their absence are the three candidates currently projected to have a chance in hell come January primaries: McCain, Romney and Giuliani. They are taking part in some quasi-aristocratic ritual of playing hard-to-get.
A placard meant to be held over Romney has the letters “Mitt” crossed out, “Tagg” hurriedly scrawled in, giving his son the opportunity to take over spinning duties. Former secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and a surprisingly spirited Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) are in to stump for McCain and Sen. Jim Talent (R-Missouri) is there to talk up Romney.
General consensus? Chris Matthews said to hell with moderation. When Hunter was asked if he considered himself a compassionate conservative, he offered a monosyllabic affirmation before returning to the subject of Iran, concluding, “We should not get to the edge of the cliff on this enrichment of uranium.”
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, political analyst for KNBC News, is not impressed, calling the debate “the political equivalent of speed dating.”
“Halfway through, the moderator lost control of the debate,” she says.
Kevin Keane, Thompson’s press secretary, aggressively promotes Thompson’s three-point Iraq strategy. When asked to explain Thompson’s position on firing employees based on their sexual orientation, Keane explains that Thompson’s answer was a pure misunderstanding.
Says Keane, “Nobody should be discriminated against. He didn’t hear the questions properly. [His position is that] employers should have latitude, but not be able to discriminate.” He adds that Thompson is hard of hearing, and that actually, he is quite popular among the Log Cabin Republicans.
Although acquiring a press credential is a multi-page affair requiring applicants to divulge their Social Security numbers, the after-party in the Spin Room is amazingly all-access. After the sterile arrangement of candidates in a half-crescent on stage, seven of them are now at eye-level with the information sector, including Oliver, who quickly corners Thompson, Huckabee and Graham. Of the three, Graham comes out looking the best, and is accused by Oliver of being drunk.
The debate’s guests are now an audience to this spectacle, peering down from a balcony cafe.
Outside, a well-dressed young man lacking a press credential rushes toward the Spin Room.
“I hope I can get in,” he says to his companion. “I have to tell Ridge and Graham that I’m their ride home!”
