The first three phrases related to the controversial war in Iraq. Despite the public opinion polls that showed widespread discontent with the operation and the almost daily horror stories from the region in the media, the president stuck to his guns and doggedly defended his choice. In his speeches, rallies, interviews, and press conferences, he stated and restated his conviction multiple times as Topspin.
The culminating instance of his effective use of Topspin occurred in the homestretch of the campaign, during the closing moments of his third and final debate against John F. Kerry, more of which you'll see in Chapter 9, "The Art of War." In response to the penultimate question of the debate, George W. Bush took the opportunity both to reaffirm his Point B and to disparage his rival.
My opponent keeps mentioning John McCain, and I'm glad he did. John McCain is for me for president because he understands I have the right view in winning the war on terror and that my plan will succeed in Iraq. And my opponent has got a plan of retreat and defeat in Iraq.
"My plan will succeed in Iraq. And my opponent has got a plan of retreat and defeat in Iraq." In that one short statement, George W. Bush, in effect, succinctly summarized the entire 2004 election campaign: He was resolute in his convictions, while his opponent vacillated.
As important as was the issue of the war in Iraq, the fourth phrase in the preceding list, about moral responsibility, ultimately became even more important. Targeted at his core conservative support group, known as his "base," moral responsibility resonated with their all-important themes of patriotism, family, and religion, but more importantly, it also defined the president's positions on several other major controversial issues…same sex marriage, abortion, and stem cell research.
While the electorate as a whole was concerned with even more major issues…terrorism, taxes, jobs, health care, Social Security…in the end, moral responsibility was uppermost in their minds. According to Election Day exit polls, "When respondents were asked to pick the one issue that mattered most in choosing a president, "moral values" ranked first at 22%, surpassing the economy (20%), terrorism (19%), and Iraq (15%)." [7.6]
Even more telling was another Election Day exit poll of two of the most hotly contested swing states, which found that "about 8 out of 10 people in Florida and Ohio who voted for Mr. Bush said moral values had been a key factor in their decision." [7.7] Florida with its 27 electoral votes and Ohio with its 20 went to Bush, giving him a grand total of 286 electoral votes to Kerry's 252, with 270 needed to win. Topspin ruled.
Consistent to a fault, two months later, the president launched into his second term by delivering an Inaugural address in which he used the word "freedom" 27 times in the 20 minute speech.
In the discussion of the presidential debates in Chapter 9, you'll see more about how President Bush and Senator Kerry employed Topspin, as well as how they handled several other techniques that are so vital in the line of fire, but let's conclude this chapter with two other debates that provided classic examples of Topspin.
Lloyd Bentsen Topspins
In the U.S. presidential election of 1988 election in which George W. Bush's father, George H. Bush, ran against Michael Dukakis, their vice-presidential candidates, Dan Quayle, the senator from Indiana, and Lloyd Bentsen, the senator from Texas, also debated. The format for their single encounter was to respond to questions posed by a panel of journalists. When they assembled in the Omaha Civic Auditorium on October 5, 1988, Senator Quayle was struggling with the stigma of his youth and inexperience, and the journalists, true to their nature, went after his weak spot.
First, Judy Woodruff of the Public Broadcasting Service challenged Quayle's maturity. Then, Brit Hume of ABC NEWS took up the cudgel, challenging him twice more on the same subject and, when his turn came, so did Tom Brokaw of NBC NEWS.
Senator Quayle, I don't mean to beat this drum until it has no more sound in it. But to follow up on Brit Hume's question, when you said that it was a hypothetical situation, it is, sir, after all, the reason that we're here tonight, because you are running not just for Vice President…
The audience in the auditorium, sensing the intensity of the panelists' pursuit of this vital issue, broke into applause. Then, Brokaw continued.
…And if you cite the experience that you had in Congress, surely you must have some plan in mind about what you would do if it fell to you to become President of the United States, as it has to so many Vice Presidents just in the last 25 years or so.
With a touch of exasperation, Quayle replied to Brokaw's challenge:
Let me try to answer the question one more time. I think this is the fourth time that I've had this question.
Brokaw interjected, holding up three fingers.
The third time.
Brokaw was wrong. It was the fourth time, but in his frustration, Quayle accepted the correction.
Three times that I've had this question…and I will try to answer it again for you, as clearly as I can, because the question you are asking is what kind of qualifications does Dan Quayle have to be president…
Brokaw shook his head from side to side. That was not the question he was asking. Quayle saw Brokaw's negative reaction and tried to reframe his question.
…what kind of qualifications do I have…
But Brokaw continued to shake his head. As if to emphasize his dissatisfaction, he also sat back and folded his arms across his chest. You'll recall from Chapter 5, "Retake the Floor," that the audience's physical reaction to whether the presenter has heard the question or not is completely involuntary for all human beings…even professional journalists like Tom Brokaw.
Suddenly, Quayle realized that the Roman Column was his plan and not his qualifications. His eyes widened and his voice rose in confidence to state it.
…and what would I do in this kind of a situation.
Quayle finally got it right and Brokaw nodded in assent. Quayle went on for a minute to outline what he would do, and then concluded his answer with Topspin to his qualifications.
It is not just age; it's accomplishments, it's experience. I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.
During Quayle's answer, the television image cut from a close up of Quayle to a wide shot that included Lloyd Bentsen, his eyebrows raised in incredulity (Figure 7.2).
Figure 7.2. Senator Lloyd Bentsen reacts to Dan Quayle.
At that point, Judy Woodruff turned the floor over to Senator Bentsen for his rebuttal. Senator Bentsen began his answer with Topspin.
Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy. [7.8]
As powerful and as famous was Lloyd Bentsen's Topspin, there was another more powerful and more famous.
Ronald Reagan Topspins
On October 28, 1984, incumbent President Ronald Reagan met Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City in a presidential debate with a format similar to the Quayle-Bentsen match: responding to the questions from a panel of journalists. During the debate, Henry Trewhitt, the diplomatic correspondent for The Baltimore Sun, asked President Reagan:
You already are the oldest president in history and some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr. Mondale. I recall yet that President Kennedy had to go days on end very little sleep during the Cuba missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?
Ronald Reagan, known as the Great Communicator, and deservedly so, replied promptly with a crisp three-word answer,
Not at all.
Then, he then immediately switched to the offensive with an agile Topspin for the ages.
And, Mr. Trewhitt, I want you to know also I will not make age an is
sue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. [7.9]
Even his opponent, Senator Mondale, knew he was in the presence of a master of the game, and he laughed along with the peals of laughter from the audience (Figure 7.3).
Figure 7.3. Ronald Reagan Topspins Walter Mondale.
Ronald Reagan's Topspin and Colin Powell's Key Word Buffers are examples of virtuosos at their best. Neither skill comes easily; each of them is counterintuitive to the natural tendency of results-driven presenters to jump directly to answers and then to keep moving. Each of these skills requires an effort to learn. That takes discipline, the next of the core martial arts skills, and the subject of the next chapter.
Chapter 8
Preparation
(Martial Art: Discipline)
The most important part begins even before you put your hand on the sword.
—Jyoseishi Kendan By Matsura Seizan[8.1] (1760–1841)
In the martial arts, the discipline required to learn new skills carries virtually the same weight as the skills themselves. Every martial arts treatise sets forth both the underlying philosophy and the rigorous steps required to attain mastery. In karate, the learning progression is marked by the graduated color coding of the uniform belts. Starting with the beginners' white belt, the levels of achievement for most schools ascend through yellow, orange, green, blue, and brown, culminating in the coveted black belt. It takes years of disciplined practice and preparation to ascend through all the levels. Only the best can achieve the highest level. Although learning to answer tough questions might not be as daunting as a lethal sport, you would do well to apply Thomas Edison's formula for genius, 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, by working very hard before you put your hand on the sword.
Ever since the U.S. presidential election of 1960, when the underdog, John F. Kennedy, was able to reverse the field against the favorite, Richard M. Nixon, in the first-ever televised debate, such matches have played a key role in every political campaign. Although the turnabout was largely attributed to Kennedy's superior presentation skills, preparation also played a significant role.
Don Hewitt, the driving force behind CBS' 60 Minutes, happened to have been the television director of that historic debate and, in his autobiography, he described some of the preparations. Kennedy arrived in Chicago three days before the debate to prepare and even took some time in the late September sun to get tanned. Nixon, in spite of the fact that he was fighting an infection, spent his time campaigning vigorously right up to the day of debate. He arrived at the television studio exhausted and underweight, his ill-fitting clothing hanging loosely. Nixon's aides hurriedly applied a slapdash coat of a product called "Lazy Shave" to his characteristically heavy beard and made him look pasty. Kennedy used a light coat of makeup. In the hot lights of the studio, Nixon perspired through his "Lazy Shave," which gave him a worse appearance than a five o'clock shadow. [8.2]
Kennedy's aides had surveyed the studio in advance and advised him to wear a dark suit to contrast with the light blue backdrop of the set. In black-and-white television, the light blue translated to grey. Nixon wore a light suit that translated into the same monochrome value as the background and made him look washed out (Figure 8.1).
Figure 8.1. John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate.
© Bettmann/CORBIS
Nixon had held a slim lead in the public opinion polls right up to the day of the debate. The day after the debate, Sindlinger and Company, a Philadelphia research organization, conducted a telephone poll. Those poll respondents who had watched on television thought Kennedy won, while those who had listened on the radio thought Nixon won. [8.3] This gave Kennedy a lead that he held until his victory in November.
From that moment on, media consultants became as important as positioning strategists in political campaigns and, from that moment on, preparation became an absolute imperative for debates. Although there were no other presidential debates until 1976 when President Gerald R. Ford met Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, they became set pieces thereafter every four years.
In each of those years, each candidate, accompanied by key staff members, decamped to sequestered retreats. There, with the thoroughness of the allies planning for D-Day, each candidate ramped up to the debate with intensive preparation. Ford and Carter prepared diligently, and so did their successors [8.4]:
1980: Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and John Anderson
1984: Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale
1988: George H. Bush and Michael Dukakis
1992: George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot
1996: Bill Clinton and Bob Dole
2000: Al Gore and George W. Bush
2004: George W. Bush and John F. Kerry
Over a period of weeks the candidates reviewed research, brainstormed, refined positions, viewed opponent's tapes, and held mock debates with carefully chosen stand-ins. They even had rehearsal studios built to replicate those of the actual venue. Over the years, each debate provided lessons for subsequent debates. Cumulatively, the candidates and their campaign staffs compiled a long list of what to do and, more important, what not to do.
By the time President George W. Bush was to debate Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry in the 2004 election, presidential debates had evolved into a sophisticated science. The Bush team set up shop at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, while the Kerry team gathered at a resort 40 miles outside of Madison, Wisconsin. You'll see a detailed analysis of the results of their efforts in the next chapter, but let's first look at how preparation impacted another debate with which you are already familiar.
It's another and deeper look at the NAFTA debate between Vice President Al Gore and Ross Perot on the Larry King Live television program. In Chapter 1, "The Critical Dynamics of Q&A," you saw how Perot flared up at Gore in response to a challenge, but that was only one of many such outbursts during the 90-minute broadcast. Each of them was provoked by the deliberate strategy the Gore team had developed in anticipation of the debate. Their preparatory efforts were described in an article in The Atlantic Monthly by James Fallows.
Gore, meanwhile, spent the two weeks before the debate studying Perot's bearing and his character, while relying on his staff to dig up the goods on Perot's past…[they] prepared an omnibus edition of Perot's speeches, statements, and interviews about NAFTA, and also tapes of Perot in action. Gore studied them on his own and then assembled a team at the Naval Observatory…the vice president's official residence
One of the key members of that team was Greg Simon, Gore's domestic policy advisor. Simon told Fallows about the key strategy that emerged from those sessions:
If you've dealing with a hothead, you make him mad…You've got a crazy man, you make him show it…He'll be fine as long as everybody sits there and listens to him, but if you start interrupting him, he'll lose it. [8.5]
Gore proceeded to interrupt Perot repeatedly. In fact, Perot complained to Larry King, to Al Gore, and to the television audience about the interruptions eight times during the first half of the program. By midway through, Perot was steaming mad and operating on a short fuse. Nonetheless, he pressed ahead with his cause by turning to the camera and addressing the television audience with yet another blast against NAFTA in general, and Mexico in particular.
All right folks, the Rio Grande River is the most polluted river in the Western Hemisphere…
Right on cue, Gore interrupted.
Wait a minute. Can I respond to this first?
Larry King tried to intervene.
Yeah, let him respond.
By now, Perot was in no way going to let Gore respond.
The Tijuana River is the most…they've had to close it…
Larry King asked,
But all of this is without NAFTA, right?
Gore persisted.
Yeah, and let me respond to this, if I could, would you…
Perot ignored Gore and turned to address Larry King.
Larry, Larry, this is after years of U.S. companies going to Mexico, living free…
Larry King tried to clarify:
But they could do that without NAFTA.
Perot spoke past Gore, directly to Larry King:
But we can stop that without NAFTA and we can stop that with a good NAFTA.
Gore, sitting at Perot's side, asked:
How do you stop that without NAFTA?
Peeved, Perot swung around to face Gore and replied testily:
Just make…just cut that out. Pass a few simple laws on this, make it very, very clear…
Quite innocently, Gore asked:
Pass a few simple laws on Mexico?
His anger rising again, Perot, shook his head, then dropped it like a bull about to charge, and said:
No.
Gore persisted, quietly, but firmly.
How do you stop it without NAFTA?
Icily, Perot replied:
Give me your whole mind.
"Give me your whole mind." Perot addressed the vice president of the United States as if he was an errant employee! The vice president of the United States smiled back broadly, and said:
Yeah, I'm listening. I haven't heard the answer, but go ahead.
Chiding back, Perot snapped:
That's because you haven't quit talking.
Gore replied:
Well, I'm listening…
And then for the third time, Gore calmly repeated his question.
How do you stop it without NAFTA?
Perot would not be calmed.
OK, are you going to listen? Work on it! [8.6]
"Work on it!" More disdain and more petulance from Perot. The sum total of all his contentious behavior came a cropper the next day in the public opinion polls: The undecided respondents dramatically swung in favor of NAFTA (please refer to Figure 1.1).
Lessons Learned
The key takeaway from this chapter is its main theme: discipline. By all accounts, Al Gore focused his efforts on what he did before he put his hand on the sword. Perot was notoriously delinquent in preparation. Having campaigned against NAFTA for three months before the debate, Perot "cruised toward the discussion as if it would be another episode of the Ross-and-Larry mutual-admiration show," according to Fallows. [8.7]
In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions... When It Counts Page 10