The short version is that I graduated from law school in 1987, by which time I’d already enjoyed a number of unique, Republican, political experiences. I’d met Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush while still in high school. Formed a campus club for Reagan/Bush at Lehigh University. Became an advanceman for Vice President Bush while still in college. And even ran unsuccessfully for the Pennsylvania state legislature while a full-time law student. My final year of law school, in 1987, I worked to get Arlen Specter reelected to the U.S. Senate and helped Frank Rizzo win a Philadelphia Republican mayoral primary. Meanwhile in Manhattan, Trump was becoming successful and ubiquitous. Having taken over the family business in the early 1970s, he obtained an option on the West Side railroad yards and enticed New York City to make the site a convention center. He obtained an option for the Penn Central Hotel near Grand Central Station and lured Hyatt to town. He leased a site next to Tiffany and Co. and built the Trump Tower. And then he entered Atlantic City, where he acquired the largest hotel casino in the world, the Trump Taj Mahal. In 1985, he bought Mar-a-Lago. Then, the year I graduated from law school, he published The Art of the Deal, a “yuge” best seller. And that’s when he made his first visit to New Hampshire. Invited by a GOP activist named Mike Dunbar, Trump spoke to the Portsmouth Rotary Club at the legendary Yoken’s Restaurant (“Thar She Blows”) on October 22 and stoked speculation that he would run for president. Over the next three decades, he came back to New Hampshire six times, usually in election season, and continued to fuel interest.
The nation wasn’t ready for Trump in the late 1980s, but it was by 2016. What changed in the interim? While he made his fortune, I was earning my stripes in the media world, particularly talk radio, which gave me a unique perch from which to see the transformation of the political environment. There was partisanship when I graduated from law school on Ronald Reagan’s watch, but not polarization. The media world was a rather liberal place. There was no Internet, no cable TV, no satellite radio. The major media outlets were the New York Times and the Washington Post, plus the big three television networks, with anchors named Brokaw, Jennings, and Rather. Conservatives lacked a clubhouse. Things changed at the time of the first Gulf War, when Rush Limbaugh had success as a Sacramento talker and was placed into syndication. Limbaugh filled a vacuum and had great success. Soon, talk stations across the country wanted Limbaugh and a stable of his imitators. Now, ideology was important, not personality. When Fox News came on the air in 1996, it took a page from that playbook. Online, the right-leaning DrudgeReport reached a zenith in 1998 with revelations about Bill Clinton’s intern scandal. The Huffington Post and MSNBC duplicated the strategy on the left. We suddenly had a polarized media landscape, and the politicians adapted by taking many of their cues from the talking heads. And ultimately, Donald Trump would be the primary beneficiary.
In the three decades since he dipped his toe into the political water in Portsmouth, the political scene underwent systemic change. By the time he rode the escalator at Trump Tower to his campaign announcement in July 2015, an audience had been preconditioned for the Howard Beale/ Network candidate of the 2016 cycle: “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!” Sure, there were other contributing factors to polarization—money, social media, geography/gerrymandering, and self-sorting—but Trump would never have made it this far without a media climate 30 years in the making. It was right in front of me, but still I didn’t see how he would be the beneficiary. He was the nation’s first nominee to mirror the talk radio, Fox News, DrudgeReport, Breitbart view of the world, even though some of those media mouthpieces ultimately turned against him. When, after winning the nomination, he hired Breitbart’s executive chairman, Steve Bannon, to be his second campaign manager, the transformation of our political leadership was complete. The road was also paved for his general election victory, where among the factors that led to his upset win was certainly a distrust in the Clintons and the mainstream media, which had been made easier by years of talk radio’s assault on both.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE to the Lehigh University Department of Journalism (in my era called the Division of Journalism). I graduated with a double major in government and journalism—the former was planned; the latter evolved after an upperclassman advised me during my freshman year that the journalism department had some interesting courses and entertaining lecturers. The best known was Journalism 122, Law of the Press, taught by Joseph B. McFadden (I still have that course number in my head). I similarly enjoyed the offerings of Professors Robert J. Sullivan and Wally Trimble, whose courses I took repeatedly, and before I knew it, I’d amassed enough credits for the major. I thank them all for furthering my interest in writing.
Zack Stalberg was the editor of the Daily News who facilitated my writing a weekly column for a big-city newspaper. I have immense respect for Zack and personal fondness for both him and his wife, Deb, and I will never forget the opportunity he provided. I also appreciate support I received from others at the Daily News, including Frank Burgos, Sandra Shea, Michael Days, and the man who edited my DN column, Michael Schefer.
This book literally would not exist without the assistance of Bill Marimow, the two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning former editor at the Inquirer. He was supportive from the moment of inception, just as he has been encouraging of my work as a Sunday Inquirer columnist. Thanks go, as well, to Suzanne Mitchell Parillo for working with me to secure the permissions that were necessary to republish the columns, Stan Wischnowski, executive editor and senior vice president of Philadelphia Media Network, and Terrance C. Z. Egger, publisher and CEO of the PMN, for graciously agreeing. I also extend gratitude to those who have assisted me over the years with my work as an Inquirer columnist, including Harold Jackson and the man who edits my Sunday Inquirer column, Kevin Ferris, as well as John Timpane, who used to fill that role. Kevin has edited more of my columns than anyone else, always with an eye toward making the words stronger and never in a manner intended to alter my meaning, for which I am most grateful. I am also mindful of the fact that I’d never have become associated with the Inquirer without the invitation that was extended by Brian Tierney, the former publisher.
Whitney Cookman, a gifted designer, crafted the cover design for this book, and I appreciate his willingness to donate his services in recognition of the value of the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center (CCTC). Greg Jones edited this manuscript with similar selflessness. Greg did an excellent job with my novel, Talk, and it was nice to reconnect with him. Buz Teacher never wants public recognition, but I’d be remiss if I did not mention my friend, who is always willing to lend me an ear me and, coincidentally, has been extremely generous to CCTC. More than anyone else, Buz was the person I turned to in search of advice about how best to bring this project to fruition. I thank Gary and Deirdre Smerillo for their competent contract review. And I thank Gail Fogel for so ably cataloguing my columns over the years, which enabled me to reread them in hard copy to decide which to republish here.
It was very important to me to be able to title this book Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right. I love the song by Stealer’s Wheel, and the lyrics sum up my political view of the world. My SiriusXM radio program listeners know how frequently I play the music, and I have many to thank for being granted permission to use the great lyrics in the timeless hit “Stuck in Middle with You.” First and foremost, I am grateful to Joe Egan and Baby Bun Music, Ltd., as well as the Estate of Gerald Rafferty, the Music of Stage Three, with particular thanks to Tracie Butler at BMG Rights Management for securing the rights to use the lyrics as the book title. It was a bit of a struggle tracing the rights, for which I thank Lisa Thomas from Lisa Thomas Music Service LLC for her sleuthing efforts and Del Bryant, the former CEO of BMI.
David Axelrod is both a CNN colleague and a friend who did not hesitate to provide the Foreword, especially when hearing about my interest in boosting the work of CCTC.
I think this project has found
an appropriate home at Temple University Press, which would not have come about without Aaron Javsicas, the editor-in-chief, and Marinanicole “Nikki” Dohrman Miller, editorial assistant and rights and contracts coordinator. Joan Vidal and Debby Smith provided me with an important and thorough prepublication review of the columns and the Afterwords. I am also grateful to Kate Nichols for the interior design and to Ann-Marie Anderson, Irene Imperio Kull, and Gary Kramer for their marketing expertise. Way back in 1980, I had a difficult choice between whether to study government at Lehigh or radio, television, and film at Temple. Having opted for the former, I feel as though I’ve now brought the process full circle!
Finally, I thank the interns Marian Lurio and Lillian Crager for all their research in support of both the book and its audio offering and TC Scornavacchi, my friend and radio producer, who—in recognition of the charitable intent of sales, and without a single complaint—undertook the most difficult task of all: editing the audio recording of my reading of each of these columns and their corresponding Afterwords. I’d like to tell you I nailed them all on the first take, but the truth is I nailed none of them at first—as Marian and Lillian would point out after carefully listening and TC would then have me correct so that she could edit accordingly. This was a long and laborious part of the project, which TC undertook with utmost patience. Just how frustrating was the recording process? That will be revealed if TC’s outtake reel ever sees the light of day! (I can only hope not.)
Thank you all.
MICHAEL A. SMERCONISH is a SiriusXM radio host, CNN television host, and Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper columnist. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lehigh University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he is of counsel to the law firm of Kline & Specter. He resides in the Philadelphia suburbs, where he and his wife have raised four children.
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