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Mr. and Mrs.President

See How They Ran

Even though reporters perpetuated the usual stereotypes by counting the number of yachts when Republicans met in San Diego and the number of union members in Chicago, both conventions reaffirmed California pol Jesse Unruh's truism: money remains the mother's milk of politics. During the Clinton years, Democrats proved themselves as adept as Republicans at prostituting the presidency. In 1996, the streets of Chicago were choked with limousines ferrying the rich from gala to gala.

Still, fat cats take a back seat during convention week to the apparent stars of the show, the politicians. Conventions celebrate power - power that incumbents now have, and power that aspiring office-holders (almost every one else attending) crave.

In Chicago, as elsewhere, the pecking order was clear. Mere delegates took free shuttle buses from the airport to their hotels. "Suits" had chauffeured limousines whisk them downtown. The president's arrival closed down the airport.

Expect Their Due

Powerful people come to expect their due and the 15,000 media representatives who invaded the city were particularly demanding. The city of Chicago, anxious to erase the stain of the 1968 convention riots, obliged with a huge blow-out on the Navy Pier on Saturday night for thousands of reporters, cameramen, producers, executives, runners, temps and their families. The self-satisfied crowd that night enjoyed their freebies as they searched out the celebrities in their own crowd. You could hear the whispers: "There's CNN's White House correspondent, Wolf Blitzer, with his family." "There's Ben Wattenberg from PBS."

The Navy Pier extravaganza was only the biggest party of hundreds. The opening night of the convention featured receptions by the Grocery Manufacturers of America for Blue Dog Democrats, by Coca- Cola and Anheuser-Busch for Hispanic delegates and by then-Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson for Senator Bill Bradley at Michael Jordan's Restaurant. Here, where the real business of the convention was transacted, was where the real significance of the convention could be found.

One night, the People for the American Way convened in the Palmer House Hilton's plush Adams Room. This liberal lobbying group grew during the Reagan years to fight the religious right.

The most poignant moment occurred when Bella Abzug and Elizabeth Carpenter were wheeled in side by side: both outspoken feminist warhorses of the 1960s and 1970s were now in wheelchairs. The brash former congresswoman from New York, still sporting her wide-brimmed hats, and the equally brash former aide to Lyndon Johnson shared a laugh that seemed to transport them back to the days when their bodies and their movement were strong.

These two veteran liberal icons, however, were upstaged. The real buzz came from Bianca Jagger, looking elegant in an off-white pantsuit, and Hollywood hunk Billy Baldwin, a second-rate, sloe- eyed actor with his hair carefully frozen by gel into a seemingly uncombed state. When Baldwin entered, he was mobbed.

Watching the leading liberal ideologues of America slobber over stars made it clear why politics these days often seems so shallow. The scene also hinted at one of the keys to Bill Clinton's success. He makes a great celebrity in chief. If the People for the American Way reduce their meeting to a celebrity-worship session, the larger, more plebeian political parties are bound to follow suit.

Relationships and Spectacle

Former speaker of the House Tip O'Neill said "all politics is local;" veteran liberal columnist Murray Kempton believed that "politics is property;" the real action occurring at the conventions proves that modern American politics is partially about relationships and partially about spectacle. Elizabeth Dole illustrated that when she celebrated her relationship with her husband, Bob, "Oprah-style" during the 1996 Republican convention; Vice-President Al Gore illustrated that in 1996 in his extended, teary monologue about his sister's lung cancer and in 1992 in his extended, teary monologue about his son's traumatic injury.

Unfortunately, reporters can rarely show relationships on television. Instead, they cover what they can see, then grouse that it is boring.

Of course, when there are clashes, reporters will so exaggerate them that shrewd politicians feel compelled to obscure disagreements. Otherwise, reporters would deride the poorly managed conventions.

Reporters need to work harder to bring readers and viewers behind the scenes, while recognizing that the demonstration they are broadcasting reflects the fact that most Americans are happier watching celebrities and leaving the real business of politics to the politicians in their once smoke-filled, and now-smokeless, rooms.

- Gil Troy is a professor of history at McGill University. His latest book is Mr. and Mrs. President: From the Trumans to the Clintons.