No Way To Pick A President. - Review - book reviews

Washington Monthly, Oct, 1999 by Paul Taylor

After taking on the hired guns and the celebrity television pundits (side note: sweetly, Witcover gives a free pass to his much-beloved partner, Germond, whose name does not come up despite his 15-year stint on the much-skewered McLaughlin Group), Witcover turns his attention to a variety of systemic problems with the presidential selection process. These run the gamut from the loophole-ridden campaign finance laws, to the front-loaded nomination calendar, to the haphazard delegate selection process, to the roll-of-the-dice culture of vice-presidential selection, to the made-for-TV conventions that have airbrushed the politics out of politics.

He puts forth lots of sensible reform proposals. Soft money needs to be legislated out of the political system, and free television time legislated in. The primary calendar should be stretched out, with small states coming before big states, but with Iowa and New Hampshire losing their automatic place as lead-off hitters. The party conventions should become occasions for lively policy debate, unrestrained by the glare of television lights.

It all sounds good, and if there were an office of Reformer-in-Chief, he'd have my vote. But a final whiff of melancholy intrudes. Witcover ends the book on a note of resignation, observing that unless the public clamors for something better--and he sees no immediate prospect--"we will be doomed to keep on without significant change--getting what our collective apathy reaps."

That's too downbeat for my taste, though I may not be the best judge. I too covered presidential politics for a spell--not nearly as long or well as Witcover. I too got frustrated with the story. My solution was to leave journalism--and to pursue, as an advocate, some of the same reforms Witcover champions as an author. Obviously, I've got a stake in believing things actually can get better. Like Witcover, I don't find a lot of encouragement in the current landscape. But history is with us! America's campaign culture has become a loser, and Americans don't put up with losers. Sooner or later, we get rid of them.

In the meantime, the most redemptive thing I take from this book is Witcover's voice--sad, indignant, insistent, seized with the story. He's been at it for more than 40 years, a model of old school values and virtues. Most people think of journalists as cynics. The best of them--like Witcover--are cold-eyed idealists. I wish he had a better story to tell. I'm glad he's still telling it.

PAUL TAYLOR, a former reporter for The Washington Post, is the founder and executive director of the Alliance for Better Campaigns.