Now Your're Talking!: Candidates' Use of Talk Shows During Campaigns

"The candidates were looking for an escape from 'gotcha' journalism, and found it in TV talk shows. While President Bush called it 'wacky' and refused to take part in it, Perot and Clinton were gaining popularity by going on talk shows and avoiding the big name reporters. . . Clinton refutes the attack that these talk shows are 'patsy deals' by showing evidence that such meetings feature tough and probing questions. . . Other journalists, such as Jonathan Yardley from the Washington Post, have said it is, 'degrading for candidates to be on TV talk shows.' He claims that that is a place for 'transvestites, washed-up actors, and a place to plug something.' Some disagree and joke that being on a TV talk show is no more degrading than the usual campaign. A lot of people agree with Arsenio Hall when he told a saxophone playing Bill Clinton that it was nice to see a Democrat blowing something besides the election. Clinton finds nothing wrong with a President going on Larry King or the right kind of MTV show. 'People who might not watch news shows are voters too.'" MA

"This last year brought about the rise of a talk show democracy where voters dispensed with the journalistic middleman. . . Talk shows and the like allow people to get closer to the candidates and they bring at least some political news to people who might otherwise get none." TX

"Larry King created presidential candidate H. Ross Perot." OK

"He (Clinton) had appeared on Donahue as a young governor and he revived his national hopes in 1988 with the Tonight Show after failing at the Democratic Convention." OH

"Another extremely influential man in the talk radio business is Rush Limbaugh. According to Limbaugh, 'talk radio is to the media what Ross Perot is to the two political parties.'" NY

"Politicians use these shows to shy away from tough media questions while still getting coverage throughout America." MA

"Talk shows. . . give the wily candidate an opportunity to show his lighter side to the public, laughing and joking with the host, proving that he's just a regular guy. But how many regular guys does America want as commander-in-chief?" OR

"This year, unlike years before, the campaigns (used) nationwide talk shows like Larry King Live, Arsenio Hall, and MTV News. These talk shows tried to portray the candidates as the flexible and personal people they claimed to be." NY

"The popularity of call-in radio shows is the main advantage that radio has over television. These talk shows allow the audience to hear the views of their 'peers' in voting. These shows offer the biggest variety of opinions on the candidates and the issues. " MD

"One might call it Talk Show Democracy; a combination of (an) electronic web of 'interactive television and radio shows, 800 numbers, phone banks, fax machines and computer billboards'. Talk Show Democracy offers a new, direct outlet for voters' views. Talk Radio, headed by New York's Don Imus or Rush Limbaugh stir up grass-roots dissent. C-SPAN featured Ross Perot (and) allowed call-ins. Clinton and Perot appeared on MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour to tell their intentions, but viewers could not call in and voice their opinions. Perot went on 60 Minutes to announce his re-entry into the Presidential race. All in all, Perot gained the most from these shows, but he was also hurt severely by the news media." KS

"Perot used talk shows to answer voters' questions directly. This made millions of people feel that they were actually participating." OH

"David Broder of The Washington Post said regarding the talk show phenomenon, that 'it cheapens journalism, it gives people the impression that what political reporters do is stand around and holler at each other.'" NY

"Talk shows found that their ratings soared when candidates were guests." MA

"Radio shows are usually not contrived, especially those shows that feature call-in segments. The listener is then the majority of the show. There is an exchange of ideas, not thrust-upon ideas. Through radio comes 'the silent majority of views,' the ones not expressed by politicians or the news, which is why it is often thought of as democracy's forum. The people want to be heard, and they will choose the medium most accessible to them." PA