 National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 31, No. 15 * August 9, 1999 Table of Contents | Next story Matalin and Carville find common ground in politics By Kevin Wilcox and Mary Ann Barton
Mary Matalin and James Carville agree on one thing about politics; they’re proud to be involved in the process. Matalin, who helped manage George Bush’s 1992 presidential campaign, and Carville, who was President Clinton’s chief strategist that year, addressed delegates at Tuesday’s General Session. "I’ve never spent one second of my life being ashamed of what I do or who I am," Carville said. "I’ve worked for mayors, parishes, presidents and prime ministers. By and large, most people who serve do it for the right reasons. I’d like to see some acknowledgement of that." Although the two shared the stage, they covered little of the same ground in their speeches. Matalin, who said she was stunned by the stupidity of the punditry already surrounding the 2000 election, offered the audience five things to keep an eye on. Candidates need a reason they are running, money, candidate skills, organized ground troops and the ability to deal with the press. "The press has a negative bias. As a conservative, I think it has a liberal bias," Matalin said. "The pressures at that level compel them to just make things up." "It’s an important election. It’s a big debate. There’s a difference between these two parties. There’s a debate about the role of government. My favorite government is government closest to the people," she added. Carville focused on the unfairness of a system that holds politicians completely accountable for failures but is lax in pointing out success. "They never give people credit," Carville said. "They never talk about the good things. People in politics dare to fail publicly. There’s a great willingness to blame politicians. That’s fair if something goes wrong. But why can’t you get half the credit when something goes right?" Carville used this backdrop to segue into a discussion of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, or what is known in the Carville/Matalin household as "the recent unpleasantness." "In politics and life, sometimes you have to make some choices," Carville said. "People told me, ‘You ought to get some distance between you and Clinton. You better think about this.’ I never thought twice about it. I was sticking by a guy who was a very good friend of mine." Carville recalled a woman who asked him in January what he would tell his daughters someday when they read about the scandal in history books. "I’ll tell them your dad had a friend who did a bad thing. And I tried to overlook the bad thinkg and remember the friend. And if someday you have a friend who does a bad thing, your dad wants you to stand by your friend. "And I’ll tell them that sometimes good girls do bad things. I’ll tell them I think you know you can come to your father first." Matalin and Carville finished to a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 3,000, took questions from the audience and signed autographs. |
