Bill Press: 'Spin' and Election 2000

Bill Press is a co-host of CNN's "Crossfire." A nationally syndicated columnist and a radio news analyst, he is the author of "Spin This!: All the Ways We Don't Tell the Truth." Press is a former chair of the California Democratic Party, and was an aide to former California governor Jerry Brown. He joined the CNN.com chat room from Washington, D.C.

CNN: Have the events of September 11 made the anniversary of Election 2000 nothing more than a footnote?

BILL PRESS: Well, certainly the events of September 11 have surpassed curiosity about who won the election, although, I must say, we still don't know who won the election, even a year later.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Bill Press, and what a year it's been. Would things have turned out differently with Gore in the White House?

PRESS: I don't think so. I think George Bush has done a good job so far in conducting the military campaign against the Taliban, and I think all Americans, most Americans certainly, are united behind him. I think Al Gore would have done an excellent job, too. This is one place where all Americans are together.

EXTRA INFORMATION CNN In-Depth: Election 2000    RESOURCES Chat transcript: Jeffrey Toobin: Election 2000 anniversary

CNN: Does anyone remain outraged over what happened in Florida?

PRESS: Well, yes. I think a lot of people are still outraged, and should be, because it was a presidential election that was stopped in mid-count by the United States Supreme Court, who then declared George Bush to be the winner. George Bush is the president. I accept him as our president. No one is trying to take it away from him now. But the way that election was decided should never happen again.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Has there been any legal action taken against the Supreme Court?

PRESS: I know of no legal action filed against the Supreme Court, and frankly, I don't know how you can sue the highest court in the land. Right or wrong, they are the final word.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Has there been any headway, or even expressed interest, in election reform?

PRESS: Yes, but I don't think there's been enough interest in election reform. For starters, I think there should be the best, most up to date voting machines in every county in the country, and Congress should make money available to purchase them. And I think there should be uniform ways of deciding close elections like we had last year. Neither of those have happened yet, unfortunately.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What's happening with the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center (NORC) study of the ballots?

PRESS: Actually, we may soon know. The consortium, which includes CNN, completed its count of all the ballots in Florida two or three months ago. They have not yet released the results, partly because of September 11, but the results are scheduled to be released this weekend, November 11 or 12. Members of the consortium got the results two days ago, but I haven't heard any leaks.

CNN: Your new book focuses on the origins of 'spin.' Did this phenomenon begin in the war room of the Clinton Campaign?

PRESS: I have a new book out this week, called "Spin This!" which talks about spin in all its many dimensions, political, legal, sales, personal, even sexual. In the book, as you will see, spin did not start in the 'Spin Room,' [a former CNN on-air program] and spin did not start in the Clinton campaign, either. I trace it all the way back to the Garden of Eden, and "original spin." But I also point out, Clinton was the master spinner of all.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Do you think that the results of the presidential election will result in less apathy among voters in 2004?

PRESS: I'm afraid it will be the opposite. I'm afraid what happened in Florida will turn people off to the political process. Unless we fix the system, it will look like you can vote, but your vote won't be counted. We can't let that happen.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Do you feel that the Electoral College will be dropped anytime in the near future?

PRESS: I hope so, but I doubt it. Keeping the Electoral College today I believe is just silly. To me, even what happened in November 2000 shows how useless the Electoral College is. But people cling to tradition.

CNN: People tend to think of George W. Bush as a straight shooter. Thus, is 'spin' no longer 'in'?

PRESS: Actually, spin did not go away on September 11. Now we just call it propaganda. And there's a lot of propaganda on both sides of the war. When Osama bin Laden says he killed 6000 people in the name of God that's the worst possible spin. When the Pentagon generals say everything is going according to plan, that's spin, too. When Tommy Thompson says we know what we're doing with anthrax, don't believe him. It's just spin.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: We were discussing in the room the term "Evildoer." What is your opinion of such rhetoric?

PRESS: I agree that Osama bin Laden is an evildoer, but I think we should tone down the rhetoric, and just get the job done. Read Maureen Dowd in [the Wednesday, November 7, 2001] New York Times who makes the same point. Sometimes George Bush sounds more like a sheriff than a president. Tough words aren't going to do the job.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: How do you explain the president's current popularity rating considering the virtual tie in November 2000?

PRESS: Answer, easy. Americans always unite behind the president in time of war. It won't last forever. It doesn't necessarily translate to other members of his party -- see what happened [in the election] yesterday? -- but as long as the war is going well, the president will enjoy high popularity. If the war goes on too long, or if it starts to turn against us, those ratings will drop.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Can you give us some spin on the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races? Good sign for democrats next year?

PRESS: The Republican spin is that these elections don't matter, because nobody is focused on them. The truth is, they do matter. They're two big states. New Jersey was a red state last November. If the Republicans had won both, they would be bragging about how invincible George Bush has made the Republican Party. So, since Democrats won both, I think Democrats have some bragging rights that George Bush's popularity is limited to the war, and does not carry over to domestic policies, and that even in a conservative state like Virginia, it's harder and harder to elect someone statewide who is anti-choice. That's my spin on yesterday's election.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Isn't "spin" simply getting your message out in the best light possible?

PRESS: Yes, I think spin is not evil, spin is not wrong, spin is just how we get through awkward situations. I think the best definition is that it's twisting the truth to put things in the best possible light. In my book, "Spin This!" I give lots of examples in many walks of life: car salesmen, preachers, lawyers, boyfriends, kids and parents, and politicians. Let me just give one example. When last week, the chairman of United Airlines got fired, he didn't say he was fired. He said he decided to step down to pursue other interests. He knew it was spin, we knew it was spin. But it made everybody feel better. The only problem is when somebody spins, but then denies that they're spinning.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Do you think Bush will get re-elected in 2004?

PRESS: It's too far away to tell. Certainly, if the election were held today, he'd be handily re-elected. But we don't know what the economy will be like, we don't know whether the war will still be dragging on, we don't know who the Democratic nominee will be. So, it's way too early to even have a good guess.

CNN: Do you have any closing comments to share with us?

PRESS: First, thanks for inviting me back! I love doing the chat room because, unlike on Crossfire, in the chat room you get to complete a sentence. So, thank you for the opportunity. And I remind you all again that [my] new book, "Spin This!" comes out this week in the bookstore and on Amazon.com. It's a fun look at spin, and I think you'll have a lot of laughs. I think you'll see that I give as many examples of Democrats spinning as Republicans spinning. Everyone spins.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today.

PRESS: Thank you.

Bill Press joined the chat room via telephone from Washington, D.C. and CNN.com provided a typist. The above is an edited transcript of the interview on Wednesday, November 07, 2001 at 11 a.m. EST.