ballot box: Politics and policy.

The Tin Can Lady

Jacob Weisberg
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000, at 2:39 PM ET

ALTOONA, Iowa--Another day, another senior center.

But this morning, it was a little different because Al Gore ran smack into a terrific human-interest story. When he finished his regular speech about Medicare prescription-drug coverage and asked for questions, a fellow rose and told him there was a woman in the audience with a tale to tell. Without much additional coaxing, Winifred Skinner, a feisty 79-year-old with white hair stood up and spoke.

She's a retired auto-parts worker who lives in Des Moines. As she explained, she lives on a Social Security benefit of $782 a month plus a union pension of $129.50, of which $111 goes to pay her Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance premiums. Because the prescription drugs she takes cost about $400 a month, she has had to go back to work, picking up cans on the street and taking them to a recycling center for a nickel apiece.

"How much do you make doing that?" Gore asked.

"You're not going to tell the government are you?" she asked. The crowd laughed and applauded.

"I don't want to know the answer," Gore answered. "I withdraw the question."

Mrs. Skinner went on to tell him about a recent incident. She was walking along the road collecting her tin cans when a man she described as a "35-year-old smart aleck" yelled at her from his pickup truck, "Get a life!"

"That kind of cut me," she said. Because without picking up the cans to pay for her medications, she explained, "I wouldn't have a life."

Gore, resisting his obvious urge to return to policy discussion, went over and gave her a big hug. "I think you've got a wonderful life," he said.

It was a sweet moment, the kind that candidates live for. You can bet that Gore will be talking about Mrs. Skinner a lot in the weeks ahead. In fact, I'd wager that he'll mention her in next week's debate in Boston--just a hunch. But what was most interesting about this episode was how strongly Gore's traveling press corps reacted to it. Before the question period with the vice president was even finished, journalists engulfed Mrs. Skinner to press her for additional details. Other reporters camped out in the adjacent filing center rushed in to find out what was happening. It was a miniature feeding frenzy.

The reason for this excitement, bordering on desperation, is that the press corps covering Gore is starved for news. Convinced that he's ahead, the Democratic nominee has been trying to sit on his lead, holding monotonous Medicare prescription drug events like this one every day for the past several weeks. These appearances are nearly identical and there's little for reporters to say about them that they haven't said already.

In fact, Mrs. Skinner's story was actually a lot like dozens of others Gore hears from hard-pressed elderly people at events like this one. Ten minutes after she finished, another man told an affecting but much harder to hear and follow story about his illness and rising insurance premiums. No reporters went over to follow up. The difference was that Mrs. Skinner was pure central casting. She spoke clearly and knew how to use detail to make her story poignant.

In this case, Gore and his staff couldn't have been happier with the press's reaction. But I think the response shows that the vice president's attempt to play it safe has itself become a dangerous strategy. The news vacuum that Gore's single-minded message discipline has created is an explosive environment, one in which small sparks are capable of igniting large conflagrations. A minor misstatement of the kind Gore made last week about the cost of his dog's arthritis drug can become a dominant, running story. Seeing reporters pounce on today's juicy anecdote should be a reminder to him that underfed journalists can be dangerous animals.

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Jacob Weisberg is editor-in-chief of the Slate Group and author of The Bush Tragedy.

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Reader Comments from The Fray:

I believe your description of the press corps as this rapacious pack that can turn ugly if not fed juicy tidbits of saelable "news" is accurate. That's where I think the whole mythology about Gore's character being somehow suspect originated. I mean even a casual observer of the political scene whose mind is not excessively clouded by partisanship would not dream of making "character" an issue in this campaign. And if anyone's character should come under suspicion, I would say that Bush is a better candidate than Gore for that distinction. Yet the shrewd campaign team that Bush has assembled very early on defined the contest as one of character versus issues. It is pure exploitation of the largely manufactured Clinton scandal. It is transparently bogus. But it seems to have turned out to be an effective ploy. And the media has gone along with it.

--Andrew Straticzuk

(To reply, click here.)
[Another poster said "reporters aren't hungry, they're lazy".]

Did she not save anything for retirement? The greatest benefit Americans have over citizens of other countries is the freedom to pursue happiness and choose their path in life. Sometimes the decisions we make will cause results that we don't want. It has happened to me many times. Still, I appreciate the opportunities that have resulted because of this basic freedom. I do not want the federal government to compensate me for poor decisions by paying for expenses that should have been budgeted in my savings for retirement. Though I don't know what my medical expenses will be in twenty, thirty, or forty years, I am saving today and will gladly work at the age of 79 if necessary to pay my own way in life. And, at the end of the day, I will accept the consequences because they will be the result of my choices. Please Mr Gore, don't try to buy my vote with another "Program".

--Jon Pesnell

(To reply, click here.)

Give me a break! Gore and Clinton have been in office for almost eight years. Are they just discovering people like this woman? Plus, I understand she was recruited by a local union. What Governor Bush is proposing would take care of her needs. I just spent several months in Iowa. There is no way that she would find $400-a-month's worth of cans in the ditch.

--Susan

(To reply, click here.)

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