The ghost of Teddy Roosevelt

For Halloween I am going to dress up in a Teddy Roosevelt
“Rough-Rider” costume. Then I am going to roam around grousing about
this presidential election — the way Teddy would have. His house in
Oyster Bay, Long Island, is close to mine and I feel a particular
connection to T.R.’s spirit this spooky time of year.

Teddy would not like the way Bush and Gore are campaigning. He would
not like the “play it safe” strategy of the governor or the “tell ’em
what they want to hear” style of the vice president. I believe he
would consider both of these “fellows” (he liked that word) on the
wimpish side and would not have taken either of them up San Juan Hill.

What T.R. would have most strenuously objected to is that neither
Bush nor Gore are calling the shots on the campaign trail. Their highly
paid mercenary spin meisters are telling them what to do and say and
actually how to say it. We all know that Naomi Wolf was paid some big
bucks to advise Mr. Gore on this earth-tone clothing and Gov. Bush has
had more public appearance coaching than Drew Bledsoe.

It is hard to imagine John F. Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson or Richard
Nixon not being in command of their speeches and timetables. These
guys actually spoke spontaneously once in while. But beginning with
Jimmy Carter in 1976, the puppet masters slowly seized control. And now
we have presidential candidates who spend hours and hours not thinking
about problem-solving and public policy but memorizing one-liners like
“fuzzy math” and selecting just the right pair of khaki pants.

Teddy Roosevelt is appalled, confused and depressed. I can hear his
spirit roaming the north shore of Long Island late at night lamenting
the insecurity of men who aspire to the most important job in the
world. What should I say? What should I wear? Teddy is going nuts.

I believe the tide will soon turn in America and the people who care
about this country, about half the population, will begin seeking
politicians who display real emotion not contrived images. We may
still be a few years away — but the days of Bill Clinton and the slick
packagers are coming to an end.

Don’t be surprised to see a very low voter turnout on Nov. 7. It is
hard to get jazzed over candidates who see words as threats, innovative
ideas as annoyances. I have said repeatedly that both of these men are
not bad guys — thank God there’s no Bill Clinton type in view — but
neither of them inspire us. And, boy, do we need political inspiration
in America today.

Many of us are simply so wrapped up in our own lives that we have no
idea that we live in a country that needs tending. Our national
obsession with accumulating stuff has choked off civic responsibility
and introspection in many cases. If the economy is good we give the
President high job approval ratings despite the fact that 60 percent of
us recognize that he is not a man of good character. The most powerful
newspaper in the country, The New York Times, endorses the man’s wife
for the Senate,

all the while admitting she has been dishonest in the
public
arena.

This is simply disastrous. If Americans are going to accept corruption and mediocrity from people seeking power, then it is just a matter of time until the USA declines in a bold and dramatic way.

Teddy Roosevelt understood that. He railed against the greedy monopolies and the cowardly exploiters. He spoke plainly and from the heart. He had advisers but called his own shots. He alienated many along the way but was strong and consistent in his beliefs. Put him in front of a focus group today and the participants would recoil in horror.

But T.R. is exactly what we need in politics today. Somebody to offend the hell out of us. Somebody to get angry about people using abortion to divide the citizenry. Somebody outraged that corporate polluters can use loopholes to avoid paying cleanup costs. Somebody damn mad that Mr. Clinton and his wife have debased and sold out the White House for money and sex.

So Happy Halloween and if you see a big guy wandering the streets wearing a vest and small, round glasses, stop him and say hello. Shake his hand and talk to him straight. He doesn’t need candy or sugar or gooey sentiment. He needs to see candidates who care about the people and have the guts to say what’s really on their minds. He won’t see it on the Eve of All Saints in the year 2000 — but maybe down the road his spirit will return.