February 27, 2002
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Liberal stalwarts James Carville and Paul Begala, key players in Bill Clinton's rise to the presidency in 1992, were named Wednesday as new co-hosts of CNN's revamped version of "Crossfire."
Carville and Begala will square off against current conservative "Crossfire" co-hosts Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson, starting on April 1, in an expanded version of the long-running political debate program.
In addition to its new lineup, the program will grow to an hour-long format and will air live from an auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The new format will make "Crossfire" the only nightly live talk show with an audience on television.
"James Carville and Paul Begala are two of the most electric personalities in politics," said Teya Ryan, the executive vice president and general manager of CNN/US, in making the announcement.
"Their tremendous experience on the campaign trail and in the White House, as well as their passion for their political points of view, is certain to ratchet up the level of debate on the new 'Crossfire.'"
CNN officials believe the new hosts and the new format will revitalize a program that has been a staple on the cable network since its launch 20 years ago, when it was considered revolutionary. The new format, they said, will allow for a greater number of guests and a wider array of topics. It will encourage audience members to join in the debate.
The show's core concept will remain the same, with one host with a liberal point of view and one with a conservative bent, engaging in friendly sparring with each other and with guests that include the nation's top newsmakers and political figures. Carville and Begala will take turns as the co-hosts "on the left," while Novak and Carlson will alternate as co-hosts "on the right."
Bill Press, the program's current co-host voicing the liberal viewpoint, will remain with CNN as a political contributor to other programs.
Carville and Begala rose to national prominence as principles of the political consulting firm that guided Clinton to the White House. Begala later served in the Clinton administration as counselor to the president.
Carville continued to provide Clinton with political advice during his presidency. His wife, Republican strategist and Bush administration adviser Mary Matalin, is a former conservative co-host of "Crossfire."
"I've fought the Bushes. I've fought the Starrs. I've fought the Thornburghs," Carville said in a statement. "Now I am ready to take on the Novaks and the Carlsons."
The show's conservative co-hosts, however, seem ready for battle.
"How do you whimper in Cajun? We'll find out," Carlson said of Carville. "As for Begala, my guess is he'll be right-wing in a year."
PAUL BEDARD
April 15, 2002
Washington Whispers
Maybe it was Paul Begala's opening comments on the first day of CNN's revamped Crossfire that it was time to "kick a little right-wing ass" that angered Republicans. Or when cohost James Carville kept interrupting GOP Chairman Marc Racicot. Whatever, Republican leaders are blackballing the show. "The word is out : Don't go on; you'll get screwed," says a top Senate aide. Adds a House colleague: "It isn't a total boycott, but the show's last on our list to do." That's a blow for CNN, which has struggled to snare GOP guests as it battles with conservative-friendly Fox News. The complaints: Combative liberals Begala and Carville, both Democratic Party operatives, are too good at what they do, and conservative journalists Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson, who might see a nuance now and then, can't keep up. And they hate the live George Washington University audience. "It's like Jerry Springer," gripes a GOP-er. Says CNN's Ali Weisberg: "Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson are tough and smart on the right, and they can certainly hold their own. ... Crossfire always tries to keep its guests–and now its live audience–balanced."
The repugs can dish it, but CANNOT take it.
JOE CONASON
April 10, 2002
If there is anything that modern conservatives hate more than fair taxation, it’s a fair fight. The moment they encounter an equally aggressive opponent on a level field, the instinct of these bullying boys and girls is to run and hide and whine.
That’s why the Republican leadership, confronted by Paul Begala and James Carville on CNN’s revamped Crossfire, are now loudly whispering about a boycott of the show. Those quiet directives emanating from the offices of the Republican National Committee, the Senate Minority Leader’s office and other outposts of the right-wing establishment in Washington—leaked in order to intimidate the liberal Crossfire hosts and their network bosses—are a disgrace to the American ideal of free debate.
So cowardly are these conservatives that they won’t even voice their complaints on the record. But we know how unhappy they are with the new Crossfire format and hosts because some of them told U.S. News & World Report, on a not-for-attribution basis. "The word is out : ‘Don’t go on; you’ll get screwed’" was the magazine’s quote from a "top Senate aide," almost surely a reference to a functionary working for Minority Leader Trent Lott. A House G.O.P. staffer chimed in: "It isn’t a total boycott, but the show’s last on our list to do."
What is it about Messrs. Begala and Carville that brings out the inner wimp among their opponents, who have been perfectly happy to appear on Crossfire for so many years? Could it be their enthusiasm for the battle, as when Mr. Begala confided that he was eager to "kick a little right-wing ass"? Might it be their unwillingness to back down, as when Mr. Carville forced the Republican Party chairman to admit that he opposes campaign-finance reform? Or is it just their insistence on factual discourse, as when Mr. Begala instructed conservative host Tucker Carlson on the vastly greater number of Reagan administration aides indicted and convicted than in the supposedly corrupt Clinton administration?
No doubt all of the above qualities irritate the conservatives who follow party instructions to shun Crossfire. What has shocked them is that the new hosts don’t quite fit TV’s stereotypical 97-pound liberal, ready to be worked over like a talking speedbag. Mr. Carville is a tall, rangy Marine veteran, sports fanatic and jock; Mr. Begala is a born-and-bred Texan who grew up with guns and still likes to hunt. Both have expressed their powerful distaste for the Democratic tendency to wilt under attack.
With no disrespect to their liberal predecessors on Crossfire, it must be said that this pair represents a refreshing departure from tradition. The usual Crossfire host "from the left," facing the likes of Robert Novak and Pat Buchanan, was neither particularly liberal nor terribly forceful. Michael Kinsley, although indisputably one of the smartest journalists of his generation, accurately described himself as a "wishy-washy moderate" during his Crossfire years, while others lamented his vocal tenor and bespectacled, overly professorial demeanor. Bill Press did somewhat better, but in truth most political talk shows have historically had all the earmarks of a fixed fight.
Which is, of course, exactly what conservatives prefer about the discourse on Fox News Channel, the opinion network where Sean Hannity roughs up poor Alan Colmes every night, and where Morton Kondracke is mistaken for a liberal because he sits next to Fred Barnes. They aren’t content to dominate Fox and most of NBC’s cable programming, where the Wall Street Journal editorial board enjoys its own featured weekly segment and Alan Keyes (a loony even by his own movement’s standards) now appears on his own nightly show.
What makes the sniveling about Crossfire sound even more pitiful is its hypocrisy. If Mr. Carville or Mr. Begala don’t always behave as if they’re hosting a Georgetown dinner party, they are considerably more civilized than many icons of conservative broadcasting, which long ago abandoned the genteel erudition of Bill Buckley. Rush Limbaugh became a Republican hero while mocking the appearance of the Democratic President’s 12-year-old daughter. Ann Coulter only prospered by comparing that same President’s wife to a prostitute on national television. Don Imus has broadcast ugly racist "jokes" for years, but politicians of both parties (and journalists of various persuasions) line up for his show.
Like their counterparts on Capitol Hill, these squawkers long ago learned to parrot the lexicon of abuse recommended by their mentor, Newt Gingrich. During his crusade to take over Congress, Mr. Gingrich regularly instructed his minions to "delegitimize the opposition" by tarring Democrats as traitors, pornographers and criminals.
Mr. Carville, by contrast, was too polite to mention that his April Fool’s Day sparring partner on Crossfire, Republican National Committee chairman Marc Racicot, was until quite recently a lobbyist for Enron. He probably didn’t want to make his guest cry.
You may reach Joe Conason via email at: jconason@observer.com.
