Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.wpost From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Democracy Is the Winner=BY MARY McGRORY=LITTLE ROCK< Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 05:01:45 EST Message-ID: <47.1992Nov5.050145@AmeriCast.com> Democracy Is the Winner=BY MARY McGRORY=LITTLE ROCK< The country can take heart. It has elected a president who be- lieves in democracy. His campaign proves it. Eli Segal, Clinton's charismatic chief of staff, who is a veteran of the famous Eugene McCarthy "children's crusade" of 1968, says that this, like the first heady, doomed venture in participatory politics, was "strictly a meritocracy." Age was no bar to ad- vancement at headquarters here. Clinton is averse to too much structure or bureaucracy, and the dominance of James Carville, the piratical genius who designed the campaign along the lines of last year's stunning Senate upset by Harris Wofford, ensured an absence of stuffiness and a funki- ness in decor. Carville presided over twice-daily staff meetings, one at 7:15 a.m., the other at 7:15 p.m., at which every detail of the candidate's day was reviewed in the whole staff's presence. Car- ville made a "staffer of the day" award - a jar of barbecue sauce - and put a gold star on winner's forehead. He gave himself one on election night. John Shakow, 23, Carville's assistant - "maid, secretary and valet" - explained how it worked, showed the legendary entry on a War Room slate that reads "The economy, stu- pid." That is another expression of Carville's philosophy, "suc- cess is adherence to message" - in this case, economics, a theme to which he managed to tether his discursive candidate. Says Shakow: "They didn't have senior staff meetings. It was gen- eral staff, and any 20-year-old could walk in and give an opin- ion. There was no hierarchy." Paul Begala, 31, Carville's partner and Clinton's speechwriter- traveling companion, said on election night, "In the Dukakis cam- paign, I was a kid. Here, we had no kids." The large, sunny corner office was occupied by communications director George Stephanopoulos, a slight, quiet 31-year-old who acquired the knack of speaking truth to power as floor manager for House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). The buzz at the building on victory night, amid hugs and high- fives and yelps of joy at a steady stream of good news, was the speech Stephanopoulos gave at the final election eve staff meet- ing, and Carville's reaction. "James," said Stephanopoulos, "you are about to pass from the ranks of ordinary human beings into the ranks of legend." About the same time, Clinton called in, and the convergence, as Car- ville puts it, was too much for him and he broke down. The young people found it awesome in an older person. Carville is 48. Tuesday night, Stephanopoulos was still running true to form. He was talking on a portable telephone on his way to the victory party at the picturesque Old State House in downtown Little Rock. He congratulated Clinton, then fell to advising him: "You don't want to be programmatic in your speech tonight; you should speak from the heart." "Of course," he said, as if suddenly remembering an important de- tail, "you're president now: You can say anything you want." Not every president-elect can handle advice from a junior, but apparently ego played little part in Little Rock. Clinton called headquarters on the Monday before election, to record jitters over a new poll that had him falling behind in, of all places, Massachusetts. Carville, Stephanopoulos and pollster Stan Greenberg reassured him. Finally, he relaxed. Then he reported, "George, your picture from People is on the wall of the plane, and they're having a caption-writing contest. Right now, 'I'm a Greek with passion' is ahead." Campaign scheduler Susan Thomases, another McCarthy veteran, presided over a room where dozens of young people, most of them looking about 25, worked. The room was still decorated for Hal- loween, with orange and black streamers and orange flowers. "Clinton's most consistent and solid support comes from people under 30." said Thomases, who tried to showcase Clinton "the in- cluder" in the schedule. Clinton gets kudos from Democrats not just for ending the party's 12-year exile from the White House but for ending the long estrangement of young voters, who quit or turned right after the defeats of 1968 and 1972. Clinton brought them back and treated them right. That alone justified the danc- ing in the streets that went on in Little Rock when he claimed his prize. His friend, Mark Middleton, age 30, who was southern finance director and raised millions for the general election, looked on in elation at the scene on the steps of the antebellum mansion. "He's creating a new era in politics," Middleton said. "Bill shows that you can take a couple of strikes and still hit a home run."<02:39 11-05C9999----- Copyright 1992, The Washington Post. This story is from the Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar- chived or redistributed. For more information, send-email to American Cybercasting Cor- poration (usa@AmeriCast.COM)