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Candidates for a night
Last December, on the day former vice president
Al Gore endorsed former Vermont governor Howard Dean for president,
and as the Democratic candidates debated for real before TV cameras
in New Hampshire, the College Democrats of Boston College put on a mock
debate for an audience of 80 or so of their classmates.
Nine College Democrats were slated to represent
their party's then nine contenders. But in the end only eight
debated. Moderator Joe Sabia '06 announced that "John Edwards,"
the North Carolina senator, had missed a plane connection. Reached a
few days later, Stas Gayshan '04, the College Democrats'
president, told a different story: "I think the person who was
supposed to play Edwards ended up going to [New Hampshire for] the actual
debate."
The surrogates who did show came well prepared.
Like the real Missouri congressman Richard Gephardt, Tony Coppola '06,
who played him, touched as many bases as possible, calling attention
to his midwestern roots and pointing out that his father was a milk
truck driver and Teamsters Union member and that his daughter is a lesbian
who supports gay marriage. All through the evening Gephardt/Coppola
seized every chance to call President Bush "a miserable failure"—one
of Gephardt's trademark lines.
If Gephardt/Coppola stressed personal influences,
Rob Amara '04, who played John Kerry, repeatedly invoked Kerry's résumé
as a Vietnam War hero and longtime Massachusetts senator. Having served
on the Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry/Amara claimed to have rubbed
elbows with many foreign chiefs, making him the ideal leader for a global
antiterrorism coalition. On health policy, he argued that his Washington
experience would help him "stand up to the pharmaceutical and health
care lobby." And so on.
Some candidates received broader portrayals.
Sean Goldthwaite '07, who played Dennis Kucinich, the left-leaning
Ohio congressman, flashed the peace sign and treated the crowd to a
couple of bars of "Give Peace a Chance." He showed up for
the debate in a tie-dyed T-shirt and a big bow tie that looked as if
it came from a going-out-of-business sale at a tuxedo emporium. (The
actual Kucinich wears a business suit and conservative necktie to debates.)
In what seemed like yet another piece of caricature, Kucinich/Goldthwaite
pledged to start a cabinet-level Peace Department if elected. (Kucinich's
Web site reveals that he had introduced legislation to create the department,
which would promote "nonviolent conflict resolution" at
home and abroad.)
In his portrayal of the Reverend Al Sharpton,
Stas Gayshan also took some poetic license. A Kerry supporter in real
life, Gayshan said in a pre-debate interview that he has been upset
with the actual Sharpton ever since 2002, when the New York City minister
agreed to speak to BC's College Democrats chapter and then bowed out
at the last minute. Gayshan intimated that, by way of payback, he intended
"to be a very humorous Al Sharpton." Nonetheless, he took
the role seriously enough to transcribe and study a Sharpton speech.
Sharpton "doesn't use many connector words, and he doesn't pause
or say 'umm,'" noted Gayshan, "and that makes his rhetoric
more effective, because when he does pause, you see it's for effect,
and it's very, very dramatic."
Along with the dramatic pauses, Gayshan's portrayal
featured colorful language and a fair amount of table-thumping. For
example, speaking of the Patriot Act, a controversial law enforcement
measure passed by Congress shortly after September 11, 2001, Sharpton/Gayshan
said, "It is a hideous abomination. People talk about the fact
that it has sunset provisions. I tell you what. [Bam!] I want
it out now!" Sometimes the colorful rhetoric shaded into the off-color,
as when Sharpton/ Gayshan called Howard Dean, ably played by sophomore
Katie Unger, "an arrogant, racist [so-and-so]." Admitting
afterward that Sharpton doesn't use such language, at least not on the
stump, an unrepentant Gayshan said, "I knew it would rile up the
crowd. If I were blessed with the reverend's oratorical skills, I wouldn't
have used it."
Sharpton/Gayshan's attack on the Dean surrogate
involved the former Vermont governor's now-famous remark concerning
pickup trucks and Confederate flags. As the front-runner at the time,
Dean/Unger, much like Dean himself in that night's televised New
Hampshire debate, suffered attacks from every other candidate except
for former ambassador Carol Moseley Braun (as played by the gentlemanly
Casey Otto '07). Connecticut's Senator Joseph Lieberman,
played by Nyck Bernier '07, attacked Dean/Unger for showing insufficient
zeal in support of Israel, while Kerry/Amara attacked Dean/Unger for
being the ex-governor "of a small corner of New England"
and for having sat out the Vietnam War with a draft deferment "because
[his] back hurt."
Gephardt/Coppola took perhaps the unkindest shot
of all, saying, "Howard Dean sided with Newt Gingrich in calling
for across-the-board Medicare cuts."
This appeared to be too much for Dean/Unger, who
replied, "When it came time to save Medicare, I supported President
Clinton in making necessary cuts. It's ironic to be calling me
anti-Medicare. I'm a doctor, so Medicare is close to my heart."
"Clinton did not support Medicare cuts,"
shot back Gephardt/Coppola. "You said Medicare was the worst federal
program ever, did you not?"
Looking slightly befuddled, Dean/Unger answered:
"I don't think so. I support Medicare."
The audience reacted calmly to flurries such as
this, reserving noise mainly for Sharpton and Kucinich. A random poll
of seven audience members turned up five Democrats, one independent,
and one persuadable Republican, none of whom had a firm commitment to
any candidate. After the debate, Dean Gudicello '04 said the event
"was definitely a good show," but it hadn't helped
him clarify his opinions of the candidates. "One thing they could
have done better," he said, "is make it more informative."
By contrast, Stephanie Pally '07 said she is leaning toward Kerry
now because of what she'd learned about his platform and his government
experience. In between was Katrina King '07, who said, "I
kind of liked Howard Dean until the other candidates started attacking
him. I don't know if he's actually said the things the other
candidates accused him of." And Justin Thornton '07 said
the debate had reinforced his initial interest in both Dean and General
Wesley Clark (played by Rob Orthman '04), although he hopes Dean
can curb a tendency to speak first and think later. "He has to
learn how to be politically correct. If we're talking about the
Confederate flag, I don't think he meant to support racism, just
to say poor southern whites deserve the same treatment as everyone else,"
said Thornton, who is African-American. "To be a politician today,
you have to extend your arms to all peoples."
At the end of the debate the audience voted, and
Sharpton, or his surrogate, won handily. "Stas did a great job,"
explained Sara Dart '06, "but I honestly can say that [the
actual Sharpton] has virtually no chance of getting my vote. He's
too abrasive to get things done in the White House."
Asked if his and Sharpton's victory had
surprised him, given Sharpton's low level of real-world support,
Gayshan said, "No. If you take electability out of the picture,
[Sharpton] is the best public speaker of any of the candidates, and
the best debater."
David Reich
David Reich is a freelance writer based in the Boston area.
Photo: From left: Nyck Bernier '07, Tony
Coppola '06, Sean Goldthwaite '07, Rob Orthman '04, Katie Unger '06,
Stas Gayshan '04. Also at the table: Rob Amara '04 and Casey Otto '07
(faces obscured). By Lee Pellegrini
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