Mary Beth Polley | Fall 2000 Headlines

Senator Judd Gregg on Bush Debate Prep

By Mary Beth Polley

As New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg (R) watched the Presidential debates Tuesday, he found Vice-President Al Gore's remarks neither new nor original. The Senator, who played Vice-President Gore last weekend in practice debates with Republican candidate George W. Bush, had heard it all before.

"I thought he made a great showing last night, even considering the stiltedness of the format," said Sen. Gregg of Gov. Bush. And what about Vice President Gore? "I felt he came across as very programmed," said Sen. Gregg.

"He (Gore) basically used a lot of the lines I had used in the practices and I think that as the debate went on you saw him saying to himself, 'Oh, I haven't got to this line, I haven't got to this line.' So there would be a question on one subject and suddenly he's listing three or four lines he had to get in on another subject."

In a 30 minute interview yesterday with the Eagle-Tribune, Sen. Gregg was quick to point out Gore's faults in Monday night's debate but declined to answer any questions regarding his two-day stay at Gov. Bush's Texas ranch last weekend, preparing the governor for his match-up with the vice-president. The only exception Sen. Gregg would make was to say he slept on the couch in the same room he and the Bush practiced in with about 50 cattle wandering around outside.

"I made a point not to be specific about what we did in our preparation" Sen. Gregg said. Sen. Gregg has spent more than 100 hours studying Gore since he was asked by the Bush campaign to play the role in late May. He will also help Gov. Bush prepare for the next debate at Wake Forest University in North Carolina on October 11 and the final presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis on October 17.

"My conclusion is that his (Gore's) greatest weakness is that he doesn't really have a good sense of self. It's just the opposite. He gets up in the morning and he gets that focus group report and that's who he is for the debate," Sen. Gregg said.

"I know he was repeating a lot of things he got in focus groups because I had been practicing with the governor and the information I had was from focus groups," he said.

And while Sen.Gregg might be able to read Gore's script, he says he can't do a Gore impersonation.

"I can't. I can do his lines and I think I can do his style in the sense of what he's going to do, how he's going to attack, where he's going to attack," said Sen. Gregg who describes that style as mechanical and insistent. "I didn't do his attitude. What I tried to do was be as close as I could to his issues, what he would say on issues, and where he would attack the governor."

Sen. Gregg did note however, that Gov. Bush's press secretary Karen Hughes told him he got Gore's "condescending" attitude down pat.

While Sen. Gregg and Gov. Bush prepared for the debates in a one-room bunk house on Bush's cattle ranch, Vice-President Gore prepared by holding question and answer sessions with Americans from all over the country that the Gore campaign had flown to Florida.

"It made me think of Louis XVI," Gregg said. "Here's a guy who was raised in Washington, educated in Washington, hasn't left Washington in basically his whole adult life and he has to gather people. You know, George Bush was raised in Midland, TX. He went to school in Midland, TX for a bunch of his life. And he focused his career around Midland, TX and he knows people. He doesn't have to gather them."

This is not the first time that Sen. Gregg has taken the role of the vice-president in a practice debate. In 1996, Sen. Gregg helped Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp prepare to go up against Vice-President Gore in St. Petersburg, Fl. He had been recommended to Kemp by one of his advisors because of the time Sen. Gregg and Vice-President Gore had spent together in the House of Representatives.

His familiarity with Vice-President Gore and his debate skills also earned him this year's encore performance as the Vice-President, Sen. Gregg said. But despite having spent hours watching Gore on tape and years with him in the House of Representatives, Gregg had very few positive things to say about the Vice-President's performance Monday.

"He had a very organized approach which happens to be the way I approach which happens to be the way I approach things in many ways and he delivered his message on his themes with fervor and consistency and the man is nothing if not insistent on what he has to say."

Gore's insistency to be heard, however, led to one of Sen. Gregg's biggest criticisms of the evening - the moderator, Jim Lehrer, did not do enough to monitor the time.

"I was disappointed," Sen. Gregg said. "I though he'd be much stronger on time. Clearly the vice-president is a great talker and he talked a lot more than the governoráNow again this is a stylistic thing. The vice-president loves to get into an issue and carry a debate and filibuster. He's done it in the Senate. Whereas the governor tends to be brisk. Here's my answer. That's my answer and stops."

Lehrer should have also stepped in when Vice-President Gore accused Gov. Bush of attacking his character when Gov. Bush cited the Vice-President participation in the 1996 Clinton fundraising scandals in response to a question posed by Lehrer, Sen. Gregg said.

"I think it was such a phony response by the Vice-Presidentá It was a question of character," Sen. Gregg said.

"We're coming off a presidency which has done more to undermine the confidence and character of that office in that office than any presidency probably in this century," he continued. "So the issue of character is an issue in this election. And when you get this false victimization role and the vice president responds with " Oh you're attacking my character." He didn't even attack Gore's character he simply recited what the vice-president had done. And in response from a question from a legitimate moderator," said Sen. Gregg.

As of yesterday's interview, Sen. Gregg still had not spoken with Gov. Bush. Though they were both in Boston the night of the debate, they went in separate directions afterward as Sen. Gregg went to do some "truth telling to anyone who would listen", primarily the media, and Gov. Bush headed off for a series of interviews.

But when he does get a chance to speak the presidential candidate, Gregg said "I think I'll probably have some thoughts for him."

What those may be, Sen. Gregg wouldn't say.