B Y J A M E S C A R V I L L E
ANYTHING FOR A BUCK Never mind the toe-sucking at the Jefferson for many years now, I have been locked in a running battle with certain academics and members of the press. I claim that advising political candidates is an honorable way to make a living. My opponents claim that my work demeans our democracy. To be honest, I think I have been holding my own in this battle. Sometimes I even feel like I've gained some ground. But lately we consultants have been taking a beating. In fact, it's been a rout. The reversal here has nothing to do with any smooth talking or fancy debating on the part of any columnist or commentator. No, sir. It's our own damn fault. Two political consultants who have risen highest in this field have brought us down lower than we've ever been before. I refer, of course, to Ed Rollins and Dick Morris. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that Rollins is a man my wife and I consider to be a friend. Mary and I genuinely like both Rollins and his wife, Sherry. Dick Morris is another story. I have never cared for him. And as much as I hate to kick a man when he's down, I think far less of him now. Morris has slipped in my esteem not because of any sexual peccadilloes. To tell you the truth, I don't give a hoot who sucked on his toes. What drives me nuts is the fact that he had no trouble violating the President's confidences. Not only did he turn state information into pillow talk, he went behind the President's back and signed a secret deal to write a tell-all about his work in the White House. And how did Rollins earn my ire? He, too, threw good sense out the window for the sake of scoring himself a book contract. After taking the money of a number of political candidates, he turned around and trashed them viciously in print. I'm sorry, but to this Cajun, these things just ain't kosher. Rollins and Morris didn't just dishonor themselves. They didn't just dishonor their trade. They dishonored the political system as a whole. The extent of the dishonor can be measured in the eyes of young people. I talk to lots and lots of high school and college kids each year. So many of them come up to me and ask for reassurance that politics is still, in the words of Robert Kennedy, "a noble calling." Many of them are wide-eyed kids who aren't much interested in making a fortune. These are kids who want to make a difference. It pains me when I think of how much steam two guys like Rollins and Morris can take out of thousands of kids. For years and years, I've brushed off calls for more accountability in political consulting. But now I'm not so sure. I look at the mockery Rollins and Morris have made of us, and I have to rethink my position. Perhaps political consultants need to take a hint from lawyers, doctors, and others who have secured the right to call themselves professionals. I happen to be a lawyer -- not a good one, mind you, but a lawyer nonetheless. Back when I was practicing, I sure as hell didn't like all the clients I took on. Many of them had pulled stunts that make Arianna Huffington's alleged indiscretions look like kindergarten clowning. But as a member of the bar, I had an ethical obligation to my clients not to go blabbing about them the second the trial was over. And if I was ever tempted to make a quick buck by disclosing confidential information about any of my clients in a kiss-and-tell book, I knew that I would not only get sued but also lose my privilege to practice law. Hell, I've got nothing against writing books. My wife and I wrote a book called "All's Fair" about our roles in the campaigns of Bill Clinton and George Bush. But in neither book did we trash any client or betray any confidences. By my way of looking at it, even if there were not an ethical issue here, the cost of doing so would have been much greater than any extra sum our publishers would have paid for a juicier tale. Now, I don't want to suggest that political consultants should go and try to make themselves into button-down lawyers or straight-laced doctors. That isn't realistic or even desirable. But we do have something to learn from their experiences. Over the course of several hundred years, lawyers and doctors have figured out that keeping the confidences of your clients and patients goes a good ways toward keeping people's confidence in the system. One possible remedy is simple: the American Association of Political Consultants, our main trade group, ought to draw up a suggested contract between a consultant and a candidate that spells out a two-way obligation not to violate each other's confidences. Right now, when someone like Rollins shoots off at the mouth about former clients like Arianna Huffington or Ross Perot, there's not much the candidates can do. Libel is hard to prove, especially when you're a public figure. There are probably plenty of other fixes that people like Jay Rosen, with whom I've tangled in Table Talk, have come up with. There are probably a lot of things I myself could do differently; obviously, all our problems cannot be laid at the feet -- or should I say toes -- of guys like Morris and Rollins. Send your ideas my way. I'd like to have a look. Should political consultants clean up their act by adopting the same professional guidelines as doctors and lawyers? Let Carville know what you think in Table Talk.
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