Archive: Michael Deaver
Republican adviser Michael Deaver has the answers to your questions.
Deaver spent over 20 years as an adviser to Ronald Reagan while he served as governor of California and in the White House. From 1981 to 1985, he served as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff.
Veteran CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante brings a top political expert into the Smoke-Filled Room each week to answer your questions:
Plante: Reader BGRabbitt wants to know why Democrats seem to want the November election to be between McCain and Gore?
Deaver: I don't think they do. Latest polls show McCain beating Gore by more than 20 points. I think they are now ruing the day they spoke encouragingly about the McCain candidacy, thinking it would simply keep Bush busy and force him to spend down his war chest. They were right about that ... unfortunately for them, McCain may be a monster they wish they hadn't help create.
Plante: Is McCain posturing himself to be the Reform Party candidate if he loses to Bush? asks reader Jim Cox.
Deaver: Why would McCain want to have anything to do with the Reform Party? It might make his POW days look better in comparison.
Plante: Reader Michael Sadler notes that Texas is said to have one of the weakest governorships in the union - by voters' choice. How is it that Governor Bush can extol his successes on a range of issues without challenge from rival politicians or the press that his "reforms" and "results" have been achieved either by non-action or over his objections?
Deaver: The recent talk about the Texas system by the liberal Texas media should not be accepted without allowing others to give the opposing side. I doubt that Democrat Ann Richards would have said that when she was governor of Texas. She was always described as one of the most powerful women in Texas and the USA.
Plante: Exit polls in the Detroit News showed a gender gap in the Michigan primary, with McCain having a 12-point lead among women. Do you think this is a trend or a fluke?
Deaver: I saw that the exit polls showed McCain doing well in Michigan among women. I think it may be too early to tell if this is a trend. I think that women may admire his independence and his openness. We'll know soon if this is a trend.
Plante: Do you believe that, if elected, Bush would give his father a job? Nan Kruger would like to know.
Deaver: I would hope that if George W. was successful he would turn to his father for advice. He has a lot of wisdom and experience, especially in the international relations area.
Plante: Another reader asks "Do you agree that Al Gore has adopted a reactionary style of politics? That he fires up the troops by making each separate constituency feel fearful of losing something, rather than inspirig people that the pie is getting bigger?"
Deaver: I'm afraid that my opinion of Al Gore is fairly partisan. He seems to say what ever his audience wants to hear and is getting more pandering as the campaign with Bradley moves on. He appears to believe that this is a style that Clinton was able to get away over the years. Unfortunately for Gore, Clinton had a charm and appeal that apparently let him get away with this. Gore doesn't.
Plante: What advice would you give the Bush campaign? They seem to be in disarray.
Deaver: The Bush campaign needs to get the candidate back to issues, particularly issues of difference with the Democrats ... not McCain. Bush is personally talking too much about his GOP rival - and tactical campaign issues - but not what he stands for. Let the pols handle the strategy.
Plante: What role, if any, are you playing in this year's campaign?
Deaver: I'm really not involved in an official way with any of the Republican candidates in the primaries. I have given advice whenever asked by the Forbes, Hatch, McCain and Bush campaigns.
Plante: And finally, Terry would like to know what contributions you and other pundits make to the political process? Half of you on one side of the political spectrum are wrong half the time and the rest are wrong the other half, he says.
Deaver: Personally, I wouldn't pay much attention to the experts. Most of us are not any smarter than anyone else and talk to each other most of the time. I've been wrong more often than right.
Last week, James Carville was in the Smoke-Filled Room.
Click here to read his answers to your questions.
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