When Joe Isn't Average
Have hearing, will testify. CBS News Correspondent Eric Engberg investigates the case of the chronic witness. He describes one of those John Q. Public witnesses who appear before Congress to give the view of the average American. The real public may be surprised by what he found.
The U.S. Congress, so it tells us, is a "people" place, the "voice of the people." It influences votes and changes policy.
"With us here today are some hard-working Americans," House Speaker Dennis Hastert said at a press conference.
A politician holding a press conference wants real people at the podium - people like Sal Risalvato, who owns a gas station in a small town in New Jersey.
Right now, Risalvato is all over the airwaves in radio advertisements sponsored by business opponents of the patients' bill of rights.
"I'm Sal Risalvato, the founder of Riverdale Texaco and Precision Alignment Center, and I work hard to treat my employees well," said Risalvato in a radio ad.
The ads don't mention that Risalvato is an activist in the influential business lobby that produced the ad, or that he's a highly experienced spokesman for small business interests, having starred in previous newspaper advertising campaigns and stood at the microphones with Cabinet secretaries.
But where the small business lobby uses Risalvato the most is in testifying before Congress, talking about health care, environmental or regulatory legislation.
He has testified before either House or Senate committees about 20 times in the last six or seven years, he said.
Risalvato is just one of a growing band of artificial "real people" now common in the Washington spin machine. No matter what the high stakes issue may be, lobbyists will supply reliable, well-rehearsed advocates who look like ordinary folks from Main Street.
Risalvato has hobnobbed with presidents. He met with former President George Bush three or four times, he said.
He also spoke to the Republican National Convention.
When Gov. John Rowland introduced him as "a real live small business owner," his political pedigree wasn't described.
Risalvato's greatest strength, say lobbyists who have booked his appearances, is that he looks so un-Washington.
But when he showed CBS News his resume, it sure looked Washington, with political work at the top, gas station credentials at the bottom.
In an interview he was asked, "You were telling us you had gotten so interested in these policy issues that you've become less interested in operating a gas station?"
"Yeah, I've never been the kind of guy to get dirt under my fingernails," Risalvato said.
That's the precision-guided voice of "real people" as seen from the capital. Even when politicians make a show of listening to ordinary Joes from Main Street, that's what it is: a show.
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