All The Spin You Need

A sampling of spin after the first presidential debate in Hartford, Connecticut.

"Not only didn't he [Clinton] make errors, he very clearly articulated what his policies are and what he sees going into the future. Again, I think Senator Dole did well in this debate, I think he held his own."

"There wasn't a question that was asked that we didn't anticipate."

- White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes

"I thought he [Clinton] was very defensive. I thought he spent probably the first hour of the debate on the defensive, and I think that threw him off quite a bit. He sorta got mad -- it seemed to me that he got a little mad in the last half hour -- tried to take a coupla shots. But I thought Bob Dole was very relaxed. He looked great up there. He was very relaxed, very confident. And I think that was a difference, especially in the first hour of the debate. Bob Dole was getting some good laughs from the audience. I think it was the probably last half-hour before Bill Clinton got a laugh, and I think that was only in a response to the D'Amato thing."

- Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln C. Almond (R)

On Dole: "There were too many numbers. The intent, I think, was all there, to attack hard, but it got all muddied up and he got confused with the names of people he didn't know and numbers and amendments and 'Section 57 of bill four hundred and ninety two' (laughs) and by the time you got through, you weren't really sure where it was going."

- Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D)

I thought it was an excellent debate. I thought they actually both did well. But the president remains untouched. You see, he was so far ahead going into the debate that I think the fact that they both did well means that he remains ahead because the underlying source of

"Though I thought he [Dole] was effective, relaxed, funny, he didn't change the basic equation here, which is that, I think, the American people feel Bill Clinton is a decent man, and has worked very hard and the country is stronger and better off."

Were you surprised at Dole's performance? "Well, I wasn't, because, actually, this is the Bob Dole that we knew on the Senate floor. Although sometimes I have seen him come before the public in a situation like this and freeze up."

"I just want to say this about Senator Dole. He did not take the low road of personal attacks on the president. This president is subjected to so much personal abuse in these four years. Senator Dole didn't do that tonight, and it made it a better debate."

"They were both excellent. You know, two good men, but only one can be president. And it would really be unfair if you don't re-elect somebody who's done as good a job as Bill Clinton has. So I think he will be re-elected."

- Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.)

"I think Jim Lehrer is an excellent moderator. And each of those men are professionals, they know what they're doing, they were comfortable out there. I thought the flow of it was fairly predictable. I think the surprising thing is that, I mean, everyone knows that President Clinton is a world-class talker. He is very good at it. He's a natural visitor and discusser and debater and policy wonk. People don't think that about Bob Dole. That's not him. His wife properly said that Bob Dole's more of a work horse than a show horse. But tonight I think he showed that he has a great many hopes and aspirations for this country, and presented them very well, and very successfully, and I would say, victoriously."

- Dole campaign adviser Donald Rumsfeld

"This is an important moment, so I think he [Clinton] was intense, he was focused... He felt good, and he felt very well prepared, and I think that showed tonight."

- White House press secretary Mike McCurry

"You know, the pardons came up tonight, and the president still refuses to rule out pardons for the people he was in business with, which may be the big news out of the debate, I don't know, but for the average voter out there watching, they saw Bill Clinton on defense, trying to explain away his positions on taxes, drugs, education, foreign policy generally, Iraq, trial lawyers, and at the same time Senator Dole was able to talk about his economic plan and his tax cut three or four times."

"You expect, in a TV setting like this, that Clinton wins big on style, and you think Dole can win big on substance. I don't think Clinton won on style. Senator Dole was relaxed, and confident, he was in command of the facts, he was in good humor, when specifically invited to attack Clinton personally, he said, no, let's stick to the issues. Clinton was kind of uptight and on the defensive all night. I think for the rank-and-file voter out there, Bob Dole certainly looked as presidential as Bill Clinton, if not better. And the main thing is, the issues we wanted to talk about were raised and Clinton was on defense about it all night."

- Dole campaign adviser Charles Black

"If Mr. Dole were to win, if you look at the numbers for his plan, he has a very big financing hole, he doesn't have any specifics which allow us to know how he would pay for his tax cut. That is why many outside observers have concluded -- including the 500 economists that the president mentioned tonight, including several Wall Street economists and several macroeconomic consulting firms -- they've all drawn the same conclusion -- including the Concord Coalition, which is a nonpartisan group that focuses on the budget. The conclusion is, that Senator Dole's plan would cause the deficit to increase, by as much as $100 to $300 billion. Now, what would that mean in terms of interest rates? It would mean the government would borrow more, and interest rates would be higher than they otherwise would be. So I think the prognosis would be higher interest rates, and, therefore, slower private-sector expansion."

- White House economic adviser Laura Tyson

"If you get on the stage with the president and you hold your own, it's a net plus. The president is the Big Kahuna, you know, he's the guy on top of the hill, and if you get up and hold your own it's a net plus. Yes, sir, walking on the stage he had a net plus."

"Now, outside of that, I think he established some real good issues. Number one, he addressed and over time, he established this point: that Bill Clinton wants government programs, and he wants to tell you how you can spend your tax money; Bob Dole wants to leave it wth you and let you make your own decision. That was a clear dichotomy. It was established, and, I think, done well. I think another thing that was done had to do with the bringing up of the drug issue. It's important with the young people in this country. It has been over the last three to four years, it has been doubling and tripling in use. And the message needs to change on that, and that message needs to come out of the White House, and it needs to come out of all the leaders in this country. And I think he established that extremely well. So I think there was an awful lot gained by Bob Dole. Bill Clinton acquitted himself well, I don't take a thing away from him, but I do think Bob Dole gained."

- Former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell (R)

"Every time it was on issues, from the very beginning, when Lehrer asked Dole 'What's the difference?' And Dole said the difference is, 'Bob Dole trusts the people, and Bill Clinton trusts in government.' That was the best synopsis of this whole debate."

- Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour

On Whitewater pardons: "I think the president's remark about, 'I'm not going to have any comment,' was absolutely great, especially after Senator Dole asked him to take that position. I think that effectively puts that issue to bed for the rest of the campaign."

- Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D)

He didn't do well, because he could not disprove Clinton's claims that things are better. Didn't do well because his techniques were so nasty and hostile. You see, this is the same Bob Dole, who has not visited a single burned church, or saying it's a photo-op, the same Bob Dole that wouldn't go to Ron Brown's funeral. I mean, that is that streak in him. And I thought that he would have risen above that streak that people react to, but he stayed in that trench. And as opposed to attacking Clinton, he should have been, here's what I offer America that's better. He offered nothing better. He offered nothing better."

- Jesse Jackson

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