Archive: Phil Jones

Veteran CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante is the host of CBSNews.com's Smoke-Filled-Room. Each week, Bill invites a top political expert into the Smoke-Filled-Room to answer your questions. This week's guest is CBS News Correspondent, Phil Jones. Phil has covered politics for CBS News for over 26 years and he has some strong opinions.

Plante: Our first viewer, Pat Raymond asks, "Do you think Ralph Nader should have been included in the Presidential debates? Was it a mistake to allow the Presidential Debate Commission to control who participated in the debates?"

Jones: The short answer is: Yes, Ralph Nader should have been included in the Presidential debates as should Pat Buchanan, the Reform Party, nominee. Both Nader and Buchanan have been in every state and they are both on enough ballots to mathematically win enough electoral votes to become president. Bottom line - any presidential candidate who gets on enough state ballots to win SHOULD automatically be included. In my view it is an outrage that the Presidential Debate Commission excluded these two candidates. I really believe this was an issue where the nation's media should have insisted that they be included and broadcasting should have refused to cover them without inclusion of Nader and Buchanan. I firmly believe that Bush and Gore would have been much better at articulating their positions on the key issues of 2000. On most political questions, I will follow my own rule that journalists should keep their opinions to themselves and talk about only what they see and hear. But on this one, I am outraged and I think all voters should be outraged.

P.S. I think Nader will end up winning his lawsuit for being excluded.

Plante: Sam writes, "Why do you think the voters are so apathetic about the elections?"

Jones: I think you can thank the Democratic and Republican parties for most of the apathy we are seeing and expecting on election day. Why do I blame the parties? Because they have allowed too many states to hold their presidential primaries too early in the election year. This "front-loading" of the primaries means some big states can join little New Hampshire and knock out all but one candidate early. This year we knew who the nominees would be at the end of Super Tuesday in March. This is wrong. And when you add all the obscene amounts of money unrestricted money it makes it all but impossible for any candidate who hasn't been blessed by the traditional party machinery or who hasn't been adopted by the fat cat lobbyists.

Plante: "The polls are showing Hillary Clinton widening her lead over Rick Lazio," notes M. Thomas. He asks, "Do you think the race will be a blowout? And, if elected, how effective do you think Hillary Clinton would be?"

Jones: :When you stop and think about it, a victory for either Hilary or Rick will be a blow-out. For Hillary Clinton, a one-vote victory is huge when you look at the odds she faced when she arrived in her newest favorite state. But she lucked out by having Mayor Rudy Guiliani eat up so much time without announcing his candidacy and then having him virtually forced out under such a morality cloud. Mrs. Clinton was able to use all this time to practice being a New Yorker and a campaigner, and now love her or hate her, she has become a superb campaigner. Poor Rick Lazio may be a New Yorker, but he simply did not have the luxury of growing into a Senate campaign. To run against Hillary an opponent needed star qualities. Love him or hate him, Ole Rudy was of star quality - Poor Ricky was just another member of congress. If Hillary Clinton is elected I expect her to be very effective at public relations and her biggest problem is going to be understanding and abiding by a cardinal rule of the world's greatest deliberative body and that rule is: "Freshman Senators are not to be seen or heard!"

Plante: "There has been a lot of discussion about the effect that this election might have on 2nd Amendment rights. As a journalist, what effect, if any, will this election have on 1st Amendment rights? And, in your opinion, which of the two major party candidates talks more freely and openly with reporters?" CJR is curious.

Jones: The only threat to our First Amendment Rights will be if Hillary Clinton is elected to the Senate. Those of us who cover news on the Hill are accustomed to access to elected officials. That's what makes Congress the best reporters beat in town. We can follow, stalk, stake-out any member of the Senate or House we want and somewhere in the hall in the subways connecting the capitol and office buildings, we will have a chance to get our questions asked. Mrs. Clinton will arrive on the Hill with her Presidential Secret Service agents surrounding her and we will only get close enough to do out jobs if she so chooses. Remember those closed-door Hillary health care sessions that it finally took a Federal Court to order opened.

As for the first amendment and the next Prez - It will be the same as always - a President Bush or a President Gore will do their best to control the news. When it comes to dealing with the press, probably every president would secretly like to bear arms.

Plante: And our final question is from Martin. "Why do so many people feel Bush is unqualified to be our next president? After all, President Clinton was a Governor of a little state, Jimmy Carter was Governor of Georgia and Ronald Reagan was Governor of California."

Jones: When the votes are in, I'm not sure "so many people" will have concluded Governor Bush is unqualified to be president. George W. Bush may well be elected. But to the extent Bush's qualifications are being questioned, I think it is fair to say he has done it to himsef by often being so inarticulate on issues. I have been surprised that he's had so much trouble defending Gore's attacks on the "mess in Texas." Those democratic assaults should have been easy to repel. It is also the little things, like the facial expressions, the little smile-smirk, and that little Texas walk that some thought showed cockiness instead of confidence. But whether you like George Bush or not, he was elected Governor twice. And the fact is - each brings strengths and weaknesses. And each has a lot of growing to prove he deserves to be President.