Tom Brokaw speaking in Davenport next week
Nearing the end of the 11th presidential election he’s covered for NBC News, Tom Brokaw returns to Iowa next week with the first presentation in a series sponsored by the Eastern Iowa Community College District.
Brokaw, 68, was anchor of the “NBC Nightly News” from 1983 to 2004, and recently he has been the interim moderator of “Meet the Press,” filling in for his late colleague, Tim Russert, which will continue until the Nov. 4 election. He also was the moderator of last week’s presidential debate, which followed a town hall meeting format.
In a telephone interview from his office in New York City, Brokaw shared his views on:
- Speaking here next week: “I don’t do that many (speeches such as this). I try to do them based on the group. Almost all of them are this kind of community organizations. ... I generally do it because I remember thinking about Iowa and I wanted to get a little read on what was going on as we approach Election Day. Four years ago at this time, I did one in Des Moines and did that in part because (NBC and HBO sports host) Bob Costas said, ‘If you can come to St. Louis, I’ll get you a ticket to the World Series.’”
- His own performance in last week’s presidential debate: “I’m constantly going over it, and if I don’t, the bloggers do. ... It’s an imperfect process and needs to be examined for the next cycle. The commission (on Presidential Debates) has no real authority except to stage the debates. ... The rules are very situational; they evolve constantly. The campaigns put together, in my case, a 32-page memo of understanding in which I was effectively like Vanna White, there to turn the cards over. The commission said that’s not the way it works. ... We ended up on Sunday afternoon (before the Tuesday debate) that things were flying at such warp speed that I probably would have to have more follow-up questions. ... I did try to be very relevant and very brief in my follow-ups to make sure the follow-ups conformed to the original question. But then the candidates, once they get on stage, know what they’re doing. You can’t retrieve that time. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. I made a couple of lighthearted references that we’re running out of time, guys. ... Across the country in the past week, I’ve heard, ‘Thank God you were there trying to get real answers out of them.’”
- Biggest surprise of the campaign: “I think the events have been the biggest surprise. I have this working theory of American politics that I call the ‘UFO Theory.’ ... The unforeseen will occur. When we began the campaign a year-and-a-half ago, we thought Iraq would be the central issue. Then it switched to the economy. ... Then we went through the last two weeks, and we have not witnessed anything like this. Very unsettling. And it’s not uniform in its effect.”
- Negative campaigning: “I think the country has (hit its limit). ... In your part of the country, there’s a lot less tolerance for it than there is on the eastern seaboard. We’re a little more confrontational out here in our daily lives. There are fair issues to be raised about both candidates by both campaigns. Where is that line? It’s a little bit like pornography — I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it. The country is saying to both campaigns, ‘Hey, there are a whole lot larger issues here for you to be dealing with.’”
- Predictions for the next few weeks: “I went out of the prediction business 40 years ago. One of the things everyone should keep their eye on are international developments. We’re in for a big slog here at home, and everyone prays it won’t get worse. ... What we don’t have control over are events in Afghanistan and Iraq or some kind of a terrorist attack or another Katrina. Or somebody saying something really stupid.”
- Criticism from the liberal Web site MoveOn.org that he’s too conservative: “If I began to read the blogs every day and worry what they say about me, I wouldn’t have a life. They’re entitled to their opinion. ... What’s always amusing to me is that nobody has a bigger agenda than MoveOn.org has, and they’re accusing people of having agendas. I don’t have agendas. I describe myself to my family and friends at this stage of the game as a sportswriter. I’m calling balls and strikes out there: Who’s got the bench, who can make it to the fourth quarter and can they go the distance?”
- “Boom!,” his book about the 1960s: “I lived through it. It was a time of great turmoil in America. ... It was a pretty remarkable experience.”
- Returning to another of his books, “The Greatest Generation”: “I still wade back into it. Just when I think I’ve heard all the stories, there comes another one.”
n NBC News after the June death of Russert: “I walked by his picture (Sunday) and said, ‘Timmy, I’ve got so many things to talk to you about.’ We talked every day and laughed a lot. We both had a lot of frustrations with the presidential debates, about getting at real things.”
- Reports of infighting at MSNBC, where hosts on the cable news network have been criticized for being too liberal: “I’ve said all I’m going to say about it. What I think is fascinating to me is that Keith (Olbermann) and Chris (Matthews) and now Rachel (Maddow), for that matter, are doing their commentary extremely well. And nobody raises this about Fox (News Channel), which is astonishing to me. If you look at them, they’ve got a pretty strong filter on all day long.”
- Relinquishing “Meet the Press,” which he’s hosted since Russert’s death, after the election: “You don’t just show up on Sunday mornings. It’s a lot of booking and preparing and planning for the roundtable and having the right mix of the news of the day. It’s time for a new generation, and I feel that about ‘Meet the Press.’ ... Tim made it the gold-standard public affairs program.”
- His own future: “A little more contemplative life. ... I’m going to have a little more flexibility in my schedule. I’m not going to show up and work every day, but I’m doing a documentary on global warming for the Discovery Channel. I’ve got an idea for a book, but I haven’t taken a dive off the high board yet.”
IF YOU GO
What: Tom Brokaw, in the first speech of the “Viewpoint” series presented by the Eastern Iowa Community College District.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Where: Adler Theatre, Davenport.
How much: $99, $86 and $69.
Information: (563) 326-8555 or eicc.edu/business/events/viewpoint/index.html on the Web.
Other: The other speech in the first season will be by former Chicago Bears football great Mike Singletary, who is speaking April 7.
David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.