Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

media’s fault? Yes, to some extent. Is it
the nature of the media in our country?
Yes, to some extent. And frankly, sometimes
people believe what they want to
believe.
I don’t tell this very often, but
it is absolutely true. After he became
vice president, I traveled occasionally
with Vice President Quayle. I was with
him when he went to a schoolroom
in New Jersey, where he was welcomed
to the front of the classroom
by not only the teacher, but the school
principal, the school superintendent of
Newark—the mayor may have even
been there as well. They gave him a
little stool up by the blackboard and
a stack of vocabulary cards. The Vice
President calls a kid from the front
row up to the blackboard and says,
“Spell potato.”
And the child spells potato.
Vice President Quayle looks down at
his hand, at the stack of cards. And it
says potato with an “e” on it. What
would you do if you were sitting there
and the network cameras were on
you, and it’s been a while since you
were in sixth grade. The card says it’s
got an “e,” and you think, “Gosh, it’s
been a while since I’ve been in sixth
grade—do you think they changed the
rules on me?”
So the Vice President says,
“Didn’t you forget something?” And
the boy looks at him. And the Vice
President says, “Didn’t you forget
something at the end?” And the child
writes an “e.” The teacher applauds.
The school superintendent applauds,
the principal applauds, and the mayor
applauds. To this day, the Vice President’s
staff thinks it was a set up. How
does Dan Quayle ever go back and dispel
the urban myth that he can’t spell
potato? The fact is, he doesn’t. Maybe
he gets the credit for never blaming the
teacher and never blaming the student
and never saying, “Hey, it wasn’t my
fault.”
Q: Are we wrong to be a bit cynical
about every presidential candidate
suddenly becoming more religious,
more Christian? And on the other
side of that, give us some feedback on
church types, ministers, who want to
refuse the mass to politicians who vote
differently than they think they should.
A: Good question, and one which
I am going to totally dodge. I can’t
give anybody advice on what they
should think of candidates on any of
what I would call “character dynamics”
of a candidate. But let’s face it,
character counts. Character is a huge
part of why Americans choose to vote
for the candidates they do. I’ve often
thought in my experience covering
national politics that it’s rare that you
hear someone say, “I am going to vote
for this candidate because of his health
insurance platform,” or, “I am going
to vote for this candidate because of
what she’s going to do for education
in this country.” But they do vote for
a candidate who seems to have all the
right parts put together.
Presidents go down in history
not for what they promise in a
campaign or a party platform, but for
what they do at the time of greatest
challenge. And that’s why our most
impressive presidents, the ones who
are considered the greatest leaders, are
the ones who have come through at the
time of greatest challenge.
With respect to the second part
of your question: Everybody in America
has a right to stand up and talk
about politics and talk about elections
and make their own views known. I
would leave it to each congregation as
to whether they think their own clergy
should be able to dictate: “We will not
support somebody on this level or that
level.” That said, the idea of one-issue
candidates, I think, embraces a very
small sector of the economy. And a
reminder: the tradition of pulpits being
used to give voice to political ideas has
a long, long tradition in Black churches
in the United States. That became very
important for the African-American
community, a very important part of
their cohesiveness and their voice.
Look at the number of Black leaders
who have religious backgrounds.
Q: There have been some recent
articles in the Washington Post rating
George Bush one of our worst presidents.
I wonder if you would like to
give him a rating.
A: No way! Press should never
be in a position of judging or grading.
My job is to tell you what he said
today, what he said yesterday, what
we’re told he’ll say tomorrow, whether
there’s continuity, whether the actions
in public are the same as the intentions
they give us behind the scenes—and
let you make up your mind.
Q: Why haven’t the media stated
more about the president on this war?
What should the parties be doing now?
Do you think they should be impeaching
this administration?
A: I don’t see impeachment as
something that’s going to happen. But,
politically, I can’t fence with you on the
idea of was the war wrong, or should
he be impeached. There is a wide spectrum
of voices making cases.
Q: Ann, since your birth you’ve
been both nurtured and challenged
by the Church and you transmitted
that faith to your children. Could you
describe for us how these values shape
decisions that you have to make perhaps
every day in your life?
A: These values shape my decisions
without my even thinking about
92 VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007