Event of the Day: Dissecting Tricky Dick

As polarizing presidents go, it’s hard to beat our current one. After he steps out of office, however, George W. Bush likely won’t have the staying power of Richard Nixon, who continues to capture the attention of both scholarly and popular culture.

The reason? Our perceptions of Nixon are really reflections of how we see America, argues author Daniel Frick, who will lecture on Nixon tonight at Belmont University.

“Almost all of these issues (with Nixon), particularly civil rights and Vietnam, are issues we really haven’t finished dealing with yet,” Frick said. “So if he becomes involved in these topics, he ends up becoming a way we contest not just who we were, but the current definition of the United States. What version of the story are we going to tell?”

Frick, author of the recent Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession, gives examples of Nixon’s pervasiveness in America, from his photo with Elvis (the most requested photo in the National Archives) to the attachment of “-gate” to any sort of scandal in honor of Watergate. He examines how Americans’ varied opinions of Nixon demonstrate a general ideological rift, and how dealing with Nixon’s portrayal will also help America decide how to see itself.

So what chance do either John McCain or Barack Obama have of gaining the kind of notoriety – whether they want it or not – and discussion that Nixon receives, 34 years after his resignation and nearly 15 years after his death?

“McCain has the Vietnam issues, but neither (Bush nor McCain) resonates quite as thoroughly as Nixon,” Frick said. “I think the people for Obama, some of the excitement of that campaign comes from a sense of, ‘Possibly, here’s a change in the story.’ There’s a resonance for him that has that potential; of course, he would have to win and be able to make good on those promises.”

Frick will speak at 7 p.m. in the Leu Art Gallery of the Branch Library.

(Photo credit: National Archives)

Morning Links: Energy, swine and a candidate who's not

This morning USA Today outlines the candidates' stances on energy issues from oil drilling to global warming, topics that will almost certainly come up during the presidential debates. Reading through their proposals, the real issue in all of their initiatives is a different type of "green:" how much their ideas would cost.

Also:

Pig, no pig, bacon: The flap continues over Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment.
And now for the issues: The candidates get mad about education ... well, more over an ad about it, but still.
Another candidate quiz: This time from the Washington Post. Note that, according to WashPo, Hilary Clinton is still in the running!
But they don't vote: Europeans like Obama, although they don't like us much in general.

(Photo credit: Samuel M. Simpkins/The Tennessean)

Frist to moderate health care panel on debate day

Before presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama take the stage at Belmont University in October, they’ll be relegated to having the second national debate of the day in Nashville.

Former Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist will headline a panel discussion the morning of the debate on the candidates’ stances on national healthcare. The Nashville Health Care Council, a program of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, will host the event.

“It’s really going to be an analysis of what the candidates are saying and which elements of health care reform the candidates are choosing to address,” NHCC spokeswoman Judith Byrd said.

About 15 percent of Americans, or 45.7 million people, did not have health insurance in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

McCain and Obama have proposed fundamentally different health care reform proposals. Obama would create a national health insurance program for those who don’t have employer health insurance or don’t qualify for it; McCain, who opposes federally mandated health insurance, would provide tax credits and dividends for low-income Americans.

The panel discussion works for Nashville because of its prominence in the health care industry, Byrd said. Nashville and Middle Tennessee is home to more than 300 health care companies, including the Frist family-owned HCA, the nation’s largest hospital operator.

Frist, a cardiac surgeon, served in the Senate from 1994-2006 and now works for private investment firm Cressey & Co.

The panel is composed mostly of former advisers to President Bill Clinton: Chris Jennings, a former senior health care adviser for Clinton; Dick Morris, a widely known political strategist who led Clinton’s 1996 presidential campaign; and John Podesta, Clinton’s final Chief of Staff.

Chip Kahn, president of lobbying group Federation of American Hospitals and a former Congressional health adviser, rounds out the panel.

The invitation-only event will be held at 8 a.m. at the Vanderbilt Marriott Hotel. Twelve hours later, the presidential candidates will begin the town-hall presidential debate at Belmont — and will likely face at least one question on the topics discussed that morning.

UPDATED: Today's event: Woods, Harwell and Stansell hash it out

Larry Woods and wife Saralee at their Bookman/Bookwoman Books in Hillsboro Village.

It’s less than two hours away, but you can catch a roundtable discussion featuring some prominent locals speaking about political debate at Belmont this afternoon.

The roundtable, hosted by WRVU talk show host Freddie O'Connell, is slated to include state House District 52 candidate Eric Stansell (updated 4:45 p.m.: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bob Tuke is not present), state Rep. Beth Harwell (R-Davidson County) and local attorney and Bookman/Bookwoman Books co-owner Larry Woods.

Woods, one of the city’s best known Democrats, said he’s anticipating a large number of people across the country voting early this year because they’ve already made up their minds. (Early voting in Davidson County begins Oct. 15).

That makes the debates particularly important for the remaining undecided voters, he said.

“Those are the ones that will tune into the debates to think, ‘Here’s my opportunity to find out what these candidates are about,’” Woods said.

Woods, who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks about any political topic, said he thought Sen. Joe Biden would do well against the much-ballyhooed Gov. Sarah Palin in their vice-presidential debate … as long as he doesn’t talk about her at all.

“Biden’s got a really clear, relatively easy job for that debate: talk for a solid hour about Senator John McCain,” Woods said. “If he talks about Sarah Palin whatsoever, Obama ought to fire him.”

The discussion begins at 4:30 in the Leu Art Gallery in the Lila D. Bunch Library. If you can’t make the debate, there will be a reception from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. in the Leu Art Gallery lobby.

(Photo credit: Jason Lee/The Tennessean)

Morning Links: Biden looks toward VP debate with Palin

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden says he's ready to take on Republican counterpart Gov. Sarah Palin in the VP debate at Washington University in St. Louis next month. The debate comes less than a week before the Belmont debate and could set the tone for the presidential candidates when they come here.

Also:

USA Today has a new version of its Candidate Match Game between McCain and Obama. Nice way to discern basic differences between the candidates, although you're stuck with the topics they give you.

President Bush's announcement about Iraq troop levels today means major Iraq War decisions will likely be left to the next president. Wonder how that will influence audience members' questions at the Belmont debate?

(Photo credit: AP)

McCain to the Cumberland?

(It's here, too.)

Republican presidential candidate John McCain could go from last night’s stage in St. Paul, Minn., to the banks of the Cumberland River in just over a month.

A Miss.-based event production company filed a permit application late last week to use Riverfront Park on Oct. 6 and 7 for a “debate watch party and rally” including an appearance by McCain. The town hall-style presidential debate at Belmont University is Oct. 7.

“It’s essentially approved on our end,” said Curt Garrigan, assistant director of Metro Parks. “It will have to require coordination with the mayor’s office.”

The fee for using the park is around $1,000 per day, Garrigan said.

Cross-Ables LLC, an event production company in Oxford, Miss., submitted the application Aug. 29, Garrigan said. Warren Ables, a managing partner with the company, didn’t want to comment on the application until “things get more concrete,” he said.

According to the application, event setup would begin around 8 a.m. on Oct. 6 and the party and rally would be held from 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Oct. 7.

“Entertainment for the event will consist largely of a large scale video presentation of the televised debate from Belmont University,” the application reads. “The event will also likely have a musical act immediately following the debate and before the appearances of Senator John McCain.”

Marilyn Edwards, director of special events for Mayor Karl Dean’s office, said she had received the application and was in the beginning stages of handling the request. Events of that size typically require input from Metro police and the public works department, she said, especially if street closures are involved.

“Almost everything that happens at Riverfront Park … the special events committee gets into the mix,” Edwards said. “It depends on what’s going on and who’s involved, but it’s a standard process.”

Edwards and Garrigan said they had not received any requests from the Obama campaign. A spokesman for the McCain campaign did not immediately return a call Friday morning.