"Political Trick Or Treat in Hartford, CT:
Author Gore Vidal Skewers Bush, The Press"

Frank Rizzo, Hartford Courant

It was a bit of a Gorefest Saturday afternoon at Hartford Stage when
the noted author, playwright and wit Gore Vidal talked politics
following a reading of his new play, "On the March to the Sea."

The onetime political candidate — he ran for Congress in New York in
the 1960s and the Senate in California in the '80s — was serious,
playful and outspoken when "interviewed" by actress Estelle Parsons,
who was part of the original "Today" show in the 1950s before her
acting career.Vidal, 78, and using a cane due to recent knee surgery, talked about
the new play, which is set in the South during the Civil War. But
Parsons and the audience were clearly eager for his provocative
thoughts about the upcoming elections and Gore did not disappoint.

For decades the writer of such works as "The Best Man," "Burr,"
"Washington, D.C." and "Myra Breckenridge" has been a political
trick-or-provocateur, with family ties that give him a historic
perspective to the inner workings of government. His maternal
grandfather was Democratic Sen. Thomas Prior Gore of Oklahoma; his
father worked for the Roosevelt administration; his stepfather
married Jacqueline Kennedy's mother.

He told the crowd of 500 that in elections it's not whom you vote for
but rather against. And though he clearly skewered Bush, he directed
some of his sharpest words at the press and an inept voting process.

"[Florida] has perfected the art of keeping people from voting," he
said, adding that the touch-screen machine — with no paper trail — is
a situation fraught for political disaster and electoral unrest. But
he added that the move to monitor the vote with thousands of
attorneys also evokes shudders: "I fear the lawyers almost as much as
Bush."

He said Al Gore, a distant cousin, was talked out of a recount
challenge in 2000. "He was a good sport," Vidal said. "But do we want
a good sport in dangerous times? It's a fine line."

Vidal was especially critical of the press, saying it dropped the
ball initially for its lack of in-depth and challenging news coverage
of the administration and the war in Iraq.

"The media has been unspeakable about all of it," said Vidal, adding
"The New York Times is now desperately trying to get it right with
the public."

Vidal said the release of the most recent Osama Bin Laden tapes will
be bad for Bush, "especially if you get a chance to read all of what
[Bin Laden] said." But Vidal said the press has not sufficiently
reported the most shocking aspects of the tapes — that the terrorists
did not think they would succeed as much as they did because they did
not anticipate Bush's slow reaction to the attack on the first World
Trade Tower. "That alone should hang this president," said Vidal.

When asked about a Kerry presidency, Vidal answered, "How can it be
worse? At least he can read The New York Times without moving his
lips."

When someone in the audience informed Vidal that Kerry knew three
languages, the writer quipped, "Goodness, I want to lie down. He's
overqualified."

He was also playful about his imperious opinions saying, "I'm not
God," before pausing and adding "though there are days ..."

Vidal said the ravages of the Iraqi war have made good people do
shocking things, saying war does that to people, and pointing to
characters and instances in his own play as an example. But he said
the response to current wrongdoing is a scandal.

"[Situations like] Guantanamo would be intolerable by a decent
president, Congress or media," he said.

In a post-show conversation at a Hartford Stage reception, Vidal
predicted that Kerry will receive the popular vote but that Bush
could "still steal the election." Though Vidal was an alternative
candidate when he ran for office, he discounted Nader's effect in the
campaign, saying the candidate was not on enough ballots to make a
difference.