In Washington, on spin patrol

Author: By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff

Date: TUESDAY, March 31, 1998

Page: C5

Section: Living

All in all, Howard Kurtz has written a depressing tale about life in the nation's capital. While "Spin Cycle" is about insiders -- and is largely for insiders -- its message is one that should not be ignored in a democracy: The leader of the free world has little interest in explaining himself to the voters who hired him, and the people entrusted with explaining him to the voters aren't always interested in understanding him.

Kurtz, media critic for The Washington Post, observed President Clinton's press operation from behind the scenes as questions about Democratic fund-raising burbled up into a raging and breathless scandal. Now he reveals the maneuvering for the rest of us to see.

The book is written like a series of hastily banged-out newspaper articles. It is not likely to be remembered as a nonfiction work of art; it could never be compared, for example, with the beautifully written classic "What It Takes," Richard Ben Cramer's look at the candidates in the 1988 presidential campaign. "Spin Cycle" is a quick read that will later be put away and forgotten.

But for now, Kurtz's timing could not be better. He wrote the book before the Monica Lewinsky scandal took hold (he addresses it in the introduction and in an epilogue). Yet he provides a blueprint for how the White House is now responding to the new allegations and questions, because the same model was in place as questions arose about last year's campaign fund-raising abuses.

Spin, as we have all learned, is the art of putting something in the best possible light. It's practiced by Democrats and Republicans, in the White House and on Capitol Hill, and at every statehouse and city hall (and, for that matter, in the private sector). To take just one example from Kurtz: Presidential aides insisted that Clinton was not holding fund-raisers inside the White House with his regularly scheduled coffees for contributors and would-be contributors and might-be contributors.

Never mind that from the guests at 103 coffees, $27 million was raised for the Democratic Party. And never mind that the coffees were sponsored by the Democratic National Committee. "We didn't think it was inappropriate, we still don't," said Lanny Davis, the White House spin lawyer, explaining why the events were not fund-raisers. "They were here to meet the president and ask his views on the issues."

Unfortunately for ordinary citizens without the means to give tens of thousands of dollars to the president's political party, getting to ask Clinton's views over a cup of coffee is not likely to happen in their lifetime -- unless they are the backdrop for a photo opportunity.

White House aides, of course, would argue that the press is not interested in reporting what President Clinton is trying to do in a straightforward and fair manner. Their goal, these aides would tell you, is to get their own message out, circumventing the analytical lenses of reporters. Some tricks to avoid negative stories include:

- Press secretary Mike McCurry eavesdrops electronically on reporters' conversations in the press room to learn where the day's story is headed.

- Officials delay answering questions until evening, to prevent the television networks from breaking scandal stories.

- White House aides frequently prevent a reporter from breaking a big story by sharing it with other reporters -- a way to keep new information from lingering in the news cycle as other outlets repeat it in follow-up stories.

Kurtz does not spare anyone from his scrutiny, including the White House press corps. For one thing, his portrait shows a group of people with virtually no interest in substantive issues. The enduring impression from these pages is that the White House reporters openly despise this president, and will not rest until he is brought down.

And then there are some characters who seem to care little for truth or fairness. For example, a Wall Street Journal reporter is shown intentionally printing false information about one staffer to extort scoops from him in the future. "Give me something else or I'm going to have to use this about you," he threatens -- before making good on the threat.

In "Spin Cycle," it seems that the media are interested only in scandal and that Clinton's White House does not believe that the press has a right to know what it's doing. That means we all may be waiting a long, long time for the president of the United States to explain the most recent allegations against him.