Equal Time: Mary Matalin

a few words from the lady of the house

Like many tough guys, James Carville has a tougher wife to reckon with. After working as a top strategist for the 1992 Bush campaign, Mary Matalin became cohost of CNBC's issues-and-answers show "Equal Time." Like other Republican activists, Matalin also found a home on the radio ("The Mary Matalin Show," CBS Talk Radio Network), and her daily three hours of chat made her program one of the most popular conservative talk shows in the country.

With a mind as exacting and quick-witted as her husband's, Matalin can steer an argument as swiftly to the right as Carville can to the left. To catch Matalin in her spin cycle, we asked a few questions about politics and her famous spouse.

[Q] Playboy: What do you think of your husband's observation that the way to a better life is to take what the Republicans say and do the exact opposite?

[A] Matalin: Pure Carville demagoguery.

[Q] Playboy: Do you admire his spin-doctoring finesse?

[A] Matalin: He's very good at it. Have you noticed that when you are having a conversation with him, all of a sudden you're having another conversation? His theory is: He answers only the questions he wants to answer--and there are few questions he wants to answer.

[Q] Playboy: Now that you've gotten some perspective, how do you feel about James' success in securing the White House for the Democrats in 1992?

[A] Matalin: He did a brilliant job there. He had a thoroughbred to run--James just had to handle him. James is a good team leader, very much a father figure, and that's important. He has a quick mind, and rapid response is critical to a campaign. He has some unique skills and he did a great job. Of course, he ticked me off royally.

[Q] Playboy: What do you think of James' new book?

[A] Matalin: I haven't read it--I know it would just irritate me. But I do know about the nuclear-family thing [Carville's endorsement of two-parent families]. We talked about that a lot--you know, the importance of fathers. That's the best thing he could have written. But the rest of it is probably irritating. Bottom line--and here's where we differ: James believes that an activist government is the best government. He also believes that big government isn't responsible for most of the trouble we're in. And I think that allowing people to be unfettered is the best solution.

[Q] Playboy: What about the charge that the Republicans only hurt themselves when they permit Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich to launch hateful attacks on their opponents?

[A] Matalin: Give me an example.

[Q] Playboy: Well, as James mentioned, Gingrich said that liberals were to blame when Susan Smith killed her children--

[A] Matalin: Everyone loves to take Newt out of context. He was talking about the fact that liberals have spawned a mind-set and a culture in which people are always blaming someone else for their problems.

[Q] Playboy: He's actually comparing our culture to a woman who drowned her children.

[A] Matalin: You have to read what Newt says, all right? He's a professor, and he speaks in that manner--you can't take him out of context. He says some things in a dramatic manner to get people's attention. But here's what I will concede: Conservative philosophy is not conducive to bumper stickers. It's easier to be a demagogue against it than it is to understand it. You have to talk about it and think it through.

[Q] Playboy: James applauds President Clinton's political philosophy and his legislative agenda. How do you feel about them?

[A] Matalin: Imitation, as practiced by the Clintonistas, isn't the sincerest form of flattery--it's grand larceny. The Democrats and the Republicans are sounding more and more alike, which only proves how right the right is.

[Q] Playboy: Do you at least concede that Clinton has received an unfair amount of bad press?

[A] Matalin: No, I do not. That's absurd. George Bush got far more negative coverage than Bill Clinton has.

[Q] Playboy: Does it disturb you that today's political debate has become somewhat rancorous?

[A] Matalin: Look, politics isn't for the fainthearted. Politics is heated and passionate because we're at a crossroads in this country. It's not lollipop time on Capitol Hill. We've seen the fruits of the New Deal and the Great Society. It took a couple of generations to see how those programs played out, and they didn't do well.

[Q] Playboy: James truly admires Hillary Clinton. Do you think the Republicans have been fair to the first lady?

[A] Matalin: I think the criticism of her hair and stuff is stupid, and I admire how she has brought up Chelsea. But when Hillary put herself into public life in the election--kind of like, "buy one, get one free"--she opened herself up to criticism. People want accountability in elected officials. I think Hillary is really tough, and I admire a lot of things about her. I love that she was industrious on the campaign, and I like that she's loyal and disciplined and focused.

[Q] Playboy: James insists Whitewater is not an issue. Tell us why you think it is.

[A] Matalin: Because when Clinton ran for president, he decried the Eighties as a decade of decadence and greed. He talked about the S&L scandals. And there they were, involved in it. Hypocrisy is the greatest political sin.

[Q] Playboy: When Clinton won the presidency in 1992, you said to James: "I can't believe you could live on this earth and know that you are responsible for the election of a slime, a scum, a philandering, pot-smoking, draft-dodging pig of a man. You make me sick. I hate your guts." Will you feel that way if Clinton wins again?

[A] Matalin: The greatest pain of 1992 for me was seeing a man I love, admire and respect--a man who worked so hard and was such a fine public servant--lose. And you know what they say, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." I don't like to lose--and I don't expect to lose in 1996.