June 29, 2005

BY CAROL MARIN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

"Hey, remember when Chris Kelly, I mean CLIFF Kelley, called me a 'creep' on your radio show?"

Ald. Dick Mell was reminiscing with talk show host Bruce DuMont at Harry Caray's restaurant Wednesday night. But the political boss of Chicago's 33rd ward had momentarily mixed up an old adversary, former 20th ward Ald. Cliff Kelley with a current one, political fund-raiser Chris Kelly, who is a pal of Gov. Blagojevich, Mell's estranged son-in-law with whom he is presently at war. What a terrific way to begin a party.

It was the 25th anniversary celebration of one of the longest-running political broadcasts in the country, Beyond the Beltway, hosted by veteran Chicago political analyst Bruce DuMont. Begun in 1980 in a tiny, airless radio studio in the old Banker's Building on West Adams in the Loop, the show is today nationally syndicated in 54 radio markets, including WLS-AM, and also on WYCC-TV in Chicago.

Long before Fox News laid claim to "fair and balanced," long before CNN staked out "Inside Politics," DuMont's Sunday night panel of three political guests with three strong but differing opinions quickly earned a reputation for being a fair and balanced, inside view of politics.

By broadcast standards, Beyond the Beltway has never been in the same world or even on the same planet as "The Apprentice" or "American Idol." It has a tiny audience of only about 250,000 listeners/viewers nationwide. By political talk show standards, it has never offered the predictable, stagy shouting matches of the James Carville-Paul Begala-Bob Novak-John McLaughlin-Tucker Carlson types. In the fast food world of media, it has always offered a real meal to people who hunger for a thoughtful yet tough-minded political conversation.

Wednesday's party provided for some wonderful people watching.

Over in one corner, Dick Friedman was warmly greeting Tom Hynes. Friedman, now 75, is the Republican who in 1971 dared to run for mayor against Richard J. Daley, laughingly describing it as a "kamikaze run" but adding, "The whole purpose was to help set an agenda for the city." Hynes, the former assessor of Cook County, diehard Democrat and Daley loyalist, once ran for mayor himself. And yet on this evening, when the talk turned to the current Mayor Daley, the two were united in saying they think Daley's doing a good job.

Another corner was crowded with political consultants and commentators of all political stripes, including Phil Krone, Chris Robling, D. Clancy, Gary Mack, Dan Proft, Tom Roeser and Chris Dudley. Not a shrinking violet in the bunch, they are passionate politicos full of ferocious opinions. But they also, all of them, know how to listen.

And listen they did as DuMont reminded the room of just how wacky the world of political discussion can be when you try to produce a weekly broadcast. Like the time in 1988 when George H.W. Bush was running against Michael Dukakis and managers for each campaign were booked to appear. "The Bush guy shows up in a red tie and white shirt on time," said DuMont, "but two minutes before air, a personal messenger from the Dukakis campaign arrives to say their guy can't make it." DuMont told the messenger to sit down, put on a microphone, and be ready to talk about the Dukakis campaign or, DuMont threatened, "I'll say Dukakis has a campaign manager who can't be trusted." The shell-shocked messenger ending up holding his own in the discussion and "ended up stealing the show."

Many of the early regulars were guests like Luis Gutierrez, Danny Davis, Carol Moseley Braun and Rahm Emanuel. In 1988, DuMont remembers Emanuel telling him after working on Dukakis' failed campaign that "the only way you'll ever see me working at the White House is if I'm wearing a tuxedo and serving hors d'oeuvres." Four years later, Emanuel was indeed at the White House, wearing a tuxedo, overseeing Bill Clinton's 1992 inauguration. All four of those early guests ended up going on to Congress.

More than 175 times in the last 25 years, DuMont has taken his show on the road, traveling from Seattle to San Diego to New Hampshire and New York. The whole point was to hear political voices across the country rather than just listen to the pundits inside the Washington beltway. And to generate a real conversation, not just the current rabid rhetoric that passes for one, about what government is or isn't doing.

"Even when there were times when it got really hot, when I thought fists would fly," says DuMont, "there was always a degree of respect" to go along with the disagreement. In an uncongenial time, Bruce, thanks for keeping the conversation going.