News
Government
Feb. 28, 2002
A Revived Condit Banks on a Wave of Publicity to Carry Him to Victory
Column by Garry Abrams - It's a busy time in Condit Country, that region of the Twilight Zone where California Rep. Gary Condit is frantically trying to keep a near-death political experience from becoming the real thing.
By Garry Abrams
It's a busy time in Condit Country, that region of the Twilight Zone where California Rep. Gary Condit is frantically trying to keep a near-death political experience from becoming the real thing.
Condit, 53, is riding a wave of carefully orchestrated publicity designed to resurrect his political career from the scandal surrounding vanished Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy.
In case you don't remember, the conservative, family values politician reputedly told police he had an affair with Levy, 24, who mysteriously vanished last May 1. Her disappearance and link to Condit sparked a media frenzy that abated only after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Even though Condit is said not to be a target of the investigation into Levy's disappearance, the scandal has almost turned Modesto's favorite son into roadkill.
Now, a semirenascent Condit is betting that puffery can help him win next week's primary election in his Central Valley district. Condit, a six-term veteran who enjoyed broad voter support before the Levy scandal, faces five opponents in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Besides saving his political hide, much of Condit's publicity campaign also has been aimed at a national audience. This is an apparent attempt to counter the tsunami of negative coverage Condit received when the Levy scandal was front-page news.
Monday night, Condit appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live." For the celebrity-damned, the show is a key penitential way station on the rehab road.
Interestingly, Condit's attorney, Mark Geragos, described as a "celebrity mouthpiece" in a New York Post article about Condit this week, is a frequent guest on the King show. The Post's description may be a reference to the fact that Geragos, who gained fame representing Susan McDougal in the Clinton scandals, represents actress Winona Ryder in her shoplifting case, which also has claimed its share of headlines.
A couple of weeks ago, Condit was the subject of a story in The New York Times Magazine, a national publication that previously had paid little attention to Condit and the scandal.
Another important part of the Condit survival campaign is the high-risk $10 million libel lawsuit filed by his wife, Carolyn, last week against The National Enquirer. The suit, filed by the Los Angeles firm of Johnson & Rishwain, maintains that the Enquirer manufactured a story claiming that Carolyn Condit verbally attacked Levy during a phone call just days before Levy disappeared.
The suit, filed in federal court in Fresno, also drew national attention.
Some observers have questioned whether the lawsuit was a smart move since it raises anew the sordid details of the Levy scandal.
But, take it from me, the suit is, at least in part, a calculated gamble that attacking the Enquirer will be a net positive for Gary Condit in next Tuesday's primary. The Condit forces believe the suit sends a message of family solidarity that will resonate with some voters. And the Enquirer, of course, has long been a popular target of lawsuits by celebrities claiming that they have been trashed by the gutter-dwelling, garbage-sniffing gossip sheet.
But many, perhaps most, of the lawsuits against the Enquirer are dismissed or dropped, either because the newspaper got it right or because it's hard to make a libel case stick - especially for public figures, who must show actual malice on the part of a media outlet.
That's not to say that Carolyn Condit's lawyers are just going through the motions. In addition to Johnson & Rishwain, which specializes in invasion of privacy and libel cases, Carolyn Condit's legal team includes University of Richmond law school professor Rodney A. Smolla.
Smolla's main claim to fame is the so called "Hit Man" case. In that case, Smolla represented the relatives of murder victims who had been killed by a contract killer who had relied on a mail-order how-to book, "Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors."
Smolla won that case when Paladin Press, the publisher of "Hit Man," settled by agreeing to stop selling the book and to pay the relatives $5 million.
Smolla told me that Carolyn Condit's libel case is likely to turn on the question of whether she is a public or private figure. If Condit's lawyers can convince the court that she is a private figure, she stands a much greater chance of winning her case, Smolla said.
"It would be difficult to find the spouse of a politician with a lower profile," Smolla said.
Possibly true. But probably irrelevant after Tuesday.
It's a busy time in Condit Country, that region of the Twilight Zone where California Rep. Gary Condit is frantically trying to keep a near-death political experience from becoming the real thing.
Condit, 53, is riding a wave of carefully orchestrated publicity designed to resurrect his political career from the scandal surrounding vanished Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy.
In case you don't remember, the conservative, family values politician reputedly told police he had an affair with Levy, 24, who mysteriously vanished last May 1. Her disappearance and link to Condit sparked a media frenzy that abated only after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Even though Condit is said not to be a target of the investigation into Levy's disappearance, the scandal has almost turned Modesto's favorite son into roadkill.
Now, a semirenascent Condit is betting that puffery can help him win next week's primary election in his Central Valley district. Condit, a six-term veteran who enjoyed broad voter support before the Levy scandal, faces five opponents in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Besides saving his political hide, much of Condit's publicity campaign also has been aimed at a national audience. This is an apparent attempt to counter the tsunami of negative coverage Condit received when the Levy scandal was front-page news.
Monday night, Condit appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live." For the celebrity-damned, the show is a key penitential way station on the rehab road.
Interestingly, Condit's attorney, Mark Geragos, described as a "celebrity mouthpiece" in a New York Post article about Condit this week, is a frequent guest on the King show. The Post's description may be a reference to the fact that Geragos, who gained fame representing Susan McDougal in the Clinton scandals, represents actress Winona Ryder in her shoplifting case, which also has claimed its share of headlines.
A couple of weeks ago, Condit was the subject of a story in The New York Times Magazine, a national publication that previously had paid little attention to Condit and the scandal.
Another important part of the Condit survival campaign is the high-risk $10 million libel lawsuit filed by his wife, Carolyn, last week against The National Enquirer. The suit, filed by the Los Angeles firm of Johnson & Rishwain, maintains that the Enquirer manufactured a story claiming that Carolyn Condit verbally attacked Levy during a phone call just days before Levy disappeared.
The suit, filed in federal court in Fresno, also drew national attention.
Some observers have questioned whether the lawsuit was a smart move since it raises anew the sordid details of the Levy scandal.
But, take it from me, the suit is, at least in part, a calculated gamble that attacking the Enquirer will be a net positive for Gary Condit in next Tuesday's primary. The Condit forces believe the suit sends a message of family solidarity that will resonate with some voters. And the Enquirer, of course, has long been a popular target of lawsuits by celebrities claiming that they have been trashed by the gutter-dwelling, garbage-sniffing gossip sheet.
But many, perhaps most, of the lawsuits against the Enquirer are dismissed or dropped, either because the newspaper got it right or because it's hard to make a libel case stick - especially for public figures, who must show actual malice on the part of a media outlet.
That's not to say that Carolyn Condit's lawyers are just going through the motions. In addition to Johnson & Rishwain, which specializes in invasion of privacy and libel cases, Carolyn Condit's legal team includes University of Richmond law school professor Rodney A. Smolla.
Smolla's main claim to fame is the so called "Hit Man" case. In that case, Smolla represented the relatives of murder victims who had been killed by a contract killer who had relied on a mail-order how-to book, "Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors."
Smolla won that case when Paladin Press, the publisher of "Hit Man," settled by agreeing to stop selling the book and to pay the relatives $5 million.
Smolla told me that Carolyn Condit's libel case is likely to turn on the question of whether she is a public or private figure. If Condit's lawyers can convince the court that she is a private figure, she stands a much greater chance of winning her case, Smolla said.
"It would be difficult to find the spouse of a politician with a lower profile," Smolla said.
Possibly true. But probably irrelevant after Tuesday.
#337613
Garry Abrams
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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