Vidal signs

Twenty-two years ago, Gore Vidal ran against Jerry Brown in the Democratic senatorial primary. A film was made of his run, Gore Vidal: The Man Who Said No, in which I briefly appear. I'm the young guy studying his face as he receives bad news on election night. Most people watching the documentary probably think I'm his catamite. Actually, his campaign office just happened to be near home, and I decided to crash the election party to grab some free brewskis. Plain-wrap from the local Ralphs grocery. Vidal ran a frugal campaign.

Having grown up in a working class Italian/Jewish household, I've always been fascinated by upper-class WASPs who never show emotion, so I studied Vidal's face carefully as early returns put him in third-place behind Charlie Nobody from Orange County. His expression showed nary a clue as to his thoughts. Not a tremor. Not an eye-blink. If I had spent that much money only to fare so poorly, I'd have been punching holes in the walls.

I've been keeping an eye on Vidal ever since. His opinions sometimes tick me off. His post-Lincoln novels lack impact. He said some unfair things about the film JFK. (One day I may relate an unverified story I once heard about Clay Shaw's "post-mortum" stay in a certain Italian villa.)

Yet Vidal's political observations have usually been brilliant and funny. He has always rewarded attention.

At the risk of sounding uncharitable, I recall that, at the time of the senate campaign, Vidal prophesied that he would not have a long political career because (I paraphrase, not having the quote to hand) old age loomed and he might go dotty. That was twenty-two years ago. You are strongly advised to hear his latest interview on Democracy Now. He rambles wildly. His voice has turned to gravel. He allows himself a few outlandish remarks -- for example, he calls pre-invasion Afghanistan an "innocent" nation, which it was not.

And yet, for the most part, he's not dotty. And he can still be very, very funny. His impersonation of W is even better than his impersonation of Reagan. Check it out!