The nation's first female White House press secretary has learned to handle the game of meet the press with a combination of humor, quotability and—when necessary—verbal evasion. In the process, Myers, 31, has earned the respect of her adversaries, though few favors. "You think of the White House as the center of the universe, with all these toys and services that make life easier," she says. "But then you get here and find it's not really true." The press showdowns sometimes have the feel of a sporting event—right down to the voice announcing, "Miss Dee Dee Myers will be in the briefing room in two minutes."
"They are more aggressive," Myers says of her opposite numbers. "You have some of the nation's top reporters competing for the same story. People who try to actually document how decisions were made, who was at the table, and who said what. It's a way [reporters] show they have access."
In status-obsessed Washington, some wonder how much access Myers herself has. Skeptics note that her $100,000 salary and her job description—deputy assistant to the President—place her below senior adviser level, a signal that she doesn't have the same authority as communications director George Stephanopoulos, who handles the main press event of the day, the noon briefing, and occupies the office traditionally given to the press secretary. "We like her," says UPI White House correspondent Helen Thomas. "We just need to know how close she really is to the President."
"Asking why I'm not in that office is such a Washington question," she says, engaging in personal spin control. "Where you sit is not what matters in this organization." Myers admits it isn't like the old days, when she played hearts with Clinton to pass the time. "I don't have the same physical access I had during the campaign."
As a child, Margaret Jane Myers enjoyed what she calls a Brady Bunch existence in the Los Angeles suburb of Valencia, the second of three daughters of Steve Myers, a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft, and his wife, Judy. As an infant, Margaret was dubbed "Dee Dee" by sister Betsy, who had trouble pronouncing the word baby. "Dee Dee was my father's boy—his buddy," says Betsy. "She's terrific with outside chores. When she came home at Christmas, she fixed the kitchen sink faucet. She always had a knack for putting things together."
Myers mined that talent as a press aide in several Democratic campaigns in California after graduating from Santa Clara University in 1983. She began working for the Clinton campaign in December 1991, when it was run out of a Little Rock paint store. A month later, Myers was playing the political equivalent of trench warfare, helping the candidate survive the Gennifer Flowers and draft-dodging controversies.
The traveling press loved Myers's loose style. But the irreverence got her in trouble once when she sent out a press release reporting that the Madonna Fan Club had endorsed her candidate, including phony song quotes from Clinton about Bush ("Poppy don't preach"). A few hoodwinked reporters filed the story.
These days the press secretary limits her joshing to a few wry remarks from the podium (though in the midst of the Nannygate fiasco, Myers couldn't resist announcing she would be the President's choice for Attorney General). Friends say that on the rare occasions she relaxes over a martini, Myers does a perfect imitation of her boss. Unfamiliar with Washington, Myers asked friends to find her a place to live-and moved in sight unseen. Her 14-hour work schedule leaves no time for romance. "Last year I tried to exercise, get to a movie and have dinner every now and then," she says, "but these are different days."
Though Myers has put her personal life on hold, she looks forward—someday—to a future without politics. "As important as this is, I don't think it should be the only thing in anyone's life," she says. "Too many people define themselves by where they work. This won't last forever, and you have to look back on not only the good things you did but how you treated other people and handled yourself."
DAVID ELLIS
GARRY CLIFFORD in Washington.
- Contributors:
- Garry Clifford.
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