The Plotters Didn’t Realize TV Has Changed Politics Forever

They’ve been called everything from the gang that couldn’t shoot straight to the little coup that couldn’t.

Overnight, their image changed from the fearsome new rulers of the Soviet Union to the Eight Stooges.

When they went public, they were immediately dated in TV terms.

They were straight out of “Ninotchka”--old-fashioned, boorish-looking Communists trying to catch up with an exciting modern world.

They needed a contact on Madison Avenue--the kind of guy who could turn a former actor into President.

The coup d’etat that briefly ousted President Mikhail S. Gorbachev this week not only underestimated the Soviet people, it had no idea how to act publicly in a new world in which TV images are as important as troops.

In the political world of today, it may look impressive to have the army, the cops, the KGB and some top government officials on your side. But TV is a major player and can pull the rug out from people with fancy titles.

This was a group so out of touch with new-style TV politics that when they made a joint appearance on camera, they looked like a bunch of ward heelers from Tammany Hall.

They were a devastatingly depressing sight after the years of the nicely turned out, low-key, TV-friendly Gorbachev.

And compared to Boris N. Yeltsin, the sophisticated, smartly dressed, commanding president of the Russian Federation, who never lost his cool on camera even when things seemed bad, they looked even worse.

In a way, the leaders of the coup did seem to realize TV had changed things. In the bad old days of Josef Stalin, they might never have made that joint appearance--just done away with Gorbachev and Yeltsin in time-honored manner: Siberia or worse.

But the new age of instant worldwide exposure, of CNN, of video cameras everywhere, of negotiation via TV, has changed politics irrevocably.

Surely the members of the coup watched the 1989 Chinese uprising in Beijing as its TV images angered supporters of the protesters around the world.

While the Chinese ruling powers retained control, TV’s clout in changing political behavior was vividly illustrated. Who, for example, could forget Chinese officials acting gingerly--aware that the world was watching--as, incredibly, they negotiated on camera to shut down CNN’s transmission of pictures?

But perhaps Soviet Vice President Gennady I. Yanayev, one of the leaders of the coup, had watched Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein brazenly survive even TV during and after the Persian Gulf War, and felt he could do the same.

In Moscow, however, the heroism of the Soviet people, urged on by Yeltsin, gave worldwide TV viewers hope and the smell of victory.

Just as TV had long ago lessened the hold of back-room politics in the United States--enabling underdogs such as Eugene McCarthy to seek direct public support--now the lessons of the home screen were registering powerfully in the Soviet Union.

Here was the TV-wise tandem of Yeltsin and Gorbachev matched vividly against the repulsive, outdated, old-style politics represented in living color by the leaders of the coup.

It was no match.

In Gorbachev and Yeltsin, the Soviets had a new TV face, light years from the angry image of Nikita S. Khrushchev raising his fist angrily at the United Nations in 1960.

For years, Khrushchev and many other Soviet leaders seemed oblivious to the impact of TV. Clothing may not be a sign of character or wisdom, but their ill-fitting, cloddish suits bespoke either a healthily contemptuous view of TV or simple ignorance of its visual messages.

Not only did the leaders of this week’s coup need a tailor, they too seemed relics of the 1960s, when Soviet officials threatened to close American TV news bureaus in Moscow if the networks put on shows that criticized the communist nation.

But now the TV age has become a potent ally of the Soviets--not only in helping them defeat the coup, but also because they have two genuine political stars with enormous camera appeal in Yeltsin and Gorbachev.

Together, despite Gorbachev’s domestic problems and his backing off in some political reforms, they’d be an imposing political ticket. The Democrats probably wish they had a ticket with as much TV pizazz to throw against George Bush and Dan Quayle in next year’s presidential election.

If Gorbachev and Yeltsin stay together rather than splitting in a struggle for leadership of the Soviet Union, they could, in fact, have a global TV impact that might prove troublesome to the interests of the United States.

The U.S. has a long history of TV and politics as bedfellows. Nothing set the course for the future more than underdog John F. Kennedy’s showing against Richard M. Nixon in the first of their TV presidential debates in 1960.

With the Emmy Awards airing Sunday, viewers may also recall the 1978 Emmy night when President Jimmy Carter broke in for 33 minutes, dramatically using TV to announce the historic Camp David accord, accompanied by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

Polish leader Lech Walesa profited mightily by understanding how to use TV to help his climb. And Gorbachev and Yeltsin also clearly appreciate TV’s value as their possible showdown shapes up.

Which of the two is most effective on screen? On the basis of this week’s political drama, Yeltsin seems more of a TV heavyweight. His heroism in rallying the citizenry was the stuff of legend. He has a powerful yet friendly visage. He was cool under pressure, and TV is a cool medium.

Gorbachev also is cool on the tube and can turn on the avuncular charm as a traveling ambassador, but if the two were boxers, you’d have to go for Yeltsin in six rounds or less.

Yeltsin’s instinct for perfect exposure was exemplified when he gave ABC’s Diane Saywer a brief interview during the crisis and, of course, benefited even more than she.

The coup attempt will certainly spark added interest in the new, weekly syndicated TV series “Pozner and Donahue,” which debuts in October and features talk-show host Phil Donahue and Soviet commentator Vladimir Pozner, who has often been seen on ABC’s “Nightline.”

And those who want to review this week’s entire Soviet drama can do so on cable’s C-SPAN channel starting at 7 a.m. today and continuing Sunday.

The Eight Stooges live again.