TV votes count

With one election season just concluded and some presidential hopefuls already floating trial balloons, R.J. Cutler, one of the minds behind an upcoming FX cable channel show that plans to meld real politics with “reality” TV techniques, is looking ahead.

Geared toward the 2004 presidential race, his show, “American Candidate,” will recruit 100 people to campaign against each other for the right to make a run for the Oval Office. Viewers will narrow the field by voting losing “candidates” off the show, until only one is left to challenge the Democratic and Republican nominees -- if he or she decides to.

Cutler, who produced the documentary “The War Room,” a behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton’s 1992 bid for the White House, shared his thoughts on democracy and the state of the TV nation.

What are you trying to bring to the political process that’s not already there?

The whole idea of the American political process is that we’re all a part of it and it’s something that we’re all involved in. It’s not only that any little boy and girl can grow up to be president. Every little boy or girl will grow up to choose the president. And that’s of course a significant distinction between a democracy and all other forms of government. So our goal, in a nation where fewer than 50% of the eligible voters are registered, and fewer than 50% of the registered voters even bother to go to the polls, we’re hoping to get more people involved in the process.

You must be hoping that some of the people who will tune in this show will be the kind of people who watched and liked “The War Room.” Who are those people, and how will this show expand the audience beyond that group?

Well, it’s certainly not just a show for political junkies. I would say that most of the people over the last 10 years who have commented to me on what they responded to in “The War Room” did not talk about politics. They spoke about the passion of characters. And they talked about the romantic notion of getting involved in the political process.

People who tune in are not just going to become a part of this process in a passive way, one night a week, they’re going to be able to get engaged in this process all the time. There are going to be candidates who they believe in who they can follow on our Web site 24 hours a day. It’s not just a television show that we’re creating. It’s our ambition to create something richer.

Is there a potential problem that if we make politics so entertaining, so personable, we’ll forget to talk about the issues, or we’ll forget what the issues are?

If we forget to talk about the issues, if we forget what the issues are, there’s a problem. That’s not our intention. It’s not what we’re doing.

But even if it’s not a beauty contest or a talent show, could it end up becoming an entertainment option, or a consumer choice?

It is a choice. That’s the point. It’s a choice we’re meant to be involved in. I myself would not like politics to be about a beauty contest, certainly. But if this show can help bring about an environment wherein the American public cares at least as much about choosing its next president as it does about choosing its next pop star, then I will be very happy.

I would hope that this show will inspire an environment wherein people are as passionate about their political leadership, as they well should be, as they are about whether it’s Kelly or Justin.

If one of the show’s candidates wins, do you get first dibs on press secretary?

[Laughs.] Not a job I’m interested in. But maybe he or she will be invited to the debates. And wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?

-- Reed Johnson