Turning the tables on ‘This Week’ host

Once a ratings disaster, ABC Sunday chat show “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” is showing new signs of life.

The program has been on a ratings upswing, last month beating NBC’s once-invulnerable “Meet the Press” and CBS’ “Face the Nation” in the key ages-25-to-54 demographic two weeks in a row.

In a phone interview Monday, I asked Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton White House aide, about the program’s comeback, his interview with Al Gore and the 2008 presidential race.

Question: When you first started doing “This Week,” I didn’t think you were doing very well.

George Stephanopoulos: I guess you weren’t alone.

Q: But things seem to have turned around. What happened?

GS: I feel good about where we are. If you look at the trends, our year-to-year growth is the best of the Sunday shows, or about the best. I just think people are giving the show a chance and looking at what we have to offer. The more people watch, the more they see it’s not your standard Sunday show. We go on the road more, give people a look at the political humor of the week.

Q: When the ratings were bad, did you think you’d made a mistake with your career path?

GS: No, no. I guess I’m not that easily discouraged. And I also was prepared to know that whenever there’s change, you run the risk of losing some audience. I think people at first wanted to make sure I proved myself as a journalist, and I think I’ve tried to do that.

Q: Do you miss politics?

GS: I’m in it every week!

Q: You know what I mean.

GS: No. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now -- not as anchor, but I left the White House 10 years ago. I’m committed to doing this.

Q: I thought you were a little easy on Al Gore on Sunday’s show. Why not just say, “Oh, come on -- you’re running for president.”

GS: I don’t know that! He was being all but definitive.

Q: But on your own panel afterward, Robert Reich and George Will both said the same thing: He’s running.

GS: How do you know they’re right? They may be right. But I tried asking the question in three or four different ways. He knows exactly what he wants to say on this. I think when you’re doing the interview it’s your job to ask the question, not to give your opinion.

Q: OK, so what were you thinking as you listened to Gore talk?

GS: You know, I wasn’t sure. He went about as far as he could go, yet he didn’t want to make himself a liar if the world did turn upside down and some situation was created where he could get in. I certainly felt at the end of it that he wouldn’t challenge Hillary [Rodham Clinton] for the nomination. I don’t think he’d say no to a draft.

Q: But if he’s not going to run, why is he appearing on your political show?

GS: To get attention to the cause of global warming. One of the things you have to be careful of in political journalism is letting proper skepticism become pure cynicism.

Q: Is that what I’m doing?

GS: I think you’re right on the edge. I can’t read his mind, and neither can you.

Q: So how does the ’08 race shape up?

GS: Wide open. The most wide open, certainly, in my lifetime. Probably the first time since, what is it, ‘52, you haven’t had a sitting president or vice president running. Right now, it seems like Hillary Clinton’s the front-runner on the Democratic side, and John McCain on the Republican. But a lot can happen between now and then.

Q: If you were advising the Bush White House, what would you tell them to do?

GS: I don’t, and I won’t.

Q: What was your take-away from the New York Times story analyzing the impact of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage on her presidential prospects?

GS: I really wanted to know how they calculated the weekends. Did they have charts up on all the walls? I’ll bet you they were surprised when they finished it to find how many weekends they actually were together.

Q: Are the Clintons watchers of “This Week”?

GS: They’ve both appeared on it.

Q: Yes, but do they watch it?

GS: You’ll have to ask them. I hope so.