C-SPAN‘s Ceasefire, the new series designed for civil conversations among partisan opposites, is landing at a moment when there is a real ceasefire, a first phase of a peace agreement reached to end hostilities in Gaza, while there are few signs of an end to the political discord at home amid the government shutdown.
Those were the two main topics on the table with the premiere’s guests, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, two former colleagues in the House of Representatives, as host Dasha Burns sought to highlight civil conversation.
The result after the first taping on Thursday: No shouting matches, no personal putdowns or name-calling, and actually some areas of agreement.
In one of the few moments when there was some talking over one another, Pence quipped to Burns, “We run the risk of wrecking your show.” It was hardly discord.
The show is one of the major initiatives from Sam Feist, the longtime CNN executive who once oversaw a highly successful series, Crossfire, that, by its very title, sounds like the polar opposite.
The intent of Ceasefire, Feist said, is to show that “Republicans and Democrats can have a civil conversation. We don’t have to hate each other because we have a friend or family member who voted differently. That is at the heart of the show.”
He added, “Conflict is not the goal. It is just the opposite. Conversation is the goal, and if there is the opportunity for compromise, great.”
C-SPAN, which is funded by the cable industry, has been grappling with the loss of revenue as consumers cut the cord. But the network recently landed long desired-distribution deals with YouTube TV and Hulu+Live TV.
Ceasefire also seems to be just the fit for the network’s viewership makeup. New research from Magid showed that 41% of viewers consider themselves moderate, 28% conservative, and 27% liberal/progressive.
Just before Thursday’s taping Pence and Emanual met outside the greenroom, and each greeted each other warmly, quickly asking each other questions about their kids before anything else, while kidding with each other about a long unpaid bet.
At the outset of the first episode, Pence and Emanuel each talked of the way things were when they were in Congress, their offices close to each other on Capitol Hill.
“Rahm and I have different agendas and different policy prescriptions, but I think we are living in a time when a lot of the rewards go to what I think is more performance art than policy,” Pence said in the show’s opening moments, adding, “Democracy depends on heavy doses of civility, and maintaining the ability to find things that we can agree begins with civility, and it was a different time back then.”
It probably is a testament to the discourse of today that Pence and Emanuel’s congressional years in the early 2000s are looked upon as more collegial, given that even back then there was plenty of consternation about the level of polarization.
Emanuel, hardly a subtle shrinking violet throughout his career, nevertheless explained why things were different. “We disagreed on things, but we didn’t see this as Braveheart Hunger Games. I don’t think blaming social media for everything means you have absolved yourself of your own judgment and responsibility. But social media has forced people into ideological [corners] and the fundraising apparatus also exacerbates that.”
The set is symbolic: The guests on the show are seated at a round table, featuring red and blue arrows pointing out from each guest to the center. Burns is seated at a white arrow, also pointing to the center.
Pence and Emanuel each gave credit to Donald Trump and his administration in securing the first phase of a peace deal in the Middle East.
They disagreed on some aspects of the health care debate, the issue at the heart of the current shutdown, with Pence urging Republicans to better message on the big government aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and Emanuel seeing it as a key issue to Democrats to run on in the midterms as premiums rise.
What also was emphasized was how simply the shutdown could end. Emanuel suggested that the solution would be for the GOP to hold a vote on a continuing resolution to reopen the government, followed quickly by a vote on Democrats’ priority, extending the Obamacare premiums. “Some day, back to back,” he said.
Pence, meanwhile, said, “At the end of the day, the person who will end the shutdown will be the president, Donald Trump.”
Burns, who is the White House bureau chief for Politico, skillfully kept the conversation moving, but also interspersed occasional scoop-seeking questions, like whether Emanuel will run for president in 2028. (Spoiler alert: TBD).
The weekly show airs Friday nights at 7 p.m. ET, followed by a replay at 10 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m. Michele Remillard is executive producer. Following the segment with the two featured guests is a conversation with two political strategists, this week it is Sean Spicer, White House press secretary in Trump’s first term, and Faiz Shakir, senior adviser to Bernie Sanders.
Next week’s guests will be two governors, Kevin Stitt, Republican of Oklahoma, and Wes Moore, Democrat from Maryland. Feist said the show has drawn interest from more than 100 members of Congress.
There’s also the prospect of drawing in congressional leadership, perhaps figures in the midst of a showdown like a shutdown. Earlier on Thursday, when House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on a C-SPAN call-in show, he said that he would be willing to come on Ceasefire with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). “Hakeem, let’s sit down together,” he said, albeit he put no timing on the request.
A challenge for the show may be in convincing some guests to relax, to set aside talking points and abandon attack mode. That may be a special test for a number of Trump administration figures, who forged their careers in the silos of partisan media and are ever aware of the audience of one, the President, who watches the public affairs network.
Ceasefire is unlikely to produce social media moments where one side “owns” the other. Rather, its first guests suggest, it’s about cooling the temperature a bit, even at a time where there’s plenty to be alarmed about.
Pence said that when he attended the inauguration this year, a senator came up to him, “put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Great to see you Mr. Vice President.’ He said, ‘This is a funny business we are in.’ And I looked him in the eye and I said, ‘It’s not a business. It’s a country.’ And he said, ‘You’re right.’”
Emanuel said, “I put this on the President. His job is to find the ceasefire. His job is to lead, and not have a moment where every American is pitted against another American.”
