Neal Dunn

A political talk show host reflects on his 28-year career of avoiding "gotcha" journalism.

The host admits to taunting Congressman Neal Dunn for his absence from public events.

It was later revealed that Dunn was absent due to a serious illness.

I stuck my chest out so far that I fell flat on my face. I hope Congressman Neal Dunn can forgive me.

For the 28 years I’ve hosted “The Usual Suspects”, our weekly CBS political talk show, I’ve tried to stay measured. Even if my personal politics leaned left, when it came to the show, I tried to hang around the middle. From the beginning our philosophy has been no “gotcha” questions. No trying to score big points by making guests squirm.

Gotcha media has been so common that people have been trained to wait for that moment when the guest gets hit with a bag of hammers and starts trying to explain why they’re not the nail.

Our theory was simple. When guests come in defensive, they answer defensively. They are guarded with their answers. They are careful not to reveal too much, because the more they share, the larger the target. But when they are comfortable…when they drop their guard…that’s when they reveal how they really feel and good television happens.

After north of 1,400 shows, there are too many of those revealing moments to share, but one sticks out. In 2003, when Jeb Bush was governor, he was wrestling with the profound decision to keep Terri Schiavo alive.

Schiavo had been in a persistent vegetative state since a cardiac arrest in 1990. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, won a judgment in November 2002 that his wife's feeding tube could be removed. He had said that his wife once told him that she would never want to be kept alive artificially. But Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had been fighting for her feeding tube to remain. And in 2003 Gov. Bush, true to his right-to-life beliefs, was wrestling with the decision to keep her feeding tube inserted. The world was waiting to see what Bush was going to do. The social, legal and religious implications were significant. On the Friday before his Sunday decision, while every news outlet was trying to pin him down, Bush came on to our show.

Our 30-minute show is broken into smaller segments, bookended by commercials. At the start of the first seven-minute segment I asked Bush, “In your private moments…away from the cameras, politics and noise…when you are alone with your thoughts, how have you processed this decision?” Seven minutes later the next thing I said was, “We’ll be right back after these messages”.

For seven minutes Jeb Bush said the things he had been wanting to say. Uninterrupted by “gotcha” questions. We gave him some space to speak his truth. We have always taken pride in no glib posturing or grandstanding, just honest conversation.

Until now.

For months, Congressman Neal Dunn has been absent. Like many Republicans across the country trying to defend the undefendable, he chose not to attend a town hall meeting in Tallahassee. Of course, we all guessed he was simply dodging the arrows. And he was pretty much roundly booed for his perceived lack of courage.

And before Dunn announced Jan. 13, he was not seeking re-election, I had all three Democrats running against him on separate shows. At the beginning and again at the end of each of those shows, knowing he can see our show in Panama City, I openly chided Dunn.

“Congressman”, I said while cleverly pointing at the empty guest chair, “you have an open invitation to come visit”. My tone was thick with bravado, knowing full well he wasn’t coming.

Show after show, I publicly and pompously taunted him. I was so clever, doing all the things I hate seeing from other political shows. A self-righteous dose of I dare you, congressman, I double-dare you.

And now, thanks to yet another bumbling blunder by President Donald Trump, we’ve all had confirmed why Dunn has been absent. He is ill and fighting for his life. And amid showing actual dignified courage, Dunn quietly was doing what he needed to do for himself and his family. The last thing on that list was responding to my uninformed talking head.

My guess is he likely could have cared less about my bravado. I was a gnat with a camera, buzzing around his universe and on the scale of what’s important, I wasn’t even noticed. I was as small as I had acted.

I assumed. And in our country’s ocean of blathering mistrust, there is so much uninformed assuming, that we all run the risk of being pulled under. After 28 years, I ignored what we had promised. I acted like the people I sit on my sofa and criticize.

I’m hoping for the best for Neal Dunn and his family. And if he’s willing to accept an apology from the cheap seats, then I humbly offer one.

Take care, sir. You deserved better, and for that I apologize.

Gary Yordon is a host of the political WCTV program "The Usual Suspects" and president of The Zachary Group. You can find his podcast, "Banana Peel Boulevard" at thepeelpodcast.com or on the Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify platforms.

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