THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409030094
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 214 lines
IT'S BAD ENOUGH that he's a Dallas Cowboys fan deep in Washington Redskins territory.
But Jack Howard, a talk-show host on WNIS-AM, has the unmitigated gall to be a liberal in an area where conservatives reign supreme on the airwaves.
An area that boasts Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy and Pat Buchanan. An area where it seems most listeners can't get enough far-right views.
Then along came Jack Howard.
Jack Howard who says that gays should have the right to serve in the military.
Jack Howard who says that women should be allowed to attend Virginia Military Institute.
Jack Howard who says . . . gasp . . . he doesn't think that Oliver North should be our next U.S. senator.
``Ollie North came to a power party we had at WNIS a few months ago,'' Howard recalled, ``and when I was being introduced to him, several conservative staffers yelled, `Watch out, Ollie. He's the enemy.' North just smiled at me, shook my hand and said, `Don't worry Jack. I forgive you. My mother is a liberal.' ''
Howard, a tall man of 31 who looks liked he was born in a suit and tie, has an uncanny ability to make people like him.
Maybe it's his ever-present smile and quick laugh. Maybe it's the polite, though persistent, way in which he voices his views. Maybe it's because his listeners know that no matter how much Howard disagrees with them, he will never stoop to a personal attack.
``I was raised to be respectful of people. I would never have a vendetta against somebody because we have differing views, or try to attack them personally,'' Howard said. ``I will, of course, try to sway them to my side. But if worse comes to worse, we can always agree to disagree.''
Howard's show is heard Monday through Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m., right after listeners have been treated to six hours of Rush Limbaugh and the local outrageously conservative talk-show host, Perry Stone.
``It's like throwing red meat to the sharks, me coming on after Rush and Perry,'' Howard said. ``Some of those callers go after me when I get on the air. But, hey, I love it.''
Last month, Howard discussed whether the Confederate battle flag should be flown atop state government buildings in South Carolina.
``This flag represents exactly the same kind of hatred and oppression that the swastika represents to Jews,'' Howard told his radio audience as he opened the show. ``I don't care how you to try to paint it up with all these flowery words like honor and dignity and states' rights . . . that flag represents nothing more than a hatred for an entire race of people.''
His first caller, Jeff from Virginia Beach, agreed with Howard. He said people should admit that the Civil War was fought because the Southern states wanted to keep slavery and that the flag was the Southern banner for that war.
The second caller, Ted from Richmond, said the first caller was ignorant.
``Tell me where he's wrong,'' Howard said.
``He's wrong over what the Civil War was about,'' Ted answered. ``It was about states' rights.''
``Right. The states' right to own a nigger,'' Howard said with his signature laughter.
``I tell you, I really serve to fire some of these people up around here. People just don't know what to make of me,'' Howard said with his ever present laugh.
``I like to shake things up, put out some different views,'' he added, ``but you'd be surprised at the amount of people who get upset when they hear opposing views. They don't want honest debate, they want to be able to sit around and say `ditto' all day.''
Howard was born in Yazoo City, Miss., where he lived in one of the smallest houses in town.
``Kids used to tease us when we were growing up about living in the little house on the prairie,'' Howard said.
His father, Clarence Howard, was a construction laborer who worked two jobs to support his family of seven children, but he always made sure to keep up with what was going on in the world.
``There was one cardinal rule in my house: Never disturb Daddy when he was watching the evening news,'' Howard said. ``So I grew up listening to the news, and it gave me a perspective about the world. I learned there was a lot more to the world than I could see right there in Yazoo City.''
One of Howard's neighbors in Yazoo City was Mike Espy, the former congressman from Mississippi who is now secretary of agriculture.
``I worked on Mike's first political campaign. We used drive to campaign stops in my old, beat-up car. In fact, Mike bought me my first tailor-made suit,'' Howard said.
Howard also worked on Jesse Jackson's first presidential campaign, while Howard was attending Mississippi College. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science there.
After college, Howard enlisted in the Navy and was stationed aboard the Eisenhower, an aircraft carrier homeported in Norfolk. After his five-year hitch, he settled in Virginia Beach with his wife, Debbie, and their son Christopher, now 5. He also worked on Doug Wilder's gubernatorial campaign.
In 1992, he got a job as an advertising executive for WNIS.
``Most of the people at the station are staunch Republicans, and they used to love to get me into these around-the-water-cooler type debates and try to convert me,'' Howard said. ``Of course, I never converted and neither did they, but we had a lot of fun.''
Later in the year, ``Ted the Democrat'' quit the station and left WNIS with a totally conservative slate of talk-show hosts. An immediate search began for a replacement.
``Then someone said, `Hey, we've got a guy right here who loves to talk politics. Let's give him a shot,' So they came and asked me if I was interested,'' Howard said, again breaking out in laughter. ``I've always loved to debate, and I've always loved talking politics, so this is the perfect job for me.''
He wouldn't give up his job on the advertising staff, however. He still puts in a 40-hour week raising revenue for the station, but he finds time to read the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and local newspapers to keep on top of issues.
The hottest issue on his show and around the nation, he says, is race.
``I get listeners all the time who act as if they expect me to an apologist for the black race,'' Howard said. ``They call with all these statistics saying that blacks account for 50 percent of the crime, although they only make up a small percentage of the population. They quote these numbers and statistics and then act as if they're waiting for me to say sorry. Well, I'm not going to do it.
``I wouldn't expect a caller who happens to be male, white, a banker and over 40 to apologize to me for the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, so why would anyone expect me to apologize for the crimes that some blacks are committing?''
Even though he's become a successful talk-show host with a loyal group of listeners, his colleagues continue to heckle him about what they consider his liberal views.
``Bill Clinton hasn't done one thing he said he's going to do,'' Maureen Barnes, another advertising executive at the station, told Howard one day as they were heading to lunch.
``What about NAFTA?'' Howard asked with a smile.
``George Bush got NAFTA going,'' Barnes answered.
``But Clinton got it passed. He was constantly on the telephone lobbying senators to get the bill through, and it's a good thing he did, because it passed with just a few votes,'' Howard said.
``If Bush had been president, it would have been a landslide,'' Barnes sniffed.
Howard laughed good-naturedly.
``I tell you, some people just refuse to say anything good about Clinton and his policies,'' Howard said later. ``Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Clinton man, but I certainly think if we were able to survive 12 years of dismal domestic policies under Reagan and Bush, I think we should at least give the new president a chance.''
However, Howard stresses that he doesn't always toe the Democratic Party line. While others may consider him a liberal, he considers himself somewhat moderate.
``I know that it sometimes pisses some of my friends off, but just as I don't think people should just be going around saying `ditto' to the Republican Party, I am not just going around saying `ditto' to the Democratic Party. I just can't do it.''
Most of Howard's callers are repeats: Phil from Norfolk, Ted from Richmond, David from Virginia Beach, Rocco from Chesapeake. Some of them seem grateful to have somebody on the air who shares their views. Others call to berate him. But even his critics admire him.
``The vast majority of our listeners are conservatives, and it's amazing, but most of those conservative listeners like Jack,'' said Bob Sinclair, general manager of WNIS. ``He's fair. Even if he doesn't agree with a caller, he will always give him the opportunity to express his view.''
Howard refuses to rule out the possibility of running for political office in the future, but for now, he says, he's quite content working at the radio station.
``I really like the area and my job,'' Howard said with a smile, which turned into a laugh. ``I seem to have an ability to be comfortable in places that conventional wisdom would say I wouldn't fit. Well, right now I'm very comfortable.'' ILLUSTRATION: BILL TIERNAN/Staff
He's the antithesis of Rush, opposite of Pat Buchanan and scourge of
G. Gordon Liddy. He's WNIS liberal talk show host Jack Howard, who
says, "I tell you, I really like to shake things up, put out some
different views."
What Jack Howard has to say on issues
Gays in the military: I've been in the military, and I think
people should be judged by the job that they can do, not by their
sexual persuasion. I don't think there shouldn't be sexual acts
onboard ship - homosexual or heterosexual for that matter - but
people should be judged as people.
The bottom line is when you're being shot at, your first thought
is not going to be about the sexuality of the person in the foxhole
or tank with you, it's going to be about working together to get
yourselves out of the situation alive.
Affirmative action: I think people should remember if it weren't
for affirmative action, Clarence Thomas would not have gotten where
he is today.
The whole idea behind affirmative action is to make sure we don't
exclude anyone because of their color, creed or religion - and I
agree with the concept.
President Clinton's health plan: I think the idea of having a
universal plan is good. It's so important that people have mobility
without losing coverage. I wonder if people realize how many people
have gone bankrupt because of catastrophic irs, government and the
health insurance industry.
Abortion: I think it's a personal decision between the woman, her
doctor and God. I think it's unbelievable that the radical right
thinks it has the right to enter into in the decision-making
process. But at the same time, I think it's too divisive an issue to
put into the health care plan.
Rush Limbaugh: The advertizing executive part of me thinks that
he's the best thing that could have happened to talk radio. He put
A.M. radio back on the map.
I have a problem with him because he sometimes pushes the limit
when it comes to engaging in philosophical political debate and just
being crude when it comes to the president and his family.
I also think he and people like Jesse Helms continually send out
divisive messages. For instance, he continues this myth that
affirmative action means unqualified African-Americans are taking
jobs that should go to whites. That's not the case at all, and I'm
sure Rush knows it. I personally don't think Rush Limbaugh is a
racist, but I do think he exploits racial tensions.
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW PROFILE by CNB