Man behind Democratic debaters is lawyer Barnett By Brigitte Greenberg, Associated Press, 10/14/00 WASHINGTON -- Though he says he doesn't do impressions, in just the past month Robert Barnett has played George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Rick Lazio in tiny but high-stakes productions. He's the Democrats' senior debate coach, the man who has helped nearly all the party's candidates in major televised debates since 1976. Barnett, a bespectacled lawyer who stays out of the spotlight, coached vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman and first lady-turned-Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as Al Gore in one instance this year. He also has coached, among others, Walter Mondale, Geraldine Ferraro, Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton. "I don't sell this service. I believe in these people," he said in a recent interview. Barnett, 54, resembles a thinner version of Republican vice presidential candidate Cheney, but he doesn't try to imitate Republicans for the debate rehearsals. He says he studies their stands on issues and argues their points. "You have to learn the person's record, positions, rhetoric, speeches, everything and synthesize it, divide it by issues and really learn who they are and what they're about, how they advocate, how they attack and how they defend," Barnett said. "That's what lawyers do. They don't necessarily agree with everything their client is for. They learn to advocate positions." At his "debate camp" in Kentucky, Lieberman called Barnett "the Cal Ripken of debate preparation," comparing him to the Baltimore Orioles third baseman who holds the record for consecutive games played. When Barnett is not coaching candidates, he works at the law firm of Williams & Connolly as a corporate attorney for such clients as McDonald's Corp. and Sunbeam Corp. He also serves as lawyer to high-profile authors, including The Washington Post's Bob Woodward, former Secretaries of State James Baker and George Schultz, and former presidential advisers David Gergen and William Bennett. Barnett has handled Mrs. Clinton's books, as well as Lieberman's recently published "In Praise of Public Life." "I only work with people that I like. ... They're my friends and in some cases, my clients," said Barnett, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and University of Chicago Law School. The former high school debate team member got his start in his debate specialty with Mondale's run for the vice presidency in 1976. He had formerly worked as a legislative assistant in Mondale's Senate office. Barnett did not serve as the stand-in for Bob Dole in that campaign but four years later he took the role of George Bush in mock debates with Ferraro. He would develop something of an expertise in playing Bush, taking his role in the 1988 practice debates with Michael Dukakis and in 1992 with Bill Clinton. Former President Bush noticed. In 1984, after learning that Barnett wears a watch with Spiro Agnew's face on it, Bush bought him a striped band to go with it. Ever since, Barnett has worn them for good luck in the rehearsals. The only year Barnett sat out was 1996 -- because his wife, CBS News reporter Rita Braver, was covering the White House at the time. Barnett said each debate rehearsal -- whether sitting around a table, at opposing podiums or in a town hall-style meeting -- involves a flurry of questions and answers. He is reluctant to reveal details or offer reviews of candidates' performances. "I almost consider it an attorney-client relationship," he said. "I owe my candidate a duty of loyalty and confidentiality." However, Democrats familiar with his methods say he first attempts to break candidates, to "knock them out," to lay bare weaknesses. Then he tries to help them deal with tough questions. The toughest part, he said, can be preparing a candidate for the unexpected. "Nobody knows the exact way the question is going to be phrased. You don't know if they're going to ask this or that," he said. Democratic strategist and Clinton adviser James Carville used a boxing analogy to describe how Barnett made Clinton a better candidate in 1992. "You want a sparring partner," Carville said. "It's not about having someone who can pounce in on you. It's about making the champ a better debater or fighter."