Presidential campaigns used to provide great opportunities for Americans all over the country to see in person—perhaps even get a handshake or autograph from—the candidates competing for the highest office in the land. That included incumbent Presidents who would venture forth from the cocoon of the Oval Office to mingle with the masses, hoping that a personal connection might prompt more people to vote for them. Even Richard Nixon at his most beleaguered and reclusive moments occasionally mixed with the public, once greeting anti-war protesters on the Washington Mall.

This political season, however, the rules of the game have changed. Only one of the major-party candidates seems interested in getting up close and personal with the voters. At a public rally I attended a couple months ago, John Kerry spent more than half an hour walking through the crowd, introducing himself to as many of us as possible. He not only shook my hand but also took the time to engage in pleasantries—even though no cameras were focused on him as we chatted. He did the same with scores of others who simply showed up that day without special invitation.

By contrast, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been making appearances almost exclusively in front of their most dedicated supporters. In fact, at several recent rallies, the only way to get inside the door has been to sign a loyalty oath. Hard as it is to believe, at such venues as a Bush campaign rally in Portland and a Cheney rally in Albuquerque, all the President’s Men allowed entrance only to those who would sign a form pledging their support of the ticket.

It gets even worse. In Albuquerque, for example, the Bushmen required rally-goers to provide their home addresses, phone numbers, and driver’s license numbers. Then they checked computerized lists to determine each person’s party registration and whether there was any prior evidence of support for the incumbent. In other words, if someone had contributed money to the campaign or volunteered for it, admittance was offered. If no information could be found on folks wanting to see and hear their President (or if they were not registered Republicans), they were directed to a designated cordoned-off area beyond ear or eye reach of the event.

A Republican National Committee event coordinator acknowledged that such screenings have had nothing to do with security concerns. There are plenty of other ways to keep potentially dangerous characters away. Rather, the idea has been to prevent any dissenters from voicing opposition to the Republican candidates—thus disturbing a well-orchestrated, picture-perfect news bite.

In New Mexico, even a credentialed reporter for the daily Albuquerque Journal was turned away when he refused to sign the form which read, "I, (full name), do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States…

In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."

Similarly rejected from a Presidential rally, a writer and former Rehoboth Beach resident who currently lives in Oregon had been hoping to attend both Bush’s and Kerry’s recent same-day appearances in Portland. He sent me an email, expressing his disappointment and frustration: "I thought it would be a unique opportunity to see and hear both candidates in a single day. But the Bush people sent me packing because I wouldn’t sign their oath. Only about 2,000 were allowed to see Bush, but more than 25,000 of us got to see Kerry. There were some pro-Bush hecklers in the crowd, but it didn’t seem to bother Kerry’s people. Doesn’t that kind of thing just come with the territory of running for PUBLIC office?"

Well, it used to—back in the day when presidential contenders worried less about the presence of a few of their opponents and more about the opportunity to share their vision personally with as many potential voters as possible.

If the Bush-Cheney style of carefully targeted campaign stumping begins to take hold, getting out the vote will have little to do with getting out among the voters. It may not be long until none of us is deemed qualified to be in the presence of the political leadership. Our citizenry is likely to see nothing of its president other than formal announcements emanating from a pre-taped talking head. In the same way many of us have questioned the authenticity of televised appearances of Osama bin Laden, we’ll wonder whether our President is alive—or Memorex.

As I suggested in another column earlier this summer, it’s getting closer to 1984 every day.

To end on a more optimistic note, an ethics panel of the American Bar Association is seriously considering adoption of a policy that would prohibit judges from joining clubs or organizations that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. The nation’s largest association of lawyers writes conduct rules for judges as well as attorneys, and it already forbids judges from joining groups that discriminate on the basis of race or sex. The matter is expected to come up for a vote during next summer’s ABA convention. If passed, it will put even more pressure on groups like the Boy Scouts to repeal their anti-gay membership policies. But even the ABA probably won’t be able to stop a political party from turning away anyone it wishes from campaign rallies.