The NADA Show launched day two of its event with a conversation between Rhett Ricart, 2020 Chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and veteran journalist Bob Woodward that, at the core, reflected on trust and transparency as they discussed the political environment in the United States.
The conversation started with a general overview of the change in U.S. administration from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, who has been in the Senate since the 1970s. Asked what to expect from his team and style as president, Woodward said Biden was a chief negotiator on some of the economic issues for the Obama administration and that he had a mixed record. He also had an anecdote about how to manage negotiations.
“Biden had this theory, which is very interesting, on how you negotiate,” said Woodward. “When Obama gave him the assignments to work out the budget with the Republicans, Biden invited all the Republican leaders to Blair House across from the White House for breakfast. And the Biden theory was you have to talk to people and negotiate for hours and hours, and you need to get them off their talking points.”
Woodward said he asked Biden if his many breakfast invitations extended to lunch, and if he had success with this tactic. The answer is that he had some success, as the moment people shift from their talking points it becomes easier to see where the areas compromise are. However, there were times where the tactic was “kind of an ailment” when no real progress was made. Still, it speaks to an approach to try to move things forward.
Biden also ran his campaign as something of a centrist and on unity in the months leading up to the U.S. federal election. But he has also taken policy steps that may appear too liberal for some Republicans. Asked about this, Woodward said he is currently working with a colleague at the Washington post to figure out what Biden is all about.
“Simple answers don’t work with politicians. You really have to spend some time and that’s what we’re doing. And I think the verdict and the description of how Biden governs is not in yet at all,” said Woodward.
“We’ll measure it issue by issue and whether he can work the Congress, whether he can call everyone in for breakfast and extend that to lunch and get everyone off their talking points, so they’ll find those areas where there can be compromise,” he added.
Woodward said he would be cautious about jumping to conclusions of exactly who Biden is and how he is going to govern.
At 76, Woodward has been working as a journalist for decades; he even worked on the Watergate story during the Nixon presidency. Summing up his experience over the years, Ricart asked him if the country’s current divide in unity, regardless of politics, feels different this time around.
Biden’s challenge to bring people together and find some common ground is precedent, but Woodward said the overall issue is also very emotional. This includes the reaction from other journalists who were upset by Trump’s handling of the media and, to Woodward, may have lost their emotional equilibrium at times.
“Again, this just goes back in history because I’ve done this almost 50 years at The Washington Post,” said Woodward. “I remember Carl Bernstein and I worked on the Watergate story. And after Nixon resigned, Katherine Graham, who was the owner/publisher of The Washington Post, wrote Carl and I a personal letter.”
He said the letter was a reminder that they should not think too highly of themselves after Richard Nixon resigned, and offered some advice: beware the demon pomposity.
“A lot of people (who are) successful or think they’re successful fall under the spell of pomposity and smugness and too much self-confidence,” said Woodward.
He said the message from Graham was very wise for everyone in the news business, in politics, on Wall Street and anyone really, as pomposity leads to the notion that there is only one way to look at a situation: “This is the way it is.”
“Hopefully, as we discover in journalism as important, there are always many, many ways to look at things and we need to slow the process down if we can and bleach out the pomposity,” said Woodward.
He also asked Ricart what the biggest route to success is in the auto retail industry, to which he replied resiliency, persistence, staying connected to your community, and being able to retain your best people.
“You have your people, you have your community and your basic values and virtues, and that’s what keeps you perpetuating your business model into the future,” said Ricart. “And if you forfeit one of those, in my belief, you’re going (to) shorten your tenure.”
Woodward also mentioned transparency as an important element and “really telling people what the facts are, what the situation is” — something that sorely lacked from the previous U.S. administration, and which arguably helped feed the divide that the country is feeling today. It is also an element that many automotive retail consumers have been demanding from dealers.
“Sometimes you just don’t know the answer and there’s nothing more refreshing when somebody says, I don’t know the answer to that. I’ll find out,” said Woodward.
The virtual 2021 NADA Show runs from Feb. 9-11, 2021. Stay tuned for more coverage of the event, which will appear on our Canadian auto dealer website and in our March issue.
