Can Gordon Smith Save Broadcasting?

Introducing former Sen Gordon Smith (R-OR), now president of the National Association of Broadcasters. He carries a big responsibility -- making the case for broadcasters facing a sea change in technology, formidable economic hurdles, and a government that is hungry for spectrum and eyeing broadcasters' beachfront real estate. In addition, Smith must keep his members on the same page, a challenge he likens to herding cats, though he expects his relationship with the NAB board to be one of both leading and following. While one of the criteria for the man replacing the legislative-contact-challenged David Rehr was to be able to get calls answered on Capitol Hill, Smith can't even make those calls for more than a year thanks to new lobbying restrictions. But Smith says that won't stop him from answering the calls he still gets from friends in high Hill places, or testifying when he is asked. And he has already begun making the rounds at the FCC. Smith talks about balancing localism with the need to attract investment capital, and protecting the First Amendment while making the point that most broadcasters "are not in the business of being indecent." He speaks philosophically about politics but takes a businesslike approach to the job ahead. Whether it's selling peas (he owns a frozen-food company) or promoting free over-the-air TV, Smith says the business principles are "quite similar." He also says that respecting your opponent is a key to finding common ground in the sausage factory of politics.