Where debate sparks debate

Kevin Hooks must have been the one kid in civics class who believed it when the teacher said every vote counts.

As I spelled out in my Wednesday column, Hooks has been agonizing over the candidates in the Democratic primary, weighing the options as if his vote, and his alone, could decide one of the most exciting presidential campaigns in recent history.

Hooks, a West Hollywood public relations executive and a Bill Clinton delegate in 1992, wasn’t complaining about his options. He liked Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama so much, he couldn’t yet bring himself to vote against either one.

When he told me that Thursday night’s debate would probably decide it for him, we agreed to watch it together in a place where no one has ever kept a political opinion to himself: Lawrence Tolliver’s South Los Angeles barbershop.

Images of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Jackie Robinson are on the walls, and many of the regulars never thought a black man -- or a white woman, for that matter -- would have a real shot at the presidency in their lifetime.

With an Obama poster in the window and Mr. Tolliver wearing an Obama T-shirt, the barbershop’s tilt was as obvious as a crooked haircut. But clip-joint culture is half ruckus and roar. So the debate began before the debate began.

“If Obama is president, the world will look at that and say, ‘Somethin’s changed over there,’ ” said Michael Washington, a pharmacist who told his fellow patrons that Obama was legendary for uniting conservatives and liberals as president of the Harvard Law Review.

“But what has he done?” demanded James Peace, an ophthalmologist who had the courage to confront an Obama supporter while Mr. Tolliver had a pair of scissors to his head.

“I have a good sense about him,” said Vera McCollins, a pollster.

Peace rolled his eyes right out of his head.

“But where does he stand on the issues central to you?” asked Peace, who called himself nonpartisan and undecided.

Before they could reach for the spit wads, the other debate started. Mr. Tolliver cranked up the volume so the candidates could be heard over the buzz of his shears, and the helpless political junkies, including Hooks, crept in closer to the TV.

For the next two hours, they witnessed a debate that pulled off a minor miracle. It was so thoughtful and civil -- and pretty even, as well -- that the normally boisterous patrons lost their lung power.

“Strong answer,” one said politely. “Good comeback,” said another. Just as Clinton and Obama put away their knives, so did the customers.

With one brief exception.

When retired engineer Bill James dared to admit that he liked Hillary Clinton as much as he liked her husband, and said she had wrapped up his vote, Mr. Tolliver delivered a command performance.

“Here’s what I want you to do,” he said, rattling the rafters as he reached for his hand-held mirror and stuck it in front of James’ face. “Take a look at your black self!”

This brought a roar, but James stuck to his guns, saying his vote will be based on much more than race. It’s about education, healthcare, the economy, immigration and defense, and Hillary wasn’t decorating the White House like Nancy Reagan was. James likes Obama too, but said Clinton has been in the game for years, and he trusts her instincts and experience.

Kevin Hooks listened quietly until he had a question that just had to be answered.

“L.T.,” he said to Mr. Tolliver. “Why Barack?”

The barber dropped the theatrics this time.

Why?

“In the world today, America’s image is so bad,” Tolliver said, not to mention that in our own divisive country we don’t even like each other. And change doesn’t have to be a fuzzy, naive notion, he went on. It can happen when a new generation believes it’s not just possible, but it’s time.

“You’ve got all these young people who are coming into the system now to vote,” Tolliver said, attributing it to Obama’s presence, his newness and his multiracial appeal.

As he mulled it over, Hooks said that could be what decides it for him. At 37, he’s of a generation that’s been disengaged for the most part, with little faith in the process or the politicians. He was also moved by his elders’ reaction to Obama, how they saw him as a possible answer to decades of dashed hopes.

Hooks also believes Republicans would be far more galvanized to beat Clinton than Obama, and American partisanship will become even more corrosive with Hillary as the nominee or as president.

“I’m 70-30 for Obama right now,” Hooks said, adding that he wanted to sleep on it just one more night.

Friday morning, Hooks cast his vote. And who knows? It could be the vote that decides the race and alters the course of world history.

He’s going with Obama.

It’s a wise man, friends, who stays cool with the guy who cuts his hair.

On a sad note, Mr. Tolliver’s shop is mourning the loss of two characters who have helped make it the special place that it has been for decades. Eddie Ford, who handled the chair next to Mr. Tolliver, passed on late last year at 87.

And Friday, Jimmy Porter, 64, a retired Texaco sales manager and regular customer, was laid to rest. At the funeral, Tolliver spoke of how an exultant Porter had called him in tears after Obama won the Iowa caucus. Porter told Tolliver that having grown up in the segregated South, he was proud to see how far the country had come.

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steve.lopez@latimes.com