Opinion Focus

Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson was online Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his recent columns and the latest news.

Discussion Group: Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood

The transcript follows.

Archive: Eugene Robinson discussion transcripts

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Eugene Robinson: Hi, everyone. I'm a bit late starting today, so no preliminaries. Off we go.

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Bangkok, Thailand: I have read your article carefully. I completely agree with your assessment of the Obama situation. Jesse Jackson, a prominent Civil Rights leader, tried twice and failed. So many other also have tried and had to withdraw later. Unless the heartland of America votes for a black, there is a little chance for Obama or any other minority to get elected as president. Look who elected the crooks like Mr. Bush. So my question is, would it be appropriate for Obama to become a vice presidential candidate with Clinton and go up the ladder by doing some good work on the international issues? The image of America in Asian-Pacific region has gotten very bad. I am an American citizen and a professor now working in Asia. Thanks.

washingtonpost.com: Oprah the Believer (Post, Dec. 11)

Eugene Robinson: I surprised myself by concluding that Obama might possibly manage to do it, even if the odds are still against him. It's undeniable at this point that his odds are better than I thought they were six months ago. In any event, I don't see a Clinton-Obama ticket. I think there are some compatibility issues.

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St. Louis: I do think the country is ready to choose anyone as a president so long as he/she has the passion, vision and ability to do the job rightly. I am undecided but seems that Obama is better-suited to once again bring people left and middle, black and white, together. Iowa, which has a high white majority is responding well to him. I also am hearing from several venues that Al Gore is about to endorse him. Eugene, I bet you will be surprise by how far Obama can go in this process. Thanks.

Eugene Robinson: As I said, I've already been surprised at how far the Obama campaign has come -- the fundraising alone is simply phenomenal, to say nothing of the numbers of volunteers and the rise in the polls. As for Nobel laureate Al Gore, um, didn't he endorse Howard Dean last time? Gulp.

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Washington: Oprah actually seems like a natural politician. Couldn't you see her as U.N. ambassador in an Obama administration? She'd be awesome.

Eugene Robinson: Oprah Winfrey was, in my view, nothing short of amazing this weekend. These were the first political speeches of her life. When she began the first one, in Iowa, she admitted she was nervous. By the time she got to South Carolina the next day, she was able to deliver one of the best political speeches I've ever heard. The woman knows how to communicate.

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Arlington, Va.: Well, now that The Post has gotten my interest. I asked this question of the reporter on the Edwards' chat, but it was not answered. Do you think America would elect either a white woman or a black man to the presidency at this time? Do you think the Democrats risk the presidency if they go that way? If voting in these early states ruin it for the rest of us, I'll vote to eliminate Iowa and New Hampshire from the primary season. The romance with Hillary and Obama must stop. They are not electable in the general election!

Eugene Robinson: Yours is a view that I've heard many people express. With either of the two top contenders, the Democratic Party will have to make history to win the White House. That's a hurdle, but not an impassible one, especially given the absence of a clearly top-drawer candidate in the Republican contest.

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Silver Spring, Md.: What do you think is behind the lack of up-front support for Obama from some of the older black civil rights leaders? Is it the belief that he has no real chance of making it, or subsurface jealousy?

Eugene Robinson: A little of everything. Some members of the traditional African American leadership doubt that the country is "ready" to elect a black president. Others have longstanding ties with the Clintons. For some, there may be a certain amount of jealousy. The thing is that there is no one "black leadership" group anymore. The African American community is diverse and far from monolithic. There are some people who don't realize this.

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Herndon, Va.: Okay, I'm baffled. How is it "improbable" that America will elect a black man president? It makes no sense to me.

Eugene Robinson: My answer has both rational and irrational components. Rationally, I know that there have been elections in the past in which a black candidate is shown by the polls to have a comfortable lead the day before the election, and he or she ends up losing or just squeaking by -- meaning that there is, or was, a segment of voters who in the final analysis didn't vote the way they said they would. I acknowledge, however, that this was some years ago. Irrationally, it's a psychological leap for many African Americans to imagine that it could actually happen.

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Green Bay, Wis.: With all due respect to her success, what does it mean when the entry of a chat show host -- who generally handles nonpolitical subjects -- is seen as a serious boost to a presidential candidate? Are we that celebrity crazy?

Eugene Robinson: Ah, the Oprah Effect. This isn't such a clear example of our celebrity-insanity. Oprah Winfrey, for a lot of people, is more than a talk-show host. She preaches a message of self-empowerment that resonates with millions of people -- about 8 million viewers every day for her talk show. She also has the biggest and most successful women's lifestyle magazine in the country. And she's the most powerful person in the book publishing world, able to turn anything into a best-seller if she wants to. The fact that she usually doesn't stray into politics adds impact to her decision to go all-out for Obama.

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New York: Thanks for your latest bit. I'm surprised that throughout this race, little has been said about new or young voters. Now more than ever, younger people under 30 are comparable in economic terms than they ever were (since the emergence of a black middle class) so the ideological divide between black and white voters may not be as pronounced among younger people as it may be among older people. After all, we're now part of a generation that has several black officials in the U.S. government, in local and national politics, and in the media and business. Could you please comment?

Eugene Robinson: You're absolutely right. The big question is whether younger voters will actually show up at the polls. Traditionally, they don't.

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Washington: I agree with your article on Oprah and Obama. We speak about Oprah helping Obama to gain more of the black vote, but what about the white woman vote? The majority of Oprah's fans are middle-aged white women. Do you think that Oprah can bring those votes to Obama? I think that would be the key.

Eugene Robinson: Obama would love to cut into Hillary Clinton's big lead among white women. Before the Oprah appearances there were some polls that suggested he was having some success in this regard. I'm sure that is one of the campaign's hopes, particularly in Iowa and New Hampshire.

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Boston: You mentioned in a column that Clinton has set her sights pretty firmly on Obama (and has started mentioning essays that Obama wrote in kindergarten). How negative do you think the campaigning is going to get -- particularly given that the Republicans have opened the negative campaign season, with Romney's ads against Huckabee? Will Clinton up the negative campaigning against Obama, and will Obama fight back?

Eugene Robinson: The campaign may not go totally negative -- at least, not on the Democratic side. When Clinton went negative last week, it clearly didn't work for her. I'm starting to think there might not be much more of that.

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Petersburg, Va.: Sir, do you acknowledge that many Americans vote based on the influence of their friends and family? Oprah spends more time communicating with many Americans than their own spouses. The average person doesn't know what the AMT is, who Jon Kyl is or how the Cabinet is selected. The do know Oprah. She matters more than you suggest.

Eugene Robinson: Hold on, I'm the one who's been suggesting that potentially she matters a lot.

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Baltimore: All the conversation about Senator Obama being black enough, or whether the country is ready for a black president, keeps the status quo alive and doing well. Can we all please stop that chatter and do something new and different, turn the tables around? Given that all of you voted and allowed our country to be governed for eight years by the likes of what we have for today, I really believe Sen. Obama can do a much better job and be surrounded by a group of people who are capable and able.

Eugene Robinson: In other words, I guess you're asking if America is ready for another white male president.

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Washington: After reading that Oprah wouldn't let any other candidates on her show but Obama, I was wondering if it was legal for a TV talk host to use the airwaves that way. Sounds like a violation to me, or at the very least unethical behavior.

Eugene Robinson: I could be wrong on this -- if anybody knows chapter and verse, please chime in -- but I think that since Oprah's show is syndicated, she's not under any equal-time obligations.

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College Station, Texas: If whites support Obama in Iowa, why wouldn't blacks support him in South Carolina or elsewhere. Do you think Mormons will be voting for Romney?

Eugene Robinson: Obama's support among African Americans in South Carolina has been rising, and the latest poll now shows him drawing more of their support than Clinton does. Mormon voters will likely help Romney in the Nevada primary, but won't be much help in other early states.

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Washington: Is it true that the Iowa Obama/Oprah rally was the largest non-incumbent political rally ever?

Eugene Robinson: It was really big. Hard to tell if there's a superlative that should be attached.

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Washington: Any chance of the emergence of the supposed "scandalous information" Bob Novak said Hillary's campaign had? Her back is to the wall and people already have fixed views of her, so it is hard for her to raise her positives. Her only chance seems to be to take Obama down.

Eugene Robinson: I've heard nothing -- not even rumors -- about this supposed "scandalous" info. Maybe the idea was just to plant the suggestion that such information existed.

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Arlington, Va.: Obama as far as I can tell answered the drug use question about as well and honestly as anyone I can remember. Do you think that will come back as an issue in the general?

Eugene Robinson: I have a hard time thinking that this would be a big issue in the general election. I think the American public has a more real-world view of drug use than politicians do.

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Washington: Today's CBS/New York Times poll: "Does Oprah Winfrey's involvement in Barack Obama's Presidential campaign make you more likely to support Barack Obama, less likely, or doesn't it make a difference to you?" More -- 1 percent; less -- 14 percent. Your thoughts?

washingtonpost.com: Does Obama Have an Oprah Problem? (CBSNews.com, Dec. 10)

Eugene Robinson: Just that this conflicts with a Pew Research Center poll taken back in September, in which Democrats indicated that Oprah's support made it more likely that they would vote for Obama.

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Alexandria, Va., by way of Ohio: There is a world of difference between Jesse Jackson and Obama. Mr. Jackson comes off as this guy who only cares about black people and pulls the "race card" at every opportunity -- without apology when he is wrong. That's why the "heartland" didn't like him. Obama, on the other hand, seems to care and connect with everyone. He seems genuine, especially compared to Hillary. At the end of the day, that's what people want -- someone in that office who cares about them and the issues they think are important. So in my opinion, Obama -- much like Oprah-- does transcend race.

Eugene Robinson: My only comment, and maybe it's just semantics, is that I'm never sure about the word "transcend" in this context. I think that what Obama and Oprah do is allow race to be what it is -- a part of who they are, but not all of who they are. In some contexts, race is important; in other contexts, it's as irrelevant as left-handedness.

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San Diego: When FDR announced his run for the presidency, 100,000-115,000 turned out at a New Jersey rally (of course most of those were unemployed, so we've never had another non-incumbent surpass that total).

Eugene Robinson: Thanks, San Diego.

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Bow, N.H.: Can I go off-topic? The CIA officer involved in waterboarding has said he thinks it saved lives. He is entitled to his opinion, but shouldn't the reports on this issue include an examination of whether our use of waterboarding helped al-Qaeda recruiting and increased resistance in Iraq, which actually may have led to a net increase in lives lost?

Eugene Robinson: I want to agree with you in principle, but I don't know how you could quantify the effect that waterboarding per se has had on al-Qaeda recruitment or morale. It should be enough to say, once again, that it's shameful and totally unacceptable for us to even be having this discussion about what kinds of torture are permissible. Torture is wrong, and history does not judge torturers kindly.

Thanks, everyone. My time is up. See you next time.

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