Eugene Robinson
Washington Post Columnist
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
1:00 PM
Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson will be online Tuesday, April 15 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his recent
Discussion Group: Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood
Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion.
Archive: Eugene Robinson discussion transcripts
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Eugene Robinson: Greetings, everyone. No, wait, that might have sounded elitist. Hi, y'all. Let's all tear ourselves away from reading the latest issue of "Guns & Ammo" and talk about politics, or the pope, or whatever is on your minds. Then we'll all head to the corner bar for shots and beers.
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Jenkintown, Pa.: Is it true that over the Sen. Senator Clinton plans to speak in tongues and do some snake handling in rural Pennsylvania before getting in some afternoon hunting?
washingtonpost.com: Shot and a Chablis (Post, April 15)
Eugene Robinson: I think she does her hunting in the morning.
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Charleston, S.C.: I have sworn off news shows until after the North Carolina primary ... do you think the Democrats are going to self-destruct before the primary is over and hand the election to John McCain? I am not a mysogynist, but after the primary campaign I will not vote for Hillary. How depressing can this get?
Eugene Robinson: I think it will be hard for the Democrats to self-destruct this year, no matter how hard they try. I'm in a minority, but I think McCain will be quite beatable in the fall. At some point, the campaign has to be about what they say about the issues -- and McCain's positions are not those of most Americans on the war, the economy, Social Security...
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Washington: In his column today your colleague at The Post, Richard Cohen, made a good point: "The spirit of what Obama said was not condescension but empathy. People were hurting. They were bitter. He understood." Isn't that the main point here that everyone appears to be forgetting? It seems to me that Obama's words were clearly not intended to be malicious -- he wasn't mocking these folks, he was trying to convey their grievances to some rich people in San Francisco.
washingtonpost.com: Guns, God and Gotchas (Post, April 15)
Eugene Robinson: That is a good point. At the same time, though, Obama did give his critics an opening. There was a certain down-his-nose air about the way he said it, even if there was nothing but empathy in the content of what he said. It's something he should watch. (But it's hardly the most important issue of the campaign.)
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Obama's in trouble: When George Will attacks you for being elitist, you know you've got problems. Or perhaps George meant it as a compliment?
washingtonpost.com: Candidate on a High Horse (Post, April 14)
Eugene Robinson: George really has that common touch, doesn't he?
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Burke, Va.: Wow -- your essay in today's Post was perfect in calling out Hillary Clinton for her transparently feigned outrage at the Obama gaffe this weekend. What do you think will be the real fallout for Obama? Will this really hurt him, or do you believe like I do that most of the folks in small-town America, where I came from, are not as simple and not as unsophisticated as Hillary and McCain want us all to believe?
Eugene Robinson: I think the consensus view is that this flap won't change many minds but may solidify the intentions of some voters who were already leaning against Obama. Then again, the consensus view doesn't have a very good track record this year.
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Brooklyn, N.Y.: Do you think Clinton's new strategy is to make Obama seem unelectable, allow McCain to win now and position herself for 2012?
Eugene Robinson: No, but with an asterisk. If Obama got the nomination and the Clintons were perceived as having torpedoed his election chances, the Clinton legacy would be irreparably damaged -- and, as a practical matter, Hillary Clinton would have a tough time getting the nomination in 2012. She would have to present an image of support and party unity. I added the asterisk because there are credible reports that the Clintons genuinely believe Obama to be unelectable. People often act, even subconsciously, in ways that fulfill their expectations.
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Baltimore: Why do you think Mccain is so beatable? Last I checked he is beating both Democrats in head-to-head polls,
Eugene Robinson: Historically, those general election polls don't mean much until the candidates are actually chosen and the general election campaign begins. I think McCain is beatable because he will have to debate the Democratic nominee and the Democrat's positions on the major issues will be much closer to those of the American people than McCain's.
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Anonymous: This latest dust up over elitism between Obama and Clinton seems to have gotten Obama slightly ticked off. Do you expect a more fiery debate on Wednesday than what we've seen to date?
Eugene Robinson: Not necessarily. It depends on what the candidates' internal polling tells them about how the elitism "debate" is playing.
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Centreville, Va.: Do you think that Obama is just a different kind of candidate in the sense that he has not gone negative on her, i.e. trade, Bosina, etc.?
Eugene Robinson: But he has gone negative -- on Nafta, on her vote for the war, on lobbyists.
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Washington State: As a shot-drinking (although not Crown Royal -- odd choice for a shot I would have thought), Catholic gun owner, I wasn't too troubled by Obama's comments in particular. But doesn't this sort of indicate that he may be missing the necessary political sixth sense that warns you when you are about to say something that can't win you anything but can hurt you? I mean, I used to be an independent, but after eight years of Bush, it is really important the Republicans never be allowed anywhere near power again. Does he have the political instincts to get through the general election campaign?
Eugene Robinson: That's a valid question, and I think we'll get the answer -- or at least come to a conclusion -- before the general election. My general view is that if you can beat the Clintons, you're probably ready for prime time. But he still has to close the deal.
Obama doesn't shy away from nuance or complexity, and this tendency undoubtedly costs him some political support. But it also wins him some political support. At this point, I think it would be dangerous for him to start acting like the old-school pol he has tried hard not to be.
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Anonymous:"I think McCain is beatable because he will have to debate the Democratic nominee, and the Democrat's positions on the major issues will be much closer to those of the American people than McCain's." To whom, Mr. Robinson? Your elitest friends at The Post who hold the same view Sen. Obama does about us being bitter? It's amazing what you can learn about people's true feelings when they think the cameras aren't on them.
Eugene Robinson: No, not just to us snooty elitists. To the majority of Americans who want to end the war in Iraq -- and who don't want to start a war with Iran. To the majority of Americans who want a health care system that works. To the majority of Americans who don't share McCain's laissez-faire economic views (to the extent that he has economic views at all).
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San Jose, Calif.: Your column was a bulls-eye today -- it seems to me that this is a largely uncovered area by the media. Do you think the media will dig deeper this year with the candidates and their history and current status of being so far above the income level of most Americans -- and how they still purport to be "just like us"?
Eugene Robinson: I know the media will look hard at all the candidates' finances, searching for unseemly entanglements and suspicious connections. As for the fact that they're all much richer than we are, once you report their net worth, what more is there to say? I just find it absurd the way multimillionaire politicians try to act as if they dig ditches for a living.
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Chicago: John Kerry not an elitist? ("Can I get me a huntin' license here?") Seriously? I think that means there is no such thing as an elitist.
Eugene Robinson: Kerry has a patrician manner, no question, but that doesn't make him any more elitist than any of the other gazillionaires in the Senate. Do we really want to elect a president based on how skillfully he or she can pretend to enjoy drinking Budweiser (when what the candidate would really like is a nice Sancerre)? Are we choosing a commander in chief or a method actor in chief?
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Providence, R.I.: Gene, what do you make of Bob Herbert's idea that what Obama means but is not allowed to say is that he is weak among blue-collar whites because some of them are not willing to vote for a black candidate?
Eugene Robinson: Um, that Bob is in perfect agreement with Ed Rendell?
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Re: Obama and Nuance: I like Obama's appeal to higher intelligence, but often the coverage is driven by reporters who tend towards lower denominators for various reasons and who tend to cover politics instead of policy. So while it offers Obama merit, doesn't this approach threaten to alienate him from McCain's best friend: the media?
Eugene Robinson: In a word, yes. But how could Obama suddenly turn into a soundbite pol at this point? And why? He is, after all, in the lead. Whatever he's doing seems to work pretty well.
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"But he has gone negative": But the difference that I see, and believe others have noted and commented on, is while Barack has been assertive in pointing out inconsistencies in Hillary's statements, records and positions, he has not assailed -- overtly or subtly ("he's not a Muslim, at least as far as I know) -- her character.
Eugene Robinson: That's a valid point, although some of his riffs about how she represents the old politics come close to that line you've drawn.
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Washington: Salon did a good article today on the divide between Chardonnay Democrats and average white people. In particular, it drew attention to the language used by progressive bloggers to characterize lower-income whites (rubes, hicks, rednecks). Despite what everyone wants to believe, there is a serious bias towards rural whites coming from the supporters of the Democratic Party that the Democratic National Committee is ignoring.
washingtonpost.com: The rubes and the elites (Salon, April 15)
Eugene Robinson: I guess it just depends on how broadly you define "Chardonnay Democrats." There are a lot of beer-drinking Democrats out there too.
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Arlington, Va.: You ask if this is how we elect a president. Where have you been? Of course it is! McCain today fired the first "elect me and I will throw money at you" pledge with his gas tax holiday proposal. Which candidate is going to up the ante to full subsidies for gasoline? Answer -- the one who will be president.
Eugene Robinson: Thanks for bringing us all back to reality.
And thanks, everyone, for participating. A programming note: Tomorrow morning and again on Thursday, Sally Quinn and I will be anchoring washingtonpost.com's webcast of the papal visit. And I'll see you again next week, which happens to be the day of, oh yes, the Pennsylvania primary.
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