Election 2008: Tucker Carlson

MSNBC senior campaign correspondent Tucker Carlson was online Monday, Sept. 1 at noon ET to discuss the 2008 elections and the disrupted Republican convention.

The transcript follows.

Carlson is a former host of CNN's "Crossfire" and "The Spin Room," MSNBC's "Tucker," and PBS's "Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered."

____________________

Tucker Carlson: Greetings from St. Paul, thanks for having me. Happy to take your questions, hostile or otherwise.

_______________________

Chicago: I saw you this morning on C-SPAN with the panel including Arianna Huffington and Peggy Noonan. I tuned in late, so I did not see the entire discussion, but I saw you mention how disturbed you were by Keith Olbermann's lack of objectivity. You anchored your own program on MSNBC for a while and I never noticed you exhibiting any objectivity. It seemed to me that you mostly promoted Republican talking points. Why the double standard? I also didn't see you mention despair at any of the Fox News personnel's lack of objectivity.

Tucker Carlson: My point wasn't that Keith Olbermann or Bill O'Reilly or I or anyone else is objective. There's long been a place for analysis, and there should be. My only point was that there ought to be a place for objectivity as well, and that discussions of politics -- particularly on election night -- ought to be anchored by journalists who don't have an obvious axe to grind. Otherwise you lose the trust of your viewers.

_______________________

Weston, Fla.: Tucker, even though I am a "left-wing" Democrat I enjoy your work. If you can put on a Democratic strategist hat for a minute: I am amazed that the Democrats haven't made as one of their main issues the potential of conservatives having a majority on the court vis a vis abortion and other issues. Your thoughts?

Tucker Carlson: That's a tried-and-true tactic. It's worked before, and may again, but it's my sense that the consensus has shifted a bit on abortion, and there may be more people who see the issue in a nuanced way. That's why the Obama campaign has made some effort not to offend pro-lifers. I'd be shocked to see Obama run on abortion explicitly.

_______________________

How has God been turned into an election issue?: Weeks before the Democratic National Convention, a Focus on the Family official actively asked the group's members to pray for rain during Obama's speech at Invesco Field. Recently, a Democratic congressman secretly was recorded insinuating that God is on their side with the storm hitting during the Republican National Convention. It appears that since 2000, the "political branding" of God has been key to election success. Left-wingers are attempting to brand God as environmentally-friendly and defenders of the poor while Right-wingers are trying to solidify God as pro-choice and anti-homosexual. I'm only 34; has it always been this way, during Nixon vs Kennedy, Carter vs Reagan, etc.?

Tucker Carlson: I assume/hope that in both the examples you gave the speakers were joking. While I agree with one side far more than the other, it makes me uncomfortable to see religion used as a political cudgel. I would like to see more attention given to the religious left, which is every bit as extreme and self-righteous as Jerry Falwell ever thought of being. I should know -- I'm Episcopalian.

_______________________

Gwinn, Mich.: How did the Republicans get so unorganized? Didn't it occur to anybody that September is hurricane peak month? My god, these guys are terrible at even the simplest of planning. Also, we miss you on MSNBC, which apparently has problems of it's own, if you believe the ratings.

Tucker Carlson: I don't think it occurred to anyone until recently that the nation would have to observe an entire day of silence every time there's a hurricane. That's a new concept, and I think a silly one. Why stop with conventions.

_______________________

Vienna, Va.: Tucker, be honest -- do you really believe Sarah Palin is qualified to be Vice President, and would you say the same thing if she were a liberal male filling the spot on the Democratic side? Case in point: Gerry Connolly is running for Congress in Northern Virginia. He's served for five years as the head of the Fairfax County government. Fairfax County actually has more people in it than Alaska. Would Gerry Connolly have been an acceptable choice for Democratic vice president?

Tucker Carlson: I like Sarah Palin. She is not the most qualified choice for vice president, obviously, though she does have more experience than Barack Obama. I have no idea whether picking her will prove to be a wise decision or a profoundly reckless one, but I think it was going to be a tough year for McCain no matter what.

_______________________

Anonymous: Tucker you need to wear socks when an event you appear at is televised

Tucker Carlson: To hot for socks. No apologies.

_______________________

Irvine, California: Will Palin's choice highlight McCain's age and health issues and emphasize them as more important than they were before her selection? Isn't this an important issue considering her almost non-existent experience?

Tucker Carlson: That's a risk, and you may be right, but what were the options? Politics is, among other things, theater, you know? If you don't entertain or excite, people switch the channel. If nothing else, she's an interesting choice, so you weigh that against the potential risks.

_______________________

Boston: Is "High-stakes gambler" really what anyone wants as a leader?

I suppose that if your company was on the brink of extinction a gambler might be your man, but otherwise?

Tucker Carlson: People with conservative temperaments don't become fighter pilots or presidential candidates -- they're all that way to some extent. McCain's just more so.

_______________________

ought to be anchored by journalists who don't have an obvious axe to grind: I agree. But the problem is no one would watch. Or not enough to justify the costs. But, this situation was created by the MSM themselves by not doing any investigative journalism and making all news entertainment news

Tucker Carlson: Of course. Cheaper to opine than to report. But I think you run the risk of undermining the whole enterprise when you don't insist that there are facts that lie beyond the reach of opinion. In other words, when people start to believe that all news is just opinion, why do they need news in the first place? They already have opinions.

_______________________

Harrisburg. Pa.: If Gov. Palin supported Pat Buchanan in 2000, while that may galvanize the conservative base, shouldn't that set off warnings among rank-and-file Republicans that this possible leader of the party and possible future president is not a true Republican? Or does that not matter to rank-and-file Republicans?

Tucker Carlson: It's not clear to me that she was a Buchanan supporter, but the definition of what's a true Republican has changed so often in the past 16 years that I'm having trouble keeping track anyway. Is Pat Buchanan less of a Republican than Christine Whitman or Mitt Romney or Ron Paul? I've lost track.

_______________________

Palin Family Values: It's just been revealed that Palin's teenage daughter Bristol is pregnant: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/us/international-usa-politics-palin.html?ref=politics - this is NOT the rumor about baby Trig, this is true. Do you think this revelation will alter her support from the social conservatives who have embraced her and championed her?

Tucker Carlson: I have no idea. But you've got to feel sorry for her daughter getting sucked into this nonsense. Her privacy has been violated in a pretty egregious way. She did nothing to deserve it. What a shame.

_______________________

Menlo Park, CA: Do you have any idea how other prominent (qualified) Republican women feel about being passed over for veep in favor of Sarah?

Tucker Carlson: Annoyed, I'd guess. But you've got to wonder about the deeper irony here: Here's the party that opposes affirmative action (as it should) using sex as a criterion for hiring. Doesn't that bother conservatives? Shouldn't it?

_______________________

Ex-Repub in Gainesville, FL: Hi thanks for taking the time out to chat. How much longer can republicans keep flogging the 'gays are bad, greed is good, let someone else deal with global warming, government is inherently evil' horse before people decide they've had it with incompetence and a rapidly eroding (if not completely dismantled) social contract? i.e. folks are finally figuring out the republican elites don't actually care about working families or the old American dream for anyone but themselves and their Halliburton buddies.

Tucker Carlson: Could you please repeat the question? I'm not sure where you're coming from.

_______________________

Fighter Pilots: McCain was not a fighter pilot. He piloted an attack bomber. I know fighter pilot sounds cooler, but the skill sets were much lower for McCain.

Tucker Carlson: Okay.

_______________________

Anonymous: What did you do with your bowties? Were they clip-ons?

Tucker Carlson: They remain safely in a box at the back of my closet. As far as I know, only the Nation of Islam wears clip-ons. I wouldn't know where to buy them.

_______________________

Feel sorry for the daughter: Tucker - the daughter is the daughter of the governor of the state of Alaska. If she chooses not to protect herself from an unwanted pregnancy - she had to know people would notice. Maybe you should feel badly for the daughter that despite her pregnancy and her parents "unconditional" love, her mom decided to run for VP. Sarah Palin had to know the pregnancy would come out. Perhaps Sarah Palin should have spent more time supporting birth control and less time opposing abortion. Her daughter made her "own" decision to keep the baby. Get a grip.

Tucker Carlson: Wow. That's nasty, stupid, judgmental and mean. Not every tragedy should be used as a political weapon.

_______________________

Pittsburgh:"I don't think it occurred to anyone until recently that the nation would have to observe an entire day of silence every time there's a hurricane."

Now it's just being reported here that Joe Biden canceled out of being the grand marshal of our Labor Day parade out of concern for Hurricane Gustav. Isn't this getting just plain silly? There's nothing of any significance that any of the 4 major Presidential/VP candidates could do to help by refraining from carrying out their scheduled plans, is there?

Tucker Carlson: It was always "just plain silly," and unattractive. Piety contests always are.

_______________________

Houston Tx: Could you comment on the choice of Sarah Palin pertaining to hard core Republicans like me who are very concerned about dealing with Russia's ambitions, Radical Islam etc.. Gaming the systems with the Democrats is fun and games, but are we choosing the best national leader?

Tucker Carlson: Presumably voters would be choosing McCain as leader, not his vice president -- but it's a fair point.

_______________________

Virginia Beach, VA: to continue my one-sided conversation, you're right about her daughter's pregnancy. This should be completely off limits. Just don't give me any crud about liberal bloggers--right wing bloggers traffic in all kinds of trash.

Tucker Carlson: In addition to all the good things it's done, the Internet has empowered an awful lot of people who would have been best off disempowered, including quite a few bloggers on both sides. But I think any honest person would have to concede that at this point most of the hate is on the left.

_______________________

Re: Menlo Park: Actually, I'd be more upset if I was a moderate woman of either party for the implication that I would vote for McCain simply because he selected a woman, regardless of her record.

Tucker Carlson: I agree completely. It's mindless to vote for people simply because they look like you -- and yet there's a lot of evidence that many people cast their votes for just that reason, as Hillary Clinton spent the past year-and-a-half reminding us.

_______________________

Orlando, FL: Tucker

Do you feel that Crossfire was to be a martyr for shows of that mold? I see many more shows on TV now that have nearly the same content, i.e. Beltway Boys, Hannity and Colmes.

Richard

Tucker Carlson: You've named two shows. I can't think of any others. There actually have never been many shows as equally balanced as "Crossfire." The most successful shows on cable television now consist of an hour-long ego trip: a single man expressing a single line of opinion unchallenged by his peers. You tell me which format is more fair and balanced.

_______________________

Tucker Carlson: Thanks a lot for having me. I appreciate it.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.