Opinion Focus

Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson was online Tuesday, Nov. 4 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. After all the talk, today stuff actually happens. If you haven't already voted, get out there!

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Raleigh, N.C.: Great column today. You know who I'm going to feel sorry for, assuming the polls are right and Obama wins? (Most) McCain supporters. Sure, a few McCain supporters are voting for him for racial reasons, but most of them just prefer McCain's position on Iraq or abortion, or his experience. And they aren't going to be able to fully enjoy the wonderful story for America if Obama wins. It's like in the NCAA tournament, when an underdog like George Mason makes the Final Four -- it's a great story, and everyone loves it ... except for UNC fans like myself, because they knocked us out.

washingtonpost.com: A New Kind of Pride (Post, Nov. 4)

Eugene Robinson: Disappointment after a loss is unavoidable, I think. And I hope everyone can appreciate the historic nature of this day, no matter who wins.

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Manassas, Va.: Mr. Robinson, I wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you've done covering this process and your insights. In a world where very few people seem to think things through before they say/write them, your columns and blogs have been a breath of fresh air. Thank you most of all for your piece today on the way this election has broken down barriers that many people hadn't even acknowledged.

As a young white woman - and the only one in my office who voted for Obama -- I find it nice to that someone else sees in his candidacy what I saw. I may not be an African American, and I certainly didn't live through the civil rights movement, but I can't even find the words to say how unbelievably happy it makes me to see that race has hardly been an issue in this campaign, the way some people might have thought it would be.

Having said that, several people in my office have stated that even though they agree with Obama much more than with McCain, they voted for McCain because they figured "a black man would be more likely to be assassinated by some nut." I think that while it may be possible, being president is a dangerous job no matter who you are (Secret Service, anyone?). As an African American, what's your take on comments like that? Do you think they have any merit?

Eugene Robinson: The truth is that in my gut, I can't avoid sharing the fear that many people -- especially African Americans -- have about Obama's safety. At the same time, though, I realize that fear isn't entirely rational, and may not be very rational at all. Any presidential candidate or president-elect's life is in some danger, I'm sorry to say. Secret Service protection is much, much better than in the '60s. I finally decided that this wasn't something I wanted to obsess about.

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Waldorf, Md.: Do you think that Obama will be tested if he wins?

Eugene Robinson: Yes, but McCain would be tested too. What I mean isn't that some "evildoers" are out there plotting some atrocity just to test the mettle of the new president. I mean that stuff happens, and the stuff that happens constitutes a test for any new president. Events are inconveniently relentless.

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Anonymous: Gene, please tell me you voted. Chris Cillizza was asked this morning and he said he doesn't vote because he's a journalist. I think you can be objective in your work and still have personal opinions. Isn't that what a professional is? I am not knocking Chris -- I truly enjoy reading The Fix, and I know he is not the only one who thinks the way he does. What is your opinion on this?

Eugene Robinson: Chris is a great journalist and a good friend. Len Downie, the longtime executive editor of The Post who recently stepped down, is one of my heroes in journalism and also a friend of nearly 30 years. That said, I think that they -- and other journalists who don't vote -- are nuts. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, but people were beaten and attacked by dogs and murdered in cold blood so that I could have the right to vote. I voted early in this election and try to vote at every opportunity. I'd vote in a local race for dogcatcher. Being a journalist can't mean giving up your fundamental rights as an American -- at least not for me.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Nice column today -- but it's not just blacks who should be proud to see Obama where he is, or where he hopefully will be on Jan. 20. I am white and my wife is Chinese, and I am extremely proud that our interracial 8-year-old daughter will grow up in a country in which a mixed-race president is not inconceivable (or a female president either, in this remarkable year)! I didn't mind spending 90 minutes in line this morning -- that vote felt so good!

Eugene Robinson: Thanks for the note, and I certainly didn't mean to exclude anybody. I was just writing from a personal perspective.

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Kansas: Even though I doubt my state will join me on this historic day, I voted for Obama. If Obama loses, I will be convinced the election was stolen. Are any other interpretations possible?

Eugene Robinson: Sure. The polls could be wrong, there could be a huge "Bradley effect," the Obama ground game might not be as effective as pundits thought it would be, etc. An Obama loss doesn't automatically mean there was theft, although clearly people will want to look closely to make sure that theft didn't occur.

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Central Massachusetts: Mr. Robinson -- I often read your columns and disagree with them. I think that you are definitely in the tank for Obama. I still support our current president, with all his flaws. I have been a supporter of John McCain. This morning, I cast my vote for ... Barack Obama. Not because he will be the first black president, and not because I think the Republicans caused the financial crisis (I don't -- it was a bipartisan effort), and not because I don't think John McCain is at his core a decent and honorable man. I voted for Senator Obama because I think he is the better candidate and will be the better president. In spite of my intense dislike of the netroots and of one-party rule, I had to go with my gut instinct that this is the better man to lead our country.

Eugene Robinson: Thanks for your note, and thanks for reading even though you disagree so often.

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Seattle: When are you going to be on MSNBC tonight? I'm having people coming over to watch the results and they watch another network. I think you are the best analyst on the air, though, so I will insist on flipping channels when your segments come on.

Eugene Robinson: From 5 p.m. until, one by one, we begin keeling over at the anchor desk from sheer exhaustion. Or until we have a winner.

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Northern Virginia: Virginia was taken for granted by McCain partly because we have such a strong military and veterans presence, but the military has been a leader in racial integration and race attitudes, literally for life and death reasons. As a result, I suspect that white Americans in the military or recently out of it are less likely to think about race than civilians are. (Plus, of course, they don't think people who have lived overseas or had a parent from overseas are all that unusual.) Do you agree?

Eugene Robinson: I think those are good points. On the other hand, McCain had that long military career, and many military families might feel a kinship with him based on that fact. But I'm always surprised at the amount of e-mail I get from self-described military family members who are upset with the war in Iraq and do not see McCain's policies as an answer. I'm not saying that's a majority view by any means, but I hear it more than I would have thought.

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New York: Mr. Robinson, it used to be said that Obama wasn't "black enough." Do you think it is more than a coincidence that the first black American to poise on the verge of the presidency is a first-generation African American who was "raised white"?

Eugene Robinson: I think some people have learned the obvious: that "black America" is not monolithic, and that there's no one certified, approved way to be a "black American."

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Eastern Shore, Md.: Just got off the phone with my friend who lives in central California. She told me that reports from Los Angeles are that precincts in predominantly black neighborhoods have run out of ballots. Supposedly the people in line are being told to go home and come back later, but many of them are saying "no, we'll wait right here -- you go get more ballots."

washingtonpost.com: Southern California turns out to vote, undeterred by rain and long lines (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 4)

Eugene Robinson: If there's a huge turnout and polling stations run out of ballots, I hope people finally take more than a fleeting interest in the craziness and insufficiency of the voting process in many parts of the country. This isn't even a partisan issue. Ballots are running short in California, with a Republican governor -- but there also were widely predicted ballot and voting-machine shortages in Virginia, where there is a Democratic governor who was one of Barack Obama's earliest supporters. There never, ever should be too few ballots or voting machines. I thought the right to vote was supposed to be sacred.

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Columbus, Ohio: ESPN interviewed Obama and John McCain last night, asking them the same question --- "if you're elected, what would be the one change you'd like to bring to the sports?" Obama's choice was a playoffs system to college football, while McCain mentioned a better system to battle doping. Do you think there is any underlying political motivation behind their answers?

Eugene Robinson: You know, I wondered the same thing. I decided there probably wasn't a political motivation. Those answers sounded like the first things that popped into the candidates' heads. McCain got off the funniest line when he mimicked Chris Berman's signature "he could ... go ... all ... the ... way!"

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Laurel, Md.: It is highly probable that we will wake up tomorrow knowing that having skin with high melanin content is not a barrier to success in this great land. But let's face it -- Senator Obama was raised white. I expect that starting tomorrow morning we're going to start hearing from whites (who are not racists) that African ethnicity hasn't been a barrier for a long time, and that blacks whose families have a long history in America need to stop acting like white America owes them stuff, reduce their pathological social behaviors, and adopt the attitudes of recent immigrant blacks that you can succeed if you earn it.

Eugene Robinson: I find the way you make your point objectionable. "Raised white"? What is that supposed to mean? If it means that he was raised to have respect for education, accomplishment and country, there's nothing particularly Caucasian about those values. That's certainly the way I was raised.

That said, implicit in your post is something with which I agree: If we wake up tomorrow and the president-elect is a black man, African Americans will have a psychological adjustment to make. We knew that society placed limits on our ambition -- for a long, long time, that was objectively true. The election of a black man as president wouldn't magically eliminate all racism, but it would eliminate the idea that some avenues in this society definitivelywere closed off to us.

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Boston: Hi Eugene. I've heard it said a few times in passing that one of the underreported stories in this cycle is the strength of Obama's campaign organization. My feeling: I agree with the notion that we've already had a preview of Obama's executive performance just in the way that he's put together his team. He wore down Hilary in the primaries and even manages to keep Joe Biden on message. Any thoughts on it?

Eugene Robinson: Well, I don't know if he has managed to keep "Joe the Biden" (as McCain has taken to calling him) entirely on message -- that would be asking too much -- but the Obama organization truly has been a marvel. They came up with a plan, they stuck with it, they executed it brilliantly -- and, oh yes, they raised money beyond any candidate's wildest dreams. Doctoral theses will be written about this campaign.

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Springfield, Mo.: In "My American Journey," General Colin Powell expressed gratitude both to African Americans who "got off the bus" to march and those who "stayed on the bus" and went to work. He posits that both advanced the cause of civil rights. As a white Democrat, I often disagree with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Justice Clarence Thomas, yet I realize too that their stable presence (along with Gen. Powell's) on the national scene is also a civil rights job well done. Would white Americans ever have been ready to vote for a black man for president if we had not seen these people in high positions of national authority? I wonder, but somehow I doubt it.

Eugene Robinson: If I were to think of a black role model on the Supreme Court, I'd choose Thurgood Marshall, not Clarence Thomas. As for Secretary Rice, I disagree with her on many things -- many, many things -- but I both like and respect her.

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Washington: Nice column today, which I think touches on the very significant symbolism of what has happened and what is about to occur. Aside from that, however, do you believe that a president (or politics in general) affects the everyday lives of citizens? I'm not apolitical, but I just don't think it makes a big difference for most Americans. For example, my life was no different whether Bush or Clinton was in office. The point I'm getting at is that if African Americans believe that their lives somehow are going to change for the better if one candidate is elected over another, I think there is going to be disappointment.

Eugene Robinson: I disagree. Yes, there's a danger that expectations will be raised to unrealistic levels, but it matters who's president. To cite just one example, you can't tell military families who lost a loved one in Iraq that who the president is doesn't matter. So vote!

That's it for today, folks. Talk to you next week. Did I already remind everybody to vote?

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