The Real ‘60 Minutes’ Revelation - by Michael Tomasky

[DonViejo]

by Michael Tomasky Jan 29, 2013 4:45 AM EST

The Obama-Hillary interview signaled that we have passed an important tipping point in American politics: Democrats are now the regular guys, and conservatives are the weirdos. By Michael Tomasky.

I can actually see, to some extent, the point of conservatives’ complaints about the Obama-Hillary 60 Minutes interview. It was softbally, and Steve Kroft’s one real question—to Clinton, about whether she felt any guilt or remorse over Benghazi—she totally didn’t answer. But here, conservatives, is what you are missing and what you need to reckon with. Americans—except you—like these two people. Most Americans look at the pair of them—this black man who is still remote in some ways and this so-familiar woman who is now aging before us and allowing herself to look just a little frumpy—and feel reassured. Most Americans are cheering for them, and hence, most Americans probably wanted a softball interview. We have thus passed an important portal in American politics: Democrats are now the regular guys. Conservatives are the weirdos.

First, about the interview. These are not two of your more forthcoming interview subjects. I’ve never sat with Obama, but I have interviewed Clinton on a number of occasions, including one big 90-minute-or-so sit-down back in 2000. She told me some very interesting things: she likes Thomas Hardy, she was overwhelmed by her visit to the Olduvai Gorge, she takes a keen interest in ancient civilizations, she loves the Three Stooges, and she knows the theme song to The Flintstones. But on policy, she gave me nothing. A total Heisman. My heart sank to the floor as I listened back over the tape and realized that answer after answer wasn’t going to make news after all. Obama is no different. Rare is the interview that finds him saying anything genuinely arresting.

But he did say something interesting to Kroft, and she did too, which was this: they were both wholly believable and ingenuous when they were talking about their own political relationship. When Obama said, in reference to repairing the ruptures of 2008, “I think it was harder for the staffs, which is understandable, because, you know, they get invested in this stuff in ways that I think the candidates maybe don’t,” I thought: that rings really true. And I’d bet most Americans did too.

Obama and Clinton talked, in other words, like mature adults, and they sold it as genuine because it was genuine. And I’d contend that it made most people watching feel something like: Well, these are very smart and self-assured people, and they’re mostly pretty likable, too, and agree or disagree with this or that decision they make or action they take, I feel like my country is in pretty good hands with them. And yes, to invoke the hackneyed litmus-test question—I’d drink a beer, or a pinot, or in HRC’s case a shot of Crown Royal, with them. To everyone but right-wingers, that was the vibe Sunday night—a victory lap, and a victory lap that no one begrudged them.

-snip-

read more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/29/the-real-60-minutes-revelation.html

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Holy hell rofl rofl rofl

Where once the Middle American ear may have been soothed by that low Cheney rumble belching out its grave assessments of the world situation, today it is accosted by all those caliginous Southern accents warning of socialism and collapse, and thinks: will these people ever shut up?

Fuckin' A, dropped "g" be damned.

[Sunlei]

2. was a great interview of real genuine people. I am so proud of them both.

[sheshe2]

3. "To everyone but right-wingers, that was the vibe Sunday night

—a victory lap, and a victory lap that no one begrudged them."


Thanks, Don.

[flamingdem]

4. Hillary says she does her own hair!

I admire her for not having a natural look.

[SunSeeker]

5. K&R

[Politicub]

6. Good stuff. We win by being ourselves, which is a stark contrast to the GOP's brand of crazy

I greatly enjoyed the interview, too.

[thesquanderer]

7. Yup, they're "likable enough." ;-) (nt)

[Cha]

9. Yes, they've

come a loooong way since that debate.

[StepnKretchit]

8. The interview was very good.

The President and Secretary Clinton have a very special relationship that will last forever. They have a great deal of respect for one another and it could be seen and felt on TV. Maybe the wingnuts are upset that neither President Obama nor Secretary Clinton fit into their little stereotypical mold.

[Cha]

10. So, the President and SOS Hillary keep their

cards close to their vests in interviews. I can certainly understand that.

Gotta love Michael Tomasky's last paragraph!

Conservatives, you can call me and others like me all the names you want, and you can whine about the evil CBS all you want. But Kroft and his network were actually in touch here with the pulse of the country, which wants Obama to succeed and Hillary to go have a nice long rest (and, maybe, get ready for 2016). Meanwhile, even Roger Ailes has gotten sick of Sarah Palin. Get the picture?

Thanks DonViejo

[SCVDem]

11. Must every interview go for the jugular?

It's not like Bush who rarely held press conferences.

Obama has so many that some can actually be a friendly interview to express thanks.

[Hekate]

12. Delightful read -- thanks Don

And thanks to Michael Tomasky. Maybe the country has finally turned a corner.

Edited to add that "caliginous" is a wonderful new word. Tasty even.

[colsohlibgal]

13. Something To Consider

Obama has even admitted that pre Reagan he would have been seen as center-right politically - and he may be a bit more liberal than Hillary. They are however way better than what the R's can produce.

The other thing that doesn't get talked much about, when looking at 2016, is the ages of the two dems talked about, Clinton and Biden. Hillary would be 69 by the time she took office, Biden about 74.

It should be on the table at least from an energy standpoint. I think ages like Kennedy's and Bill Clinton's when they took office are about right, old enough to have a lot of life and political experience but not close to ready for medicare.

I think back to Reagan's last couple of years when he was almost certainly on the way around the bend - it is something to consider.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. Clinton has a lot of miles left in her. nt

[dreamnightwind]

16. Yes, they're both much too conservative for me

and are very status-quo at a time when we have to make major changes to business-as-usual. The Democratic Party needs to step up and rise to the challenges ahead, no more of the statist corporate-centrist Heritage, DLC, Will Marshall, Progressive Policy Institute hacks.

[bloomington-lib]

14. I hope he's right