Cokie Roberts speaks out on politics, voting at Berry press conference
It sounds like the justices don’t think it’s a tax, she said, emphasizing the first three words. It also sounds as if they may throw out the individual mandate of the president’s health reform law, she said.
“And it sounds like they’re trying to figure out what that then leaves. Anything? Or nothing? … I don’t think they know right now,” she concluded.
The award-winning news analyst was at Berry College to give “An Insider’s View of Washington, D.C.” as part of the school’s Gloria Shatto Lecture series.
Roberts spent some time touring the campus and answering political questions at a press conference before the lecture.
Here’s a look at her thoughts on a few select topics:
A: “It will take a major shift in the Congress and the presidency to do that.”
Roberts said one way would be for a single party to take control, although voters typically don’t like the extremism it engenders. It should be possible to have competition without a deadlock, she said, but “we’ll have to get through this election and see.”
A: It’s been tried before and has never been long-lasting, she said.
“But I do see more and more people dis-affiliating themselves with the major parties. It puts them in a strong position, because those are the deciding votes.”
A: “It’s the single most absolutely self-destructive thing I’ve seen happen in a political party in a very long time.”
Roberts said rhetoric rejecting Hispanics goes against Republican principles of wanting hard-working people to get ahead.
She said “it’s suicidal” for a party to ignore the fastest-growing voting population in the country, although “it is the way to win” in Republican primaries.
A: “That’s been true throughout our history… but when it happens to you as a candidate, suddenly it’s the worst it’s ever been.”
A: “It’s not unusual to see a party so divided. What is different is for the Republicans to be this divided.”
Roberts said the Democratic Party has a history of deep division — between north and south or between educated and less-educated factions — and is “more unified than usual” today.
A: President Obama, if it were held today, but with the number of things that can happen between now and November, Roberts said she has no prediction.
Cokie's husband Steve has written a highly praised book on the immigrant experience published a few years ago.
Woulda been great if the RNT were up to speed on that and had Cokie have conversation with Sean Mckenzie, son of Berry proff David, who has been outfront on the Dream Act in the state of Ga and this last week was part of successful lobbying effort at the state capitol.
Also the RNT missed a great opportunity to explore Cokie's thoughts on the religious right in the backyard of Shorter, where Nelson Price has not been challenged with the strong arguments of Giberson and Stephens in The Anointed.
Nevertheless good call for Berry. Hope they have Rome Rooted Isabel Wilkerson of the Warmth of Other Suns on Campus this fall before the election.
She can discuss Leo Frank and Thankful Baptist of Rome among other striking topics.