Paul Begala on Politics

Paul Begala was our WAVC speaker today, and he was just fantastic. And then he broke into a hilarious Bill Clinton impersonation. He has that voice down.

How did Obama gain nine states in the election?
He targeted three demographics (memorable mnemonic of “YES”):

1) The Young. Normally, young people admire and “identify” with the sitting President of the time, and then vote for that political party for the rest of their lives. That did not happen for W. “Only Nixon and Bush have produced negative identification.” Obama won the young vote by a crushing 30% margin. “It’s easy to lose an election. It’s rare to lose a generation.”

2) Español. 2/3 voted Obama

3) Single Women: Hillary made 70 appearances for Barack. For the first time ever, there are more single women than married women.

Is he experienced?
“Nobody is experienced enough to be President. The key question for a President is ‘Can you learn from the experience of others?’ It’s fairly rare.”

“The most important Presidential power is the power to persuade. For the Cabinet posts, Obama has not taken no for an answer. Hillary Clinton did not want the job.”

“If you gave truth serum to a Democrat and ask ‘if you could do just one thing during your term, what would it be?’ you will hear National Health Care Reform. If you asked Barack Obama, he would say Energy.”

“I am amazed at the American system’s unique ability to revivify. I am confident we will emerge from the current crisis as a stronger nation.”

“Clinton’s mom was a nurse. He is very empathetic. He can really feel your pain like a nurse would. Barack’s mom was a cultural anthropologist. He can understand other cultures, and politics and religion are just expressions of culture.”

“Clinton was the first President to understand globalization. Obama is the first to understand the web.”