Charlie Rose

NomoreRepublicanVotes  01/17/2008 02:11 PM Report

The Ken Mehlman Interview 01/16/08: Total Irritation - Ken Mehlman being allowed to present his opinions on the Primary, in front of a picture of the White House, has got to have irritated just about every voter last night. His caption, "Former RNC Chairman", doesn't do justice to his list of failures as chairman: Total meltdown of the party in 2006, not owning up to problem of missing 150,000 Karl Rove emails in RNC Mail servers, not hindering the White House agenda in destroying the Republican party platforms and scattering its base, all the damage control he has had to do for Tom Delay/Jack A./Cunning-ham/DA firings/Karl Rove/Alberto G./Bush, basically putting a Democrat in the White House in 2008. Mr. Mehlman has no real clue what the public wants if he thinks that the Republican Party has anything to offer after the pigstys that they have made of Congress, the White House, Iraq, New Orleans, etc - great places for the wealthy to come to the trough to feed without fear.

Big J  01/17/2008 11:51 AM Report

This is very interesting stuff... Never made it to this hemisphere before now I'm hooked..

GUESS WHOS COMING TO DINNER!

http://eastern-hemisphere.blogspot.com/

Kyle  01/08/2008 10:21 PM Report

Gosh, every commentator on this show left Hillary Clinton for dead! The theme -- "I don't know how she can win NH after Iowa." "A sea change!" They said it over and over and over. Charlie, are you going to have these folks back tonight? Hillary is beating Obama in NH!! David Brooks, where are you tonight? Voters 10, Pundits 0!

George  01/08/2008 12:15 PM Report

Charlie,

As an avid fan, your show on Friday could not come at a better time. I am glad that you are incorporating the views of generation x/y into the program because they will ultimately decide this election. Secondly, your guest, Ms. Lylah Holmes, was ouststanding. Articulate and warm, yet displaying the touch of a seasoned journalist, she really added a unique perspecitve to the show. As she talked about the hope and inspiration that Obama is bringing to African American community, I hope she realizes that she is an inspiration to the African American fans who watch the show. I hope you bring her back win Obama wins New Hampshire!

Dorothy Burwell  01/08/2008 07:46 AM Report

The 2008 election is proving to be one of the most important elections in recent history. As an American living overseas, the commentary on this show provided a valuable look at the dynamics US citizens are facing. In particular, I appreciated the commentary of Lylah Holmes and her observations on the constituency supporting Obama. The documentary she is producing will definitely be one to watch after the votes have been cast and decisions have been made. No matter the outcome, capturing the spirit of the campaign and the persistent desire of the American people for change at this critical time of global economic shift will prove to be a most important endeavor.

Michelle Stepney  01/08/2008 12:57 AM Report

Bravo! Another great show. Was particularly impressed with Lylah Holmes. It's so refreshing to hear someone from Gen X/Gen Y. Her comments really rounded out the conversation. I hope you continue to consider this voice and invite her again.

Barbara Klaser  01/07/2008 08:57 PM Report

I think we pay too much attention to what those in other states decide before us. In my opinion, all states should hold their primaries/caucuses on the same date, so people don't let themselves be so influenced, or tally up others' votes before they cast their own and attempt to vote on a sure thing. That's is cowardly voting, in my opinion. Every vote is a risk, but that's what this country was built on, taking big chances in order to do the right thing and be free.

If I had a dime for every person who says he or she admires Dennis Kucinich but hasn't or won't vote for him because he's "not electable," I'd be rich, and if they all voted for him anyway, he might actually have a chance.

Lynda Haas  01/07/2008 08:31 PM Report

Lylah Holmes impressed me as much as Barak Obama did at the 2004 Democratic Convention. She is a rising star. I look forward to seeing her playing a major role in journalism in the future. We need more like her. Please have her on the show again.

Ann Delaney  01/07/2008 06:38 PM Report

Charlie, your analysts were almost all misty eyed over Obama - encouraging a messianic attitude toward anyone serves no one. Did anyone do the maths: roughly 360,000 turned out to caucus in IA. That means that of all the people passionate enough to vote, 25% of them were for Obama, 20% for Edwards and Clinton, and a mere 11% for the top Republican, Huckabee. By these figures it seems to me we should be hearing more about the Edwards success. First, he opposes media power, yet still he gets 20%, (perhaps that is why we do not hear of him), second he has never taken corporate money and is therefore significantly underfunded compared to Obama and Clinton, yet still he gets 20%.

What's more, David Brooks badly mischaracterized John Edwards. He is in no way an angry person - just passionate about moving towards a fairer society.

Edwards is very clear about what he stands for. By contrast, it is not really clear what Obama stands for - unite, but around or for what? Corporations are not interested in uniting for the people. Their regulations dictate they act only in the interests of their shareholders. The issues facing the world are too serious and urgent (global warming, nuclear proliferation, hostility to western values) to be compromised and delayed by trying to reconcile corporate and public interests. Corporations need to act within the framework dictated by the people, not vice versa.

Carter  01/07/2008 05:29 PM Report

Young people have already seen an African American President ( ie, television show "24") and don't see the difference between make believe ( video games,etc) and the reality of having a 'real" African American President ( a black person in an authority position).

Also, because of technolgy, there are no real secrets anymore.... The stutus guo is revealed every day on You Tube! Here's the real deal..." Never underestimate a brotha"...The country has been run these last 200 plus years by a bunch of rich white guys with mixed reviews.I can't really see Obama performing any 'worse" than Msr Bush has over these last 7 years..

Pam Linn  01/07/2008 01:00 AM Report

Thank you for offering such an intelligent discussion on the results in Iowa Jan.4. You brought out the best in David Brooks and Paul Begala was a hoot. Your choice of panelists was, as usual, perfect, but none more so than Lylah Holmes. I hope you have thanked whoever it was at Columbia that suggested her. She's the sort that could give journalism back its good name after so many years of insipid coverage and outright failure to perform its function of holding government's collective feet to the fire. You handled those last few moments, when her voice was getting tight, perfectly, giving her time and space. Brilliant.

Steve Roth  01/06/2008 11:39 PM Report

Mr. Rose--I was very impressed and inspired by your guest, Lilah Holmes, this past Friday. Hers is one of the most refreshing voices I've heard, to date, during this long, ongoing campaign. Ms. Holmes is obviously an articulate, inteligent, well spoken young woman and I look forward to seeing more of her.

TABS  01/06/2008 06:46 PM Report

Republicans just don't seem to have any immediacy to their campaigns. Nothing to spark the fervor or imagination of the electorate,no mission to accomplish. Hucklebeerry won with Christians in Iowa because Mitt Romney is a Mormon and is viewed as a "cultist" among evangelical Christians. No one can underestimate that animosity, beyond that Mitt Romney comes off as an empty suit saying all the right things at the right moment without any thought or conviction behind them. He is a checkbook canidate. McCain might be considered to be the best canidate the Democratic party might field with his previous sayings and legislative record. Thompson who? Guillani who? That brings us back to Huckabee the pastor from Hope, Ak. His Iowa victory speech while lacking the soaring eloquence of Obama's was very quiet and small, that of a humble man. One might write him off in this day and age of glitzy media soundbites but to do so just might be the mistake they made with Harry Truman.

Steve Rolfe  01/06/2008 06:24 PM Report

I think many people are missing the real import of the Iowa votes. This is not a vote for or against Hillary Clinton, it is a vote for a different kind of political environment and against the nasty cynical politics of the past two decades.

I think the most important result of the election is that twice as many Democrats voted than Republicans in a state that previuosly slightly leaned Republican. The Democratic third place finisher had 50% more votes than the first place Republican finisher.

Lastly, although I think the wave of enthusiasm will last, there is still a lot of time left. Voters could easily have second thoughts when they begin to examine both Huckabee and Obama. The pendulum will probably swing the other way. How much no one knows.

TABS  01/06/2008 06:14 PM Report

Lets take this one more step. America doesn't need Hillary Clinton to lead us anywhere. The reverse is true, Hillary Clinton needs America, and she has it wrong with her "ready to lead" chant. Barack Obama says "we" can do it, which is inclusive of all Americans together rather than Hillary Clinton's arrogantleadership from on high stance.

TABS  01/06/2008 04:35 PM Report

PS. Hillary Clinton was so sure of her "inevitable" victory in Iowa that she didn't even have a speech ready in case of a defeat. All she could muster was a cobbled together, rambling rant about Democrats having a "good night" and her "readiness to lead." The fact that nobody is going to follow her leadership is going to make that campaign slogan a joke from coast to coast, and may go down in the annals of campaign history as the biggest bludner since George Romney (Mitts daddy) proclaimed that he had been "Brainwashed" about his support for the Vietnam war.

TABS  01/06/2008 03:47 PM Report

A crack in the dike has appeared with the Caucus results in Iowa. For all of Hillary Clintons money, smart political operatives, and 8 years of campaign organizing she could only muster a 3rd place finish behind "Andy Jackson" Edwards, a populist from NC. Bill Clintons face belied the diaster of Iowa as Hillary gave her rambling "ready to lead" speech. Apparently nobody was willing to follow such arrogance in Iowa. To be sure Hillary isn't done, and is going to pull out all the stops in the upcoming primaries. For her political ambition knows no bounds. Barack Obama has seized the moment in Iowa with his Martin Luther King moment. He has proved that a man of colour can win in a door to door, living room to living room campaign where NO man of colour has ever been elected to anything. Give him the advantage in NH and SC to follow. If those are resounding victories campaign money and political support will jump ship from Hillary's losing campaign to an apparent winner. Barrack Obama has beocme the man of the moment. We can only hope that if elected he will live up to his promise and govern with all the people and all points of view whether Liberal or Conservative in mind.

T Hefko  01/06/2008 02:44 PM Report

The change versus experience dichotomy rings false in this election. I support Barack Obama because experience is important: experience working at every level of government. Years of helping disadvantaged people in Chicago to get the things they are promised from government at the municipal, county, state and federal levels had to bring him unique insight into how our government programs work and when these fail miserably. You can't always see these things from a governors' mansion or the US Senate. Many well meaning federal programs are total disasters. Many issues could be best handled at other levels of government. Barack Obama has spent a lot of time listening to and enabling people at a personal level. He is the right choice to tackle issues like universal health care and social security reform.

Hillary Clinton has been given a free pass on the experience card by the national media. The contrast between her and, say, Bill Richardson are striking. He has been a congressman, an UN ambassador, a cabinet secretary and a governor. She only has been in elective office for eight years. If she wants to claim her experience as first lady is valid, she should be forced to give concrete examples of things she accomplished on her own. No matter how many evenings I've spent listening to my wife and her colleagues discuss ballet, I still can't do a pirouette. The inconsistency goes deeper than that though, because as much as we all loved Bill Clinton, the fact is he didn't accomplish nearly as much as we had hoped. Universal Healthcare is just the tip of the iceberg. We didn't make it very far down the road to energy independence. We didn't make peace in the Middle East. And, we didn't reform social security; the list goes on. Hence, we are talking about many of the same issues in this election that we did in '92.

As far as executive experience and the like are concerned, the proof is in the pudding: Barack Obama and his organization have outflanked the Clintons on every test so far: better fundraising, better voter turn-out, etc. Compare his campaign to either of our past nominees and the contrast is striking. This is someone who surrounds himself with talented people and brings out the best in the people he works with. If the republican candidates can't help but like him, it makes us think he can get things done in a bipartisan way. Further if it works on a national level, why not internationally too. He seems to have learned something about people in the experiences he's had which go beyond anyone else in the race.

John Pinkston  01/06/2008 03:34 AM Report

Mr. Rose -- Now that Sen Obama is shaping up to be the most likely Democratic nominee, it would be interesting to have an hour with some of the people who have endorsed him to get a sense of why they are backing him. I am referring, of course, to the more respected and careful thinkers like Ted Sorenson, Zbigniew Brzezinski and (if the news reports about his impending endorsements are true) Bill Bradly. What they see in Sen Obama could indeed be out best window into his personality and the sort of policies he would pursue. ....

I know, it won't happen but I'm just putting the suggestion out there. A similar segment with the supporters of other candidates would also be a good idea but it is less important since most are better known than Sen Obama is.

kellygo  01/06/2008 02:57 AM Report

Oops. To RF Williams, I apologize for assuming you are a man. I did not proofread my comments before I submitted them. I won't make that mistake again. Well, at least not on this board.

kellygo  01/06/2008 02:53 AM Report

"With due respect" to RF Williams I must disagree with his desire for other "seasoned strategist" Why do you wish there were others at this particular table? There will be many other evenings to come everyone does not have to come to the table on the same night.

Ms. Holmes participation made the evening perfect. I hope she reads these comments. She inspired me to be a better person. Ms. Holmes, you gave us a wonderful example last night. I am very proud of you!

P.S. Charlie, Thank you for this program. You too are setting a wonderful example for us. Happy Birthday and many more healthy, happy years for you and the broadcast to come!

Natalie M.  01/06/2008 12:53 AM Report

Lylah Holmes was a fresh voice to the show. More of her, please.

V.J.Maye  01/06/2008 12:24 AM Report

I was thoroughly impressed with your Columbia University Journalism graduate student, Lylah Holmes. Lylah was poised, intelligent, thoughtful, on point, insightful and had a vigor that was contagious. It was refreshing to see and hear a young person that is invested in the political process and is invested in Barack Obama. I believe that Lylah Holmes is well on her way and definitely one to watch. Charlie, it would great if you would have Lylah on your show again after New Hampshire, as I'm looking forward to hearing more of her thoughts.

Rf Williams  01/05/2008 08:48 PM Report

With due respect to Lylah Holmes, I wished Charlie you included other seasoned Democratic and Republican African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Muslims strategists and journalists to your table.

Charlie the other panel discussion you had at your table about the results of the 2006 midterm elections were Jon Meacham ,Katrina Vanden Heuvel,Mary Beth Cahill,David Sanger,David Gergen,David Brooks, Ed Rollins and Frank Luntz.

Marcia  01/05/2008 08:10 PM Report

When I saw and listened to the guests on your show, I listened and agreed with some of what they stated about what happened in Iowa. I like David Brooks, even though he is a conservative, but he is open minded and fair. I was amused a bit by some of Paul Begula's observations about Hillary Cliton and how she is really (yeah...really) a warm person and oh so funny. Okay. But, the person I was impressed with was the young woman who was also a guest on your program, Lylah Holmes. She impressed me because, she was so calm and professional. She told what the people she interviewed felt regarding Senator Obama's campaign for the presidency. But, even being as poised,insightful and articulate with what she had observed from following Obama and his campaign, she touched me mostly when she began to speak and begining to become emotional as she spoke as how truly incredible it was that a state with nearly a 95% white population were willing to give a black man a chance to lead this country. Like her, I thought that on Thursday January, 2008 was a remarkable night! I will always be proud of the state of Iowa, though I live in Illinois, and this country for giving Senator Obama, a man of color,a chance to show he can possibly lead this country. As my father said,"I've live the days of Jim Crow to maybe seeing a black going to the White House as this country's president." That's powerful! What a great interview.

Amy  01/05/2008 07:11 PM Report

The Obama and Huckabee and Edwards phenom, seems reminiscent of various social movements that stress the human and personal over the needs of the establishment, and the spiritual and divine over the religious. The American Transcendentalists - Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and Hawthorne, being the ideal archetype. - - - "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds ... A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kathleen Rubin  01/05/2008 07:07 PM Report

Jan 4 interviews were some of Charlie's most impressive ever. Brooks was at his best. And Charlie did a masterful job in helping Lylah Holmes share her documentary and personal stories. I didn't have to scream at Charlie even once for trying to one-up and interrupt - like he usually does.

Deb L  01/05/2008 05:06 PM Report

I am always impressed by the even character and fairness of the Charlie Rose show - but I was disturbed by a repetitive comment on this particular show. Mr Nigourney, in his discussions of Clinton and Obama, mentioned that it would be difficult for a woman to criticize a 'guy' when running for this office. Perhaps one of the reasons that women still find themselves fighting an uphill battle can be found right in Mr. Nigourney's commentary - each time he referred to Obama he used the title, senator; and yet when referring to Clinton he used the title, Mrs - a title that simple connotes marriage as opposed to power, credentials or status. I suspect he's not alone in his inability to consider her a serious candidate, despite her impressive credentials, because she is not just a woman, but a woman married to a man with a very big shadow - but I always count on Mr. Rose to pick up on these subtleties and this one apparently slipped by.

Sigrid Bergie  01/05/2008 04:10 PM Report

Is John Edwards invisible? He came in second.

Is your show being swayed by network media, by not giving a voice to all the candidates, or is there still more to come?

R Barricelli  01/05/2008 04:03 PM Report

Post Iowa thoughts of a regular voter from WV.

It was a huge win for both Obama and Huckabee. Both are voices of movements that have been within America's silent majority.

We learned more about the democrat race than the republican.

Commentators from most media outlets are saying how Hillary has a tough road ahead. It will be interesting to see who drops first, Hillary or Edwards, and how the finally two match up.

I think the road is tougher for Obama if he gets a quick win in NH and SC. He needs the nomination to draw out a bit for two reasons. The longer process will allow him to sharpen his policy positions and to have some down time before the Republican Party start to pick him apart on any issue that he differs from the republican base.

Obama can thank the republican candidates and debates for being his negative Hillary ads in Iowa. In contrast, the democrats mentioned Bush in their debates. If Obama becomes the national front runner, those comments will turn towards him or the democrats in general. This is a huge disadvantage, which he can overcome, since he will have to respond back to the Republican Party not an individual nominee, which may not become clear until the convention.

The one theme throughout the post Iowa commentary by the media is that Obama has gotten a soft news coverage, in comparison to Hillary. He hasn't had to be really detailed oriented. The top three Dem. candidates agree on most policy issues. That does not bode well in a heads up general election between two party nominees that will have different policy views.

Hillary is done regardless of what she does because she couldn't pay attention to what Obama said 4 years ago at the 2004 DNC speech:

OBAMA: "Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead."

Experience speaks to yesterday and does not speak to a better future. Not listening to her own party is what doomed her from the beginning. It is not about the message, it is about the person. Her opponents in the party process have been mainly Senate colleagues. How can she say she brought people together when most of the people on the debate stages know her very well, and still want to run?

This Presidential election will not be held in a vacuum. At some point all the other elections start to factor into the race. The party machines gear up for head to head battle for November.

At some point Obama will have to be seen as head of the Democrat platform, not just representing his hopeful message concerning the executive branch. His message of change effects how democrats in Washington do business as well, not just republicans.

The Dem. party has not embrace the lesson that they won on in 2006- lower taxes and smaller government, not just a change on the war. As a party they say they need more Democrats in office, not a broader message or coming together with Republicans.

The party may hurt Obama more than he helps the party. That is what hurt Gore and Kerry. Will Obama overcome the party drag in the general election?

Obama could be a good president and good for America. He can pull it together, overcome all the unseen obstacles and reach across the party line in the general election.

Michael Lang  01/05/2008 03:38 PM Report

I agree with David Brooks that if Barak Obama becomes the Democratic Presidential Nominee and John McCain becomes the Republican Nominee then there is no room for Michael Bloomberg to step in and run as a third party candidate but if Hilary Clinton becomes the Democratic Nominee and Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney becomes the Republican Nominee then there will be a hole big enough in the center for Mike Bloomberg, to drive a fleet of trucks through it to the White house

Craig  01/05/2008 12:38 PM Report

I enjoy your show very much. But I think your guest Lylah Holmes expressed a misimpression of Iowa that slipped by without challenge. She described it as "so conservative." It was interesting--and somewhat concerning--to hear this perspective from a Columbia journalism student. Iowa voted democrat in 4 of the last 5 presidential elections (Dukakis-Clinton-Clinton-Gore). Also, Iowa's last two governors have been democrats. By these measures they are politically left of Ohio, a state often used to represent the middle of the spectrum.

Sue McCauley  01/05/2008 11:45 AM Report

Thank you Charlie. I did not expect to hear anything new on your show this morning (I Tivo your show, which is aired at midnight, and watch it first thing every monring), more than 24 hours after the Iowa caucus results were in. I had read and listened to alot of commentary before seeing your show. I was pleasantly surprised. David Brooks articulated, more clearly than I've heard, the key reason I support Obama, namely he represents a fresh start and hope for Democrats who have watched the Boomer generation fail to achieve results for two decades. Over a year ago I listened to a podcast of Howard Dean for an hour talking about changes that needed to occur. Within a week I listened to Obama in another Podcast. I was blown away by the contrast. Dean said nothing I hadn't heard for 10 years. Unfortunately his generation had failed to realize tangible results from his dreams. I support the dreams and goals but am tired of the failure to achieve. Hillary and Edwards share the dream but, in fact, have failed to achieve them. Mr. Obama gave me hope that a new generation might succeed. Lets "roll the dice" and find out. I also enjoyed hearing Paul Begala's advice for Hillary and Lylah Holmes discussion of who African Americans will support and why. This is why I start my day each morning with your show. It is always enriching and thought provoking. Thank you.

G. Pierre  01/05/2008 06:16 AM Report

The Columbia University film student in your January 4th show made the point that local Black preachers and politicians, as part of Hillary Clinton's democratic machinery, aren't publically supporting Obama.

This is a huge favor to Obama. He will owe nothing to this inept black political underbrush when he wins the presidency. They along with people like Shelby Steel, who is largely a construction of White political oppression, will be forever off our backs.

An Obama presidency is not only freedom for Whites,it is true emancipation for us--the African American Community, but in particular, the Jewish American Community. They will be hard press to sit across a table from a man who has reached accord with his former owners, and tell him why they can not with the Arab.

We all, Black and White, seriously realize the offer of freedom and brotherhood that is now before us. Obama is a great and supportable excuse for us to be America again.

So it is not so much about what question would you ask Obama. Or, who is Obama. What is important is the question we've asked ourselves: Do you want to be a nation that tortues? In Iowa, we said no.