Replies

JIM LEHRER: What about — David, what about Barack Obama 2012? Is there — is there something there at risk here?

DAVID BROOKS: Oh, absolutely. And I think they vastly — in the White House, they vastly underestimate the dangers they face here, in part because, in Ohio, they are — and it’s hard to win without winning Ohio — they are so far down, I could beat Barack Obama in Ohio. I mean, anybody could.

JIM LEHRER: Let’s not get carried away.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, OK, OK.

MARK SHIELDS: Yes.

DAVID BROOKS: But any plausible person could.

(LAUGHTER)

Anybody taller than me could.

(LAUGHTER)

So, they are in trouble. And it’s hard to win the presidency without winning Ohio or the entire Midwest. And they don’t quite — I don’t think they quite register that. The second thing...

JIM LEHRER: So, you think he is at risk, his reelection is at risk?

DAVID BROOKS: I do. I really do. The more you look at the results, one way to read it is that the outlier was 2008, that what has happened now, it’s swung back, and that there is a Republican coalition there. And that would make it hard for him to win those people back in 2012.

JIM LEHRER: All right. We have to leave it there. Mark, David, thank you both very much.

MARK SHIELDS: Brooks for president, Ohio?

(LAUGHTER)

JIM LEHRER: Yes. You said it. I didn’t.

(LAUGHTER)