In the spring of 2005, New York Times columnist David Brooks arrived at then-Senator Barack Obamas office for a chat. Brooks, a conservative writer who joined the Times in 2003 from The Weekly Standard, had never met Obama before. But, as they chewed over the finer points of Edmund Burke, it didnt take long for the two men to click. I dont want to sound like Im bragging, Brooks recently told me, but usually when I talk to senators, while they may know a policy area better than me, they generally dont know political philosophy better than me. I got the sense he knew both better than me.
That first encounter is still vivid in Brookss mind. I remember distinctly an image of—we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, Brooks says, and Im thinking, a) hes going to be president and b) hell be a very good president. In the fall of 2006, two days after Obamas The Audacity of Hope hit bookstores, Brooks published a glowing Times column. The headline was Run, Barack, Run.
David Brooks and Chris “a tingle up and down my leg” Matthews share the same sexual persuasion. Obama really “turns them on”.
The more condescending and snarky a self anointed elite is, the more null the total of their knowledge.