Politics: Obama?s Tough Nut To Crack

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Politics Obama's Tough Nut To Crack John Dickerson and Dave Weigel talk with readers about the start of the general election campaign. By John Dickerson Posted Friday, May 04, 2012, at 03:14 PM ET Slate chief political correspondent John Dickerson and political reporter David Weigel were on Slate's Facebook page to chat about the end of the GOP primaries and start of the 2012 general election. The following transcript of the discussion has been edited for length and clarity. To see the full conversation, click on this link. Dave Weigel: Hello! I'm profoundly, tremendously excited to be here. Aaron Mosher: Liar. David Vodolazkiy: Why is racism and sexism back in such a hard way? Why doesn't the mainstream press do more to combat this instead of opting for the easier and intellectually lazy "both sides" approach to journalism? Dave Weigel: How would you say those those isms are "back"? I see the Romney and Obama campaigns exploiting the perception of racism or sexism when it benefits them. See: the Hilary Rosen kerfuffle. What examples are you thinking of, in particular? Because I agree, generally, that the press should not just process those things as "spats" between equally matched debaters. David Vodolazkiy: I worded that poorly. I guess what I mean is, even 10 years ago they were still dog-whistling those ideas in reactionary politics, but today we have Rick Santorum saying "I don't want to make black people's lives better ..." on video and being allowed to deflect with "blah plives." It seems to be more a pattern these days than an aberration. Am I reading too much into it? Dave Weigel: Well, it's more subtle. Nobody has made ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate China Wants To Dominate Solar-Panel Manufacturing. Maybe We Should Let Them. Meet the Snake Eaters: The Most Successful American-Trained Iraqi Army Battalion Was Edvard Munch a One-Hit Wonder?	Advertisement
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