The Hope-Monger Gabfest
Listen to Slate's review of the week in politics.
Updated Friday, Feb. 29, 2008, at 3:34 PM ET
To play the Feb. 29 Political Gabfest, click the arrow on the audio player below:
Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz gather in Slate's Washington studio to discuss whether Hillary can stage a comeback in the race for the Democratic nomination, how McCain can confront Obama on Iraq, and the death of conservative legend and regular Slate reader William F. Buckley Jr.
The Gabfest begins by exploring the perilous delegate math that faces Hillary Clinton and how Slate's delegate calculator can help you sort it out. It continues with a discussion of Hillary's appeal to women. Emily Bazelon points to Tina Fey's defense of feminism, and John Dickerson alludes to Cokie Roberts' explanation on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos. Finally, the Slate editors discuss how Obama has grown throughout the campaign—both in his debate performance and in his ability to handle incoming fire from political opponents.
The discussion then turns to John McCain and Barack Obama's weeklong quarrel over the Iraq war. David Plotz believes Democrats would be wise to stay away from the topic of Iraq during the general election.
Finally, the Gabfest panelists offer their memories of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr., who died this week. Buckley had a close relationship with Slate: He was a regular reader, kept a Slate "Diary," and engaged in a "Dialogue" with the magazine's founding editor, Michael Kinsley.
Things turn grim during the Gabfest's cocktail chatter. John Dickerson highlights a new study showing that one in every 100 American adults is in prison. David Plotz recaps a Newsweek article on stagflation, and Emily Bazelon laments the retirement of legendary New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse.
The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Posted by Andy Bowers on Feb. 29 at 2:30 p.m.
Emily Bazelon is a Slate senior editor and writes about law, family, and kids. She's working on a book about bullying.
John Dickerson is Slate's chief political correspondent and author of On Her Trail. He can be reached at slatepolitics@gmail.com. Read his series on Risk. Follow him on Twitter.
David Plotz is the Editor of Slate. He's the author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank and Good Book. He appears on Slate's Political Gabfest.