IN A PIECE for “Good Morning America,” Luke Russert, son of the late journalist Tim Russert, spent time at the University in order to get a feel for the political environment among young people in a swing state prior to November’s election. In commenting on his experiences on Grounds, however, the younger Russert planted his foot square in his mouth by responding to Matt Lauer’s comment that our University is a “top-notch school,” with the outrageous statement that “the smartest kids in the state go there, so it’s leaning a little bit towards Obama.” Anyone at our University who actively supports John McCain, or who remains undecided, should be up in arms about this comment, as it reflects an increasingly pervasive idea that the Democratic Party is the home of the great minds of this country, while the Republican Party is full of backwards hicks who can barely string a sentence together (see popular portrayals of George W. Bush). While Tim Russert was widely praised for his lack of bias and for being above all things the consummate professional, his son betrays those principles and falls in step with a liberal bloc that seeks to characterize conservatives as unintelligent, and by that implication utterly incapable of choosing a leader based on his or her own merits.
The truly revealing part about this statement is how glibly it came off the tongue of young Russert (he’s 22 years old), revealing how fervently liberals have adopted this idea of the moron conservative. Even in his apology, as reported by the leftist Huffington Post, Russert came across as relatively unapologetic. While admitting that it was a “dumb comment,” he asserted again that “many of the kids who go to UVA are from affluent, highly educated households who are leaning Obama and hence their kids lean Obama.” While not an untrue statement, it still reeks of the arrogance displayed toward conservatives by the liberal intelligentsia, believing that highly educated people will naturally migrate toward Obama. Russert threw a bone to conservatives in adding that “plenty of smart college kids will vote for John McCain from UVA,” but followed this by discussing that fact that “smart kids” from Virginia Tech and George Mason could also form a part of the Obama base. Russert’s apology seems directed more at the intelligent students at other schools, intended more to dispel a sense of University elitism than to assuage intelligent conservatives and counter the sense of liberal elitism.
We conservatives, however, are more than a little tired of enduring expressions of liberal disdain (although they make for a nice little bit of righteous indignation every once in a while). A case in point: in the same Huffington Post article which discusses the Russert gaffe, the commentator discusses (albeit in a tongue-in-cheek manner) whether the University ought to even be considered a “smart school.” The evidence given for questioning the University’s qualifications? When he was an undergrad, some people suggested to him that students might vote for Ross Perot. Additional evidence required? George Allen is an alumnus (never mind that the exact quote from the Huffington Post says “a alumni,” which even my Word spell-checker is currently telling me is incorrect). The link binding Ross Perot and George Allen? Both are conservatives. Even when pointing out the problems with biased comments like Russert’s, the liberal feeling of superiority cannot help but reveal itself.
Even the Obama beloved by those really smart liberals is not immune from similar presumptions. Let us revisit his assertion during primary season that small-town people “get bitter” and “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Clearly the only reason for supporting guns or being religious or being anti-immigration or anti-trade is out of bitterness, and not out of well-reasoned ideological positions. Decidedly not. And clearly people who like guns and religion dislike people not like them. If only we were all as enlightened as Barack, or the liberal, wealthy California donors to whom he was speaking, we could be done with the election formality and just proclaim Obama our leader.
Luke Russert’s comments hit home so closely because he was speaking about people at our University, people we know, and daring to imply that if they are smart, they will lean towards Obama. But his statements are merely symptomatic of a wider problem, and project an ignorance that fair-minded observers ought to consider just as troubling as the purported conservative stupidity.
Robby Colby’s column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at r.colby@cavalierdaily.com.
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