Seasoned journalist Gwen Ifill delivered a humorous and insightful lecture Thursday on the disconnect between Washington and the American public.
Ifill, who is the moderator of PBS' "Washington Week" and a senior correspondent for "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," spoke to an overflowing audience in Filene Auditorium roaring with laughter as she reflected on her experiences as a political journalist, which included questioning vice presidential candidates in their debate last October.
From her place across the table from Dick Cheney and John Edwards, which she wryly described as "not everybody's idea of good time," Ifill exhibited an intelligent, no-nonsense manner as she questioned the candidates. Ifill displayed the same characteristics with a healthy dose of humor in her lecture titled, "Race, Culture and Politics in the Wake of the 2004 Election."
"What I didn't get much of, you might have noticed, were answers," she said. "For many Americans, what happens in Washington simply doesn't relate."
While Sept. 11 made many pay more attention to politics, Ifill said the disconnect between the American public and the politicians in Washington has persisted.
"Now we all get why Washington matters, but the question is whether Washington gets it too," she said.
According to Ifill, this alienation stems from the public's distrust of Washington and the candidates that vie for votes every four years.
Ifill recalled an interview she conducted while in Ohio for the 2004 election. She met a steel worker in a supermarket who was over 50, had been unemployed for 11 years and was a staunch union member. But while his background would suggest a Democrat, he told her he was going to vote for Bush because he trusted the president.
In her view, the worker was an example of the American voters who won the election for Bush. Without voter trust, which she calls "a non-political way to talk about moral values," Ifill said she believes it is close to impossible to defeat an incumbent president.
"People must feel their lives are not going well and a change is necessary," Ifill said. "If the change is not compelling, then it's easy to fall back on things."
Yet the self-described idealist gave a great amount of credit to the American public, which she said has greater access to information than ever before.
According to Ifill, Americans are realizing that everything boils down to politics, including small issues and large ones such as the ongoing debate over revamping the Social Security system.
"As questions get tougher to ask and answers get tougher to take, you have to keep asking," she said.
Despite candidates' frequent dodging of questions, Ifill emphasized the importance of continued political inspection. She also addressed her fear that the American citizenry has become so polarized it cannot engage in reasoned debate. Ifill urged people to talk to each other and engage in political debate to overcome the divisions between red and blue that have characterized the country.
"Adopt a Democrat or a Republican!" she said with a laugh.
