Does Anyone Know If Cokie Roberts Is A Hillary Supporter? Who Else Noticed On "This Week"

[malik flavors]

that she was really gun ho for Hillary? I've always sensed that she was a little biased towards Hillary, but today I don't even think she was trying to hide it. Has she come out as a Clinton supporter, or is she not into the whole full disclosure stuff?

You can watch the roundtable here: http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek

Even Sam Donaldson and George Will were a little rough this week, and George Will usually seems to side with Obama. Sam Donaldson can go either way, just depends on how he's feeling it seems.

[goclark]

1. Isn't she the child of a politician

I always thought she was Hillary Light or McCain

[Benhurst]

9. She is the daughter of Democratic of House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-La)

who disappeared in September of 1972 flying over Alaska on a junket with a fellow congressman. The plane was never found.
Her mother Lindy Boggs went on to serve as a member of Congress from La and as our ambassador to the Vatican.

A rabid right-winger, Cookie is probably hoping McCain will win, but she will sneakily do whatever she can to damage our nominee no matter who he or she is, all the while trying to appear "professional" and "objective."

[MADem]

12. Rabid right winger? Who writes books about "Founding MOTHERS?"

FWIW, it's COKIE, not "Cookie."

She isn't a journalist, she's an analyst, a pundit. She's a cancer survivor as well.

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/2004/roberts.html
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=006009026X
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_3_1x_TV_News_Analyst_Cokie_Roberts_Battles_Breast_Cancer.asp

[defendandprotect]

14. Why couldn't a right-winger write a history of "Founding Mothers" . . ???

Pretty much all of our history is written by white males ---

What's the difference?


Just want to add that she had a sister who, if I recall correctly, also had some form of cancer.
I believe she had an eye removed because of it ---?

[MADem]

16. Because they don't believe women have the ability to "found" anything.

Except maybe a Garden Club, or a "Christmas Cookie Exchange." Even the rabid right wing women like Coulter and Malkin hold themselves up as "exceptions" to the rule, not mere "mortal women" like the rank-n-file that they subtly sneer at. They never curry the favor of "rightwing women"--they just want to be the only female in the Boy's Club, as if that conveys some sort of "power." It's noticeable, how they act.

The Rabid Right believes most women should remain barefoot, pregnant and up to their elbows in dishwater.

I don't think Cokie is a rabid rightwinger. I could be wrong, but she doesn't come across that way. Her parents were both Democrats.

And wasn't it Bill Clinton that appointed her mother as Ambassador to the Vatican?

[Benhurst]

20. Ah, I wasn't thinking from a woman's perspective when I wrote "rabid".

I tend to think of any neo-con as a rabid right winger. But I can see your point.

She makes a great effort to appear professional and objective, but somehow always comes down with the "reasonable" right-wing position. :rofl:

Yes, it was Bill Clinton who appointed her mother.

[MADem]

23. I think having a female and a black candidate running has been instructive for America as a whole.

All those gender and race issues get stirred up and brought to the fore, and cause us to think outside our normal paradigms. It's a good thing, in the long view.

As for Cokie, maybe she is just a chip off the old block--a slightly right of center, "coming around" Southern Democrat. Like Dad. Like Mom.

That isn't a "rabid Republican" though....

[defendandprotect]

30. They believe in writing books and picking up money ---

and pretending ---

Notice even those who support "subservience" of women will try to convince you that . . .
"it's a good thing" . . . !!!

[MADem]

32. Well, her book isn't about "subservience" in any way, shape or form. NT

[defendandprotect]

49. Also, look at Lynnne Cheney's book about lesbianism . . .

these are people who move to power groups because it pays, not always because it's what they
really believe.

Cokie, for one, obviously believes in conflicting values ---
She's a Republican, but she lives her own life as a woman in the world.
Not subserviently.

There are also many questions about her father's death after challenging on the JFK coup;
a reality which she ignores to stay connected with that power group.

[MADem]

51. No one has proved to me that Cokie Roberts is a Republican here.

Not a single person. No evidence--just insulting terms directed at her and a lot of ... insistence.


I'm not buying it. She's an analyst. If she calls it as she sees it, and not necessarily the way she "likes" it, she's being true to her profession. She's not a "touter" or a partisan cheerleader--she is an analyst.

For example, I am a Democrat, Elliot Spitzer is a Democrat. Today, I say Elliot is in VERY hot water and has a rough road ahead of him. Does that make me a Republican because I say something that could be perceived as "negative" against a Democrat, and that I call it like I see it?

:eyes:

[defendandprotect]

52. Five minutes of any of the nonsense on TV --- including Cokie ---

means in decades I've not watched any of it . . .

However, I think you are ignoring what others who do watch and hear what positions Cokie supports
are saying ---

She sounds like a Repug ---

Re your Spitzer analogy --- who would think anything so weird ==???

On the other hand, there are idiots here at DU who think if you criticize Hillary's positons, or Bill's behavior, that you're a Repug troll --- !!!

[MADem]

54. My analogy was an effort to explain the way some people think here.

The "No Dissent" crowd, who don't allow any critique whatsoever, no matter how well deserved, if the person has a (D) after their name.

If you point something out that is obvious to a blind pig, if it goes against their party or, in this primary season, their particular favorite, they toss the "freeper" bomb.

That goes for Obama supporters too, certainly. There are more of them here, and they're not shy.

I'm not suggesting Cokie is to the left of Kucinich by any stretch. I think she is a moderate to conservative person (like Jack Murtha for example), but I don't think her party affiliation is determinable at all by her commentary.

It wouldn't surprise me if she's an independent, or an "unaffiliated."

[defendandprotect]

55. And who does Cokie work for . . . ????

[MADem]

56. Alan Colmes works for Fox. Where people get their paychecks is pretty damned meaningless in many

cases.

Unless she gets a salary from the RNC, and that's not the case.

[defendandprotect]

57. Really . .. !!! Don't think so . ..

Unfortunately, we have corporate media working for the criminals in the White House in the main.
And, they certainly don't hire employees who don't agree with their goals.

We're not sure where many, many journalists have gotten their $$ in these last decades ---
whether from CIA or anyone else.

[MADem]

58. Well, I think so. And so do the viewers of that dreadful program.

http://www.foxnews.com/hannityandcolmes/

Not everyone works their "dream job." Gotta pay the rent.

[defendandprotect]

59. Don't think that either Roberts has any problem with the rent . . .

How did we get to Faux News --- ?

Doesn't Cokie work for ABC --- ???

[MADem]

60. Alan Colmes, a Democrat, works for Fox.

The point I made above (reread, perhaps?) was that you can't judge someone's political affiliation by their employer.

[defendandprotect]

61. Whose Alan Colmes?

I think I made clear that the point is that corporations hire people who carry out their commands --- not people with independent ideas or ideals ---

We have right-wing corporations controlling the "news" ---
they hire right-wing people -- or people who are willing to betray their true convictions for
higher salaries.

As far as I can see from what I've looked at re Cokie --- and I don't find her a pleasant subject --
she's described as "C/R" --- as far as what I can see from what people who watch programs she's on, she's described as same.

And, if I recall correctly, Steve is described as "R" ...

But -- no $$ problems there for either of them ---


PS: Colmes/Fox . . . do you watch Fox News????

[MADem]

65. If you refuse to read for comprehension, I won't continue to engage you.

I don't watch Fox, I read Al Franken. He's the fellow who is running for Senate and had an amusing riff about Hannity and Colmes in one of his books.

PSSST--your pathetic little primary school effort to "suggest" in rather dire fashion that I watch the channel is noted, with a mixture of derision and amusement.

You still haven't proven anything. I doubt you ever will.

You're just providing your rather uninformed and unsupported "opinion" and "casting aspersions"--a popular pastime here.

[Benhurst]

17. Your right about her name,

but I like Cookie better. :rofl: And she is a right-winger.

[MADem]

21. Why did a Democratic president appoint her mom as Ambassador, then?

Her father was a Democrat, too. He was one of those early, forties-era, anti-desegregation types, though, but he gradually "came around" to political reality and supported voting rights and civil rights legislation, too.

If it weren't for Hale Boggs, who was the cat herder of the House in his time (Majority Whip) and was a whiz at "shepherding legislation," all of LBJ's "Great Society" legislation may not have come to pass.

I'm going to disagree with your assessment. I just haven't seen any evidence to back it up.

[Benhurst]

25. She is to the right of both her late father and late mother.

I have no idea why. Her father died before the rise of the Republican party in the South. He was rumored to be on the verge of coming out against the Viet Nam war, and I know from my personal experience working on the Hill that he became quite paranoid (justifiably?) about being spied upon during his last days there.

Her mother remained a Democrat, though, and she never struck me as being particularly right-wing.

[MADem]

27. No, her father died in 72. Nixon's "southern strategy" was a fait accompli in 68.

Hale was a Democrat up until the day his plane disappeared. He wasn't sufficiently left wingish to suit most here, but he was a Democrat. If he'd been inclined to flip to the GOP, he would have done it by then.

Also, it was the Democrats who opposed the Vietnam misadventures, not the GOP--they stuck with that domino theory crap until the bitter end.

Sorry, I just can't buy it. I think she's a Murtha-ish Democrat, "strong defense, lobbyists aren't so bad, conservative values" adherent of that 'wing' of the party, generally speaking.

[Benhurst]

34. No, it took many years to play out. The Georgia delegation was

still controlled by Democrats in 1976, as were those of other Southern states; but the changeover to the Dixiecrats Without Sheets known as the Southern Republicans was underway.

[MADem]

53. You're mistaken. Your facts are out of order. As for GA, one exception does not prove the rule.

Note the recent past makeup of the Senatorial delegation. Max Cleland??? Zell Miller??

One state--one with a high African American voting population, for that matter, doesn't make "the south."

Nixon was elected in 68 with the Southern Strategy. That's HOW he won.

You're just off by an ENTIRE decade. The strategy actually "took hold" in 1964, in the wake of JFK and that "traitor" LBJ's civil rights initiatives.


Here's an article about the ARCHITECT--a feller named Harry Dent--of the strategy--the guy's obit actually (he died recently) : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/us/02dent.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Mr. Thurmond became a Republican and campaigned for his new party’s presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater, in 1964. Goldwater was beaten overwhelmingly by Johnson, but he did carry five states in the Deep South. He had campaigned in part on “states’ rights,” and he had voted against civil rights legislation, facts not lost on vote-counters in either party.

Four years later, Mr. Thurmond helped hold much of the region for Nixon by reassuring Southerners that, as president, he would not be too aggressive on civil rights issues. George C. Wallace of Alabama won five states in the Deep South, but Nixon’s strength elsewhere in the region was crucial to his narrow victory over Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.

Mr. Dent has been described as having helped articulate the Southern strategy. Its detractors call it racism cloaked in code words like “law and order.” Its advocates call it a legitimate appeal to people left on the sidelines while other groups benefit from affirmative action and government aid programs.

In any event, the strategy was credited with the Nixon victory, and Mr. Dent was rewarded with a post as special counsel and political strategist to the new president. Mr. Dent worked in the White House for four years, also finding time to work on the image of his old boss Mr. Thurmond.

[defendandprotect]

13. Agree . . . except that the death of the father was considered

mytsterious .... after he had revealed Hoover's blackmailing treacery on the floor of the House --
IF I RECALL CORRECTLY --

Boggs had been on the Warren Commission and was raising a lot of questions about the findings, etal.

I think the family got the message and they've stayed on the r-w track ---

[Hart2008]

41. She is the sister of Tommy Boggs, a major DC lobbyist.

Thomas Hale Boggs Jr. (known as Tommy Boggs), a prominent and controversial lobbyist is the son of the late Hale Boggs and former ambassador Lindy Boggs. He is a partner at the law firm Patton Boggs LLP.

His late sister, Barbara Boggs Sigmund, was Mayor of Princeton, New Jersey, and another sister is Cokie Roberts, Capitol Hill correspondent for ABC News and National Public Radio. His brother-in-law is Steven V. Roberts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Boggs

Cokie is the D.C. establishment.

I know that Tommy Boggs tried leaving a big check with Hart's administrative assistant, and it was refused:

They'd just go in, make their case and on the way out toss this check: "Here's to the Senator's reelection." I had no idea. And he said "You were the last guy in Washington not to do that." He said I had guys, Tommy Boggs and others, who said "Of course, we want to contribute to the Senator's reelection race." And he said, no, no, no, he doesn't do that. And it made them mad. It made them mad. So that was the beginning. And I think I was beginning to feel so teeth-grating about it, that I didn't like it. I was not looking forward to the 1988 race in part because of that.

Where the New Democrats went wrong
http://dir.salon.com/story/politics/feature/2000/08/15/hart/index1.html?pn=1

Cokie hated Hart because he wouldn't take money from her brother's lobbying firm, and it showed in all of her reporting and comments.

[babylonsister]

2. IMO she's a repub who wants Clinton in, like most other rethugs.

And that is the dialogue the m$m is trying to go with, but with limited success.

[harun]

40. That's my opinion as well. She is a RW'r who likes Hillary's DLC agenda (n/t)

[JimGinPA]

3. Cokie Has Always Been Repub, Therefore For HRC Now...

They all know the only way they have a chance to win.

[Guava Jelly]

4. Cokie is a republican schill

Has been for years

[John Q. Citizen]

5. She's a Neo-con, so she's a lot more comfortable with Hill than with Obama

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DJ13]

7. Steve & Cokie Roberts: Listen, ladies: Hillary is still ‘the franchise player’

Published: 02/29/2008

http://www.mdjonline.com/content/index/showcontentitem/area/1/section/22/item/106113.html
Marietta Daily Journal - Steve & Cokie Roberts: Listen, ladies: Hillary is still ‘the franchise player’


A somewhat balanced article, but the subject of their attention was Hillary, and its nothing more than an inward reflection of why Hillary isnt doing very well while failing to actually give much credit to Obama.

[bluerum]

8. Cokie robberts is a RW shill. Get over it.

[JaneQPublic]

10. Cokie's "astute" analysis months ago regarding Rudy:

On NPR she said Rudy will ultimately prove he was very clever to wait until Florida to begin his campaign.

And to think she gets paid for that kind of insight!

[Olney Blue]

11. George Will is NOT a friend of Obama. (or any other liberal)

[MADem]

19. George Will FUCKED Jimmy Carter. Amazing how far people will stretch to try to prove a point. NT

[defendandprotect]

15. Also isn't Cokie's brother one of the biggest LOBBYISTS on the Hill----???

Playing both sides of the fence, of course . . . !!!

[MADem]

28. Probably not quite as big as say, Tom Daschle's wife, or Jack Murtha's brother.

Gotta be careful with that broad brush.

[defendandprotect]

29. Cokie's brother, Tommy Boggs is "super-lobbyist" credited with crippling Clinton's presidency --

Also with stopping Clinton health care and malpractice reform among other adventures via Patton, Boggs & Blow --
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n4_v27/ai_16827472/pg_2

Tommy Boggs is referred to as a "super-lobbyist" . . .

Although a "lifelong Democrat" ---

Helping Defeat 1990s Healthcare Reforms

The 1990s saw another Democrat, Bill Clinton, take the presidency but, while the White House may have been in the hands of the Democrats, control of the Congress was swinging to the Republicans. Thus, Patton Boggs made a concerted effort to bring in more Republican-connected attorneys to bolster its lobbying business.

Looking pretty powerful here as the firm is credited with "crippling Clinton's presidency" ....
*****************************************************************************************

Democratic ties not withstanding, Patton Boggs played a major role in thwarting Clinton's effort to implement healthcare reforms, a defeat that crippled his presidency and led to the Democrats losing the House to Republicans in 1994. Patton Boggs's clients in this fight included the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, opposed to the concept of limiting the amount a victim could collect in a malpractice lawsuit, and The National Association of Life Underwriters and the National Association of Health Underwriters, threatened by the idea of mandatory alliances, which would eliminate their lucrative middleman role because consumers would now be able to negotiate directly with purchasing alliances. Despite overwhelming public support for the proposals, all of the reforms were successfully bottled up in committee and no bills were ever passed. According to a 1995 Washington Monthly article, "Not only did victory confirm their reputation, but the total defeat of all health reform also means that the issue will come around again, and with it, another rush of clients paying top prices to have Patton Boggs on their side. Healthcare reform took good care of Patton Boggs. The firm's total revenue shot up 25 percent in two years, from $49 million to $61 million."


Other major work for Patton Boggs during the 1990s was a private sector effort to eliminate the 20-year-ban on the export of Alaska North Slope crude oil; retailers' efforts to block quotas on textile imports; the advertising industry's fight to ward off tax increases; and efforts related to the passage of major international trade agreements, GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). The 1990s also saw organizational changes at Patton Boggs. In 1992 the firm hired Dallas-area attorneys with financial service expertise and opened a Dallas office. Blow retired in 1993; later in the decade the firm assumed the name of Patton Boggs LLP. In 1997 the firm's current managing partner, Stuart Pape, took charge; he had joined Patton Boggs in 1980 after working for the Food and Drug Administration, an example of the firm luring away attorneys who possessed inside knowledge about specific subjects. In addition to Dallas, Patton Boggs opened offices in Anchorage and Denver.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Patton-Boggs-LLP-Company-History.html

[MADem]

31. Well, the President didn't take it out on the whole family, certainly.

http://www.lpb.org/programs/lindyboggs/

Mrs. Boggs was appointed Ambassador to the Vatican by President Bill Clinton in 1997, and she served that diplomatic post until 2001.

[defendandprotect]

50. That's politics . . . look who's Bill's bosom buddy now . . . Poppy Bush --- !!!

[Crunchy Frog]

18. I'm pretty sure that she's a Repuke.

I expect she'll be supporting McCain, though without trying to be too obvious about it.

[AlinPA]

22. She is a republican. I've listened to her on NPR and it is obvious.

[RBInMaine]

24. She's a bony-assed right-leaning corporate media lackey turd !

I can't stand her ! I saw this crap ! She totally trashed Obama (well, most of the corporate media whores have been doing so anyway - it's totally sickening, this OBVIOUS bias in the corporate right wing media totally ignoring all of the mounds and mounds of Clinton shit and gunning for Obama.) I emailed and complained on this one though as it was so obvious and so blatantly biased. Well, it just makes me want to make more calls for Obama and send more money. But please, don't be afraid to go to their site and shoot them a nasty-gram about
"bony-ass". Can't hurt.

[malik flavors]

26. Thanks for the info. I knew something was funny about her.

[libbygurl]

47. Yeah, she makes me laugh all the time.

nt

[bklyncowgirl]

33. Cokie Roberts will always support the establishment candidate against the 'shudder' reform candidate

She's a creature of the DC establishment who probably has not spoken to anyone who lives outside of the Beltway in years.

[SoxFan]

36. WE HAVE A WINNER!

It frustrates me when people try to cram everything into a "Left vs Right" box. In Cokie's case, liberalism and conservatism aren't really an issue. It's insider vs outsider. The Boggs family has been part of the DC and NOLA elite for decades; her parents were both members of Congress, and her brother is superlobbyist Tommy Boggs. As a result, Cokie's views reflect a desire to go with the safe, establishment person or perspective.

[bklyncowgirl]

46. You've got to be a member of the club.

The Clinton's are members of the club--Obama is not.

[redqueen]

35. Well she is very much conservative, even if she calls herself a Dem.

Blue dogs... whaddayagonnado?

[SoxFan]

37. Establishmentarian

She's Establishment. Sometimes that can mean liberal, other times conservative, but what matters is defending the safe, established status quo.

[redqueen]

39. Well I disagree that that word could ever have referred to a liberal in this country...

as there has never been a liberal establishment / status quo.

[SoxFan]

44. Social Issues

The elites in places like DC and NYC may be economically conservative, but they tend to skew hard to the left when it comes to social issues, particularly those that are pelvic in nature, like abortion and gay rights. You won't find a lot of pro-life sentiment on Wall Street or K Street.

[redqueen]

45. Well liberalism is more than just social liberalism...

and it's economic liberalism that has suffered the most during the recent encroachment in the party by neo-liberal politicians.

[pompano]

38. Negative News sells....

Hillary is if nothing else, polarizing.

The Clintons of the past never gave a news reporter a day off from the scandals to report. Whether justified or not to the reporters it was job security plus.

They have already tested the water, smell a little food, and now know one investigated scandal after another secures their jobs through 2012.

Little do they know that once the Republicans get Obama out of the way they'll see Hillary as worse than yeastedays garbage (figure of speech), get McCain in and do what they do best...covering crimes and bankrupting the country.

It's all in the script. Some of us are smarter enough to see it, others are so emotional they can't.

[Beacool]

42. Are Cokie, Donaldson and the rest obligated to support Obama?

For months the punditry at large has bashed Hillary, particularly on MSNBC. I didn't hear one Obama supporter complain about that and notice that most of the attacks were on a personal level and not for her stance on the issues. If some of them are finally realizing that maybe they should do a little more balance reporting, then it's about time!!!

[libbygurl]

43. Why do you ask? Is it a crime now on DU?

Grow up, babies.

[demokatgurrl]

48. Cokie Roberts is a media whore. And probably a repuke. n/t

[Barack_America]

62. I don't think she is partial to Hillary, but she is strongly for a female President.

Thus, she defends Hillary.

That's my opinion, anyhow.

[defendandprotect]

63. It's been years since I've seen Cokie, but she always seemed to be

faking feminism while supporting the right ---

There was also a period --- and it had to have been rather brief -- when she seemed to be trying
to move Steven up into the higher paid circles of TV journalism and it seemed to be failing badly.

[defendandprotect]

64. Probably someone like Margaret Thatcher . . . !!!