David Brooks Gives an Insider's View of the Presidential Race

Brooks began by extolling the value of an education like the one which students receive at Newman. He told an interesting anecdote about an experiment once conducted where children were seated in a room with either an Oreo or a marshmallow and told not to eat it. Those children who could wait as long as seven or eight minutes were, later in life, more successful and had higher incomes. Those who could not wait were less successful and experienced higher incarceration rates and higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse. “If you have strategies to control your impulses, you will do well in life,” Brooks said. “These strategies come from relationships with loving adults.”

Later, when Brooks was taking questions, Senior Aaron Steeg asked, “How many people in DC would be able to wait to eat the marshmallow?”

Senior Drew Starling asked where Obama stood on teacher’s unions. Brooks was not sure.

Brooks lamented the “wildly unequal educational systems” in this country and said that bad schools lead to whole classes of people who have no impulse control.

He spoke briefly about Billy Fitzgerald, whom he had heard about through his friend Michael Lewis ’78, the bestselling author who wrote a book about Coach Fitz. “He is the kind of figure that changes schools and changes lives,” he said.

He went on to delve into the meat of his talk: Politics and specifically the election. He said he has learned that government and politics are “98 percent personality, relationships and character.” He has also learned that “politicians are almost without exception emotional basket cases. They are afraid to be alone and they will violate your personal space when you meet them. They need to be around people all the time.”

On the other hand, there is an essential pure impulse in politicians: “It’s not that glamorous being a politician. They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t think they were changing the country.”

Brooks talked about the many times he has met and interviewed President Bush. “He is about 60 IQ points smarter than you think he is. Which, for my Democratic friends, means he has an IQ of about 80.” He said Bush can talk about books and foreign policy in a much more fluid and knowledgeable way than he ever does in public.

Brooks discussed the pros and cons of each candidate and said that in his opinion, John McCain and Barack Obama are among the finest politicians we have, Brooks said.

“But they genuinely dislike each other.”

He wrapped up by saying that even at this time of economic turmoil, he feels optimistic about the country. Why? “People under 30,” he said. “Teen violence is down 50%. Teen pregnancy is down a third, as are teenage abortion rates. Divorce rates are lower among younger people. And community service rates are phenomenal in people under 30. It’s a wholesome, hardworking, conscientious generation. You are all going to have the biggest midlife crisis in history. But until then, I look forward to getting to know you.”

During the Q&A period, Senior Jay Howard asked, “Do you like Lincoln?”

When Brooks said yes, Jay then asked, “Well didn’t Lincoln also have no experience and no real knowledge of economics, just like Obama?”

“That’s not fair!” said Brooks, feigning indignation. He went on to admire the Socratic method of Jay’s questioning, but he also said Obama is no Abraham Lincoln.

Many thanks to Newman parent Debbie Casey for asking Brooks to speak at Newman, and many thanks to the Newman Parents Association for organizing this special event!