Does this dismissive, elitist attitude on pop culture come from underestimating the intelligence of the American people?
My experience of Washington is that it has people who are incredibly knowledgeable about federal policy, laws and political culture. They’re experts in the business of a company town, which is business that affects everybody in the United States and everybody in the world. Culturally, it’s a very unsophisticated place. It’s not a place where you can see cutting-edge theater, eat in the greatest restaurants. It doesn’t produce great poets. Yet people in Washington, because they have political power, believe that everything about them is the height of sophistication. They are incredibly sophisticated about tax policy and healthcare policy and Middle East policy. But they are not sophisticated about culture. So there’s an arrogance there. I think they misread the country when it comes to culture. Not all of them do, but certainly the Lieberman types, and the people who think what Lieberman’s doing is so pragmatic. I just think, if they’re so pragmatic, how come they lost? They lost the Co
