NBC's Luke Russert Apologizes For Suggesting "Smart" UVA Kids Lean Obama
NBC's Luke Russert has apologized for remarks he made on the Today Show, in which he implied that students at the University of Virginia are breaking toward Obama by dint of their being smart. Here's the statement he made on First Read:
Earlier this morning on the Today Show I misspoke and made what is without a doubt, quite simply a dumb comment.
Matt Lauer talked about UVA being a smart school and whether or not it could be considered a microcosm of Virginia at large. I said UVA had a lot of smart kids and so the school was leaning Obama.I MEANT to say 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. Plenty of smart college kids will vote for John McCain from UVA, and plenty of smart kids go to Virginia Tech or George Mason and they, too, could end up being big Obama voters.
As an alumni of the aforementioned University -- where all students express their shared bond of elitism by referring to the campus as "the Grounds" and in which students fight to live in a bunch of dilapidated dorm rooms that require them to walk outside to use a toilet -- this obviously hits me pretty close to home. Russert is right to make the correction: based upon my experience at the University (that's how we refer to it! Elitists, remember?), there are plenty of conservatives there enrolled as students. Smart ones, too! So it's just incorrect to label the school as a hotbed of liberalism...though I'd still wager the student body, on balance, will likely break for Obama.
But is it fair for Russert to imply that UVA is a "smart school?" (And is it helpful? We are after all, in dire need of a quarterback right now!) Here's a story: in 1992, on the eve of the election, I had a fellow student tell me, in all seriousness, "Let me tell you. Tomorrow, Americans are going to go to the polls. They are going to ponder their choices, think about the issues that matter to them, think about the values they hold dear, and you watch -- in massive numbers, they are going to pull the lever for Ross Perot."
Also, George Allen is a alumni. So, if we're being honest, let's face it: the University of Virginia enrolls plenty of dumbasses. (Yes, commenters, probably myself included.)
Watch Russert's UVA report ("smart" comment at the tail end of the segment):
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First Posted: 09-24-08 03:59 PM | Updated: 10-25-08 05:12 AM