as an i italian-american i would be incredibly insulted of rudy giuliano -- rudy guiliani are mario cuomo used an italian accent to appeal to my a better nature. professor cornell west don't use black english or tavis smiley except for emphasis would you address that issue by the mechanism is so popular and in use? >> guest: that is a fine question. when the president of the united states when they get before an audience they try to figure out how to connect with the audience. that is pretty typical in terms of people trying to be persuasive. when black politicians are more predominantly black church or the naacp or another organization, they will often speak in a way or make allusions a reference is they think that will connect with the audience. there is a fine line between doing that and engaging in unattractive pandering. it is a fine line in sometimes people go over the line, but by and large when the president changes his diction and a little bit, what he is doing is what politicians typically do. not just politicians. if i am speaking to my audience at harvard law school i will oft

as an i italian-american i would be incredibly insulted of rudy giuliano -- rudy guiliani are mario cuomo used an italian accent to appeal to my a better nature. professor cornell west don't use black english or tavis smiley except for emphasis would you address that issue by the mechanism is so popular and in use? >> guest: that is a fine question. when the president of the united states when they get before an audience they try to figure out how to connect with the audience. that is pretty typical in terms of people trying to be persuasive. when black politicians are more predominantly black church or the naacp or another organization, they will often speak in a way or make allusions a reference is they think that will connect with the audience. there is a fine line between doing that and engaging in unattractive pandering. it is a fine line in sometimes people go over the line, but by and large when the president changes his diction and a little bit, what he is doing is what politicians typically do. not just politicians. if i am speaking to my audience at harvard law school i will oft

people didn't want bill clinton in 1992, they wanted mario cuomo.as not pure enough on the ideological. >> his numbers haven't moved. >> but he ended up -- what is there, eight or nine candidates? and by the way, the whole narrative again on the left that somehow conservatives don't like romney doesn't play out in the polls. >> his numbers haven't moved, rick lazio. in all of the polls -- wait a minute. just a second. >> sure. >> he does not move -- >> let me tell you -- >> if i leave out of this studio, get in the car, pull up to the corner and i'm still sitting there five hours later, i can't say i'm consistent. i'm stuck. he can't move. that's not progress. >> bur you're looking -- here's what i would say. forget about the national numbers right now, which is what you're pointing out for a republican primarily that hasn't even picked a candidate. look at the early states where he has a dominant position, for example, in new hampshire. he's got a huge lead in new hampshire. he's lot a lead in sock second quarter, nevada, in michigan. >> governor,

after all school he began to get involved in public policy matters, but also worked for mario cuomo in the early 1990's, and then was recruited in the new caucus campaign to work for bill clinton and he ran the economic policy unit of the clinton campaign in 1992. when he left the clinton administration, he joined the workings as a scholar and the council on foreign relations and set up a center for universal education to help children around the world make sure they get education. he spent time as a consultant to the west -- to "the west wing." he was interviewed by a writer and the writer subsequently became his wife. gene is now married with two children. he resides in washington now and is well known, i think, for his enormous encyclopedic knowledge of economic policy. he spent 11 years working on economic policy matters, but also for his workaholic tendencies. for the last 11 years he probably per hour is the least well a person in washington, d.c. it is our great pleasure to have a gene make a presentation, and later we will have questions and answers. gene? >> thank you, david.

mario cuomo had this issue come up when he was governor of new york and he was running again and someyou know, you've got to change your mind on the death penalty and be for the death penalty, most new yorkers are. and he wouldn't do it. and he sat with us in the statehouse and he said, if you change your mind on something that fundamental, people won't trust you again. you're not going to win over the people whose side you went over to and you're going to lose the people who were with you before. and people just want to know who you are, particularly on things like abortion and gay rights that mitt romney has flipped on. and that's what's giving him problems with his own base. but i think it's going to give him problems next year as well. the economy is not going to be obama's strong suit next year. that's what he's going to have to do. >> sam, it's interesting that parties who think the other side might have gone too far to the right or too far to the left have still decided to hit the opponent on being a flip-flopper. i'm thinking back to the mcgovern campaign in '72, the nixon cam

you have worked for mario cuomo, obama, and bill clinton. >> that would be a great question to answer[laughter] up there with who you love more, mom or dad? greta and your answer to that question is? >> my answer to that question is that i have lived a charmed life as a progressive policy wonk. the privilege i have had to work for people who are of such intelligence and commitment. that is not to say that there are not other people who would be great leaders to work for, but all of them were so intelligent, so thoughtful, so interested in the details of public policy. when i was asked about ron barack's book about obama, i was so upset about the thesis that he was being dragged along by others. i sat in march in a six-hour meeting in the roosevelt room on whether we should go forward with our stress test. the fact that the economic team did not totally agree to meant that the president had to sit there at the most complex financial issues imaginable and go back and forth quizzing some of the top economists and financial experts in the world and then making what ultimately proved to be

most people were gearing up for this is the logical, generational battle come up with mario cuomo of perhaps representing the old new deal consensus and clinton running as a centrist new generation new democrat. instead, your main rival became paul tsongas, who came at of the neo-liberal strain, who ran at mostly from the center, in many ways. how much did that scramble your calculations and change your approach to the way that he presented himself to the electorate? >> first, we had some defense before the primary that scrambled that more than paul tsongas did. [laughter] one of the things -- and i think anybody who has worked a presidential campaign, everybody talks about the general. the general is actually kind of easy. you have airplanes and staff and funding and you land at one place and sleep in the same bed every night. the primary is just always going. it is like harry thomason's airplane, sitting in their pact, going to new hampshire, four- hour flight, freezing cold. you would have staff meetings at 2:00 in the morning. >> no lunchtime. >> the thing that struck me was unbe

you have worked for mario cuomo, obama, and bill clinton. >> that would be a great question to answer. [laughter] up there with who you love more, mom or dad? greta and your answer to that question is? >> my answer to that question is that i have lived a charmed life as a progressive policy wonk. the privilege i have had to work for people who are of such intelligence and commitment. that is not to say that there are not other people who would be great leaders to work for, but all of them were so intelligent, so thoughtful, so interested in the details of public policy. when i was asked about ron barack's book about obama, i was so upset about the thesis that he was being dragged along by others. i sat in march in a six-hour meeting in the roosevelt room on whether we should go forward with our stress test. the fact that the economic team did not totally agree to meant that the president had to sit there at the most complex financial issues imaginable and go back and forth quizzing some of the top economists and financial experts in the world and then making what ultimately proved to

you have worked for mario cuomo, obama, and bill clinton. >> that would be a great question to answer. [laughter] up there with who you love more, mom or dad? greta and your answer to that question is? >> my answer to that question is that i have lived a charmed life as a progressive policy wonk. the privilege i have had to work for people who are of such intelligence and commitment. that is not to say that there are not other people who would be great leaders to work for, but all of them were so intelligent, so thoughtful, so interested in the details of public policy. when i was asked about ron barack's book about obama, i was so upset about the thesis that he was being dragged along by others. i sat in march in a six-hour meeting in the roosevelt room on whether we should go forward with our stress test. the fact that the economic team did not totally agree to meant that the president had to sit there at the most complex financial issues imaginable and go back and forth quizzing some of the top economists and financial experts in the world and then making what ultimately proved to