SUMMARY: Why does the presidential political landscape look like it's been ripped from the ‘90s? And will Donald Trump inspire more celebrities to run for the highest office? New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd sits down with Gwen Ifill to discuss her new book, "The Year of Voting Dangerously," and what she thinks of politics today.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Now back to the campaign, this time through the eyes of a highly influential columnist who says she's never seen anything like it.
I sat down recently with New York Times writer Maureen Dowd about her new book, “The Year of Voting Dangerously.”
It is the latest addition to our series Political Ink.
You say, after years of covering these people, that President Obama is too cool, Hillary Clinton is too cold, and Donald Trump is way too hot. What's a voter to do?
MAUREEN DOWD, Author, “The Year of Voting Dangerously”: Where were you when I was writing my book blurb? That's perfect.
(LAUGHTER)
GWEN IFILL: Huh?
MAUREEN DOWD: Yes.
That's the wild thing about this election year. It's like the revenge of the '90s. All of those characters we started with are back, you know, in different capacities. Bill is back as first lady. Monica Lewinsky is back as a bullying advocate — anti-advocate.
And, you know, Hillary is back. Rudy Giuliani is back. Newt Gingrich is back. Seinfeld back, in the sense that Steve Bannon, who's running Trump's campaign, made all his money from Seinfeld.
GWEN IFILL: Oh, they're all back.
MAUREEN DOWD: They're all back.
GWEN IFILL: Well, as I read this book — and a lot of it is columns of yours I have read, one…
MAUREEN DOWD: And Trump.
GWEN IFILL: And Trump, of course.
MAUREEN DOWD: Sorry.
GWEN IFILL: One at a time. One at a time.
But when I read them again altogether, I come away with the impression you don't like any of these people.
SUMMARY: In “Hillbilly Elegy,” J.D. Vance explores life in some of the most geographically secluded parts of the country and the mountain of problems communities there are facing, from economic issues to drug addiction. The subject is a personal one for Vance, who was raised by his grandparents in Appalachia. Judy Woodruff sits down with him to discuss his experience and how these issues came to be.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Now, in this topsy-turvy election year, we have a timely portrait of Americans who are often ignored and misunderstood, depicted as only an insider could.
It's the first in an occasional series on books this election season we're calling Political Ink.
J.D. Vance, welcome to the NewsHour.
This book is many things, “Hillbilly Elegy,” but I think, amongst all else, it's a personal story. It's about growing up in Appalachia under what I think what everybody would agree difficult circumstances, raised by your grandparents, father who wasn't there, mother had an addiction.
I think, for most people, hard to write about these things, but not hard for you?
J.D. VANCE, Author, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis”: No, it was definitely hard.
I definitely struggled allotted with the intrusion and just being so open about my personal history and my family history. But I decided that, ultimately, it was worth it because I felt that a lot of these issues needed to be talked about. They needed to be talked about openly. And I couldn't think of a better way to do it than just be really honest about my own failings and my family's failings, because sometimes honesty is just the best policy, and that starts with me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, you do write very candidly about a rough-around-the-edges lifestyle, both in Kentucky and then when your family moved to Southern Ohio.
It's rough around the edges, but it's a life you love and a life you honor.
J.D. VANCE: Yes, absolutely.
There are good and bad parts of this community and of my own family, of course. And I try to be very frank about the problems, but also very compassionate, and also explain why so many of these people were so good to me and so important in my life, and, frankly, why I wouldn't have had the opportunities I have right now if it weren't for them.
I am Retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and a Vietnam Veteran. After my Navy retirement I was in the computer related industry, now retired. In 2000 I was a registered Republican and voted for George W. Bush. Six months of having Bush in the Whitehouse forced me to re-evaluate my political stance. I had always thought of myself as a Moderate Republican, but was a Republican by "default" NOT because of close examination of the GOP. Due to what has happened in America since 2000, I now consider myself a progressive, and registered as a Non-Affiliated voter.
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