Don't let the shiny, sequined baby-blue suits, white shoes, and bell-bottom pants get your distracted. There are some powerful truths about money in our culture being spoken by the O'Jays in that song, "For the Love of Money." For one, people do bad things (or thangs) with it. They'll steal from their own mother and rob their own brother for it. Money can drive some people out of their minds. You shouldn't let money change you. Valuable lessons, all. Especially in politics.
Today, Melissa will take a close look at the increasingly urgent issue of student loans, and how that issue is being sold to the people most directly involved with the issue: college students. We were reminded that many of those college students can vote by the pitches we heard this week: The President slow-jammed his pitch with the Roots and Jimmy Fallon, and blasted his pitch to many a college campus. Mitt Romney tried the same thing yesterday at Otterbein College, with a backdrop of somnolent students:
Mostly sticking to his go-to stump topics, Romney delivered a sleepy address to students at the Ohio school, some of whom seemed to struggle to stay awake. Sometimes it was a losing struggle.
Speeches like that are perhaps why Karl Rove's American Crossroads was so insistent upon attacking President Obama this week for "being cool," a tactic that even Donald Trump dissed. Speaking of Rove, Melissa won't be done talking about cash; to discuss how it has changed our politics and predict its effects on the general election to come, we'll welcome back to the show former Louisiana governor and independent presidential candidate Buddy Roemer, whose entire platform is about campaign finance reform.
We'll also discuss the ongoing, curious debate over changes to the Violence Against Women Act, and the "war on women" Senator John McCain doesn't think exists. Expanding the gender conversation beyond our shores, Melissa will also welcome back to the show Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy, whose wrenching cover story for Foreign Policy magazine, "Why Do They Hate Us?", shines a floodlight on societal sexism in the Arab Muslim world.
Other guests will be:
- Leila Ahmed, divinity professor at Harvard University, and a critic of Eltahawy's cover story.
- Jessy Tolkan, an independent strategist with a focus on the youth vote.
- Jacqueline Pata, executive director, National Congress of American Indians.
- Tyler Trumbach, chairman of Columbia Young Americans for Freedom, and outgoing president of Columbia University's College Republicans.
- Abby Philip, Politico reporter covering money and politics.
As always, be sure to interact with us during the show on Facebook and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. See you all at 10am ET!