Cokie Roberts draws more than 1,100 to SXU's fifth Voices and Visions Lecture

ABC political analyst gave insider's view of Washington, D.C. and issues facing lawmakers

Chicago (Oct. 22, 2010) Former network news anchor and ABC political analyst Cokie Roberts drew more than 1,100 people to the fifth installment of Saint Xavier University's Voices and Visions lecture series on Oct. 21.
Roberts brought a practiced political eye and keen perspective to the issues currently facing lawmakers in her lecture “An Insider’s View of Washington, D.C. with Cokie Roberts.” Prior to her lecture, Roberts participated in an exclusive classroom discussion with SXU students.

Roberts discussed heightened partisanship among elected officials, the relevance of the Tea Party movement and three important long-term demographic trends: the closing of the "gender gap," referring to women voters previously being more likely to vote for Democrats; the growing political influence of minorities; and President Barack Obama attracting large numbers of young voters during the 2008 election. She drew parallels between the Reagan Revolution of 1980 and the current political environment, suggesting the country may have made a generational shift toward the Democratic Party.

"I look at the long-term trajectory and I look at the issues younger voters are interested in and I still think it's possible, even after the bath Democrats are likely to take in this election, that we are looking at the ushering in of another generation of change in politics," Roberts said.

Roberts is senior news analyst for National Public Radio and a political analyst for ABC News. She co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program "This Week" from 1996 to 2002. Roberts has won numerous awards, including three Emmys, in her more than 40 years in broadcasting. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting. The Library of Congress this year named her a “Living Legend.”

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