Obama and Archer Davis are emerging Democratic leaders.

Matt Bai: I mean there’s a ton of young talent out there. I mean you look at the 2006 elections when the Democrats who were elected then are, you know, infinitely more promising than some of the people who came before. And you know I think . . . I’m not . . . I don’t . . . I certainly don’t have a point of view in the presidential campaign. And I don’t know Obama well and haven’t written about him for the magazine to this point. But you know I think he’s a tremendous political talent. I think he could be around . . . You know win or lose he could be around for 20 more years in the political dialogue at least. And he represents, I think, a different generational mindset. I think that’s why a lot of people get very excited about him.

There are, you know . . . There are people on the state level. There are people . . . There’s a congressman . . . There’s congressman and congress people like, you know, Archer Davis from Alabama who’s gonna run for statewide office in 2010. You know he could be the first black governor of the old south. I mean there’s . . . There’s a lot of change in the air, and a lot of good young politicians. And I think the party apparatus and orthodoxies have stifled a lot of that talent. I think the baby boomer establishment has been a little bit suffocating.

Recorded on: 12/13/07