in The New Republic (sub. req’d):
I have a question I’ve been reluctant to ask. Do the Clintons have any friends who aren’t really rich? Maybe just a few, for old time’s sake. But, as I read the clips about them, they consort largely, and maybe only, with zillionaires and very high-pay Hollywood types. It is not an axiomatic vocational hazard of politicians. Let me take Gore as an instance. He and Tipper have musician friends and professor friends and artist friends and just plain worker friends and farmer friends, for sure. Not that they don’t mix with computer magnates, as well. But the Gores are rooted in ordinary life–in real, even quotidian activity.
I wonder if Gore–just as an example–has ever introduced anyone to Peretz this way. “Meet my friend Joe. He’s just a plain worker.”