It was okay, not like Rand bombed it or anything. Letterman admitted he wasn't capable of arguing against anything being said, but what irked me was he didn't quick plug the book at the end and instead stalled a few seconds after the break for an off-statement that he can always make at any time. It's difficult to change an elderly person's perception of things.
Letterman kept interjecting with questions and comments as if he was genuinely interested, but it cut Rand's explanations short a few times. Having said that, I think Rand dropped the ball on taxation issue and the education issue. He might have said "taxing the fat cats drives the jobs overseas and punishing them with tariffs makes poor people pay high prices." And "more Federal spending on education makes test scores lower. That's why the Dept. of Education needs to be abolished in favor of returning the education to the states, and the local coalitions of parents and teachers." I'm sure Rand will revisit the interview and be even better than he has already become in such a short time. Don't know if it was wise to tell Dave that the advice he received was that "Letterman isn't really that funny." I dunno. It was OK overall. No damage control necessary. But I don't think millions of people are going to join The Revolution tomorrow because of this interview.
I think Dave's comment at the end was actually important to consider. It was truly a metaphor for the well intending liberal who really does yearn for a good explanation. We all need to have a good range of replies. We are not as good as we could be with bumper sticker slogans that support our philosophy.
Not bad. I expected much worse from him. Something like Colbert "comedy" where he just makes up a strawman and attacks/"jokes" about it to a fawning audience.
Dave was pretty self-deprecating and pushed his point-of-view in an open and straight-forward way. Could be just lulling Rand into complacency for the next appearance though...
Like another poster said Rand really needs to sharpen his arguments though. Corporate Taxes in US vs other countries "Even Obama says he wants a lower corporate tax rate". A clearer example of public sector vs private sector i.e. the failure of the stimulus" CBO: Jobs Created and Saved By Stimulus Cost At Minimum An Average of $228,055 Each
On education he can talk about what the US spends per student versus what the rest of the world spends yet they routinely beat us. On Wisconsin he could talk about the public sector unions versus private sector unions i.e. when average working folks have a problem with their pay they don't get to hire new "bosses"/politicians that will take their money from the taxpayer i.e. the real "middle class folks".
Letterman absolutely hated Rand. You could tell his questioning was snarky all through the interview. Too stuck in his collectivist ways to even consider what Rand was saying.
what a positive, cheery guy
did i miss something last night or DID RAND NOT PROMOTE HIS BOOK?
why on earth did that not happen? even when freaking Jay-Z goes on Letterman he gets to promote his book. Jay-Z. did you guys even know Jay-Z had a book?
seems really weird that they wouldnt even mention it.