[D]idn't Obama change [the way with think about race]? And isn't it so that people who don't like him don't like him because of race? [Mikal] Gilmore takes five different swings at getting Dylan to agree. Some of Dylan's responses: "They did the same thing to Bush, didn't they? They did the same thing to Clinton, too, and Jimmy Carter before that....Eisenhower was accused of being un-American. And wasn't Nixon a socialist? Look what he did in China. They'll say bad things about the next guy too." On Gilmore's fourth attempt, Dylan just resorts to: "Do you want me to repeat what I just said, word for word? What are you talking about? People loved the guy when he was elected. So what are we talking about? People changing their minds?"...That comes pretty close to saying he's disappointed. And he's already said — in so many words — these politicians are all alike. But he catches himself and adds:
[W]hat does Dylan think of Obama? Dylan first deflects with: "You should be asking his wife what she thinks of him."... Then: "He loves music. He's personable. He dresses good. What the fuck do you want me to say?"
... Gilmore follows that up with: "Would you like to see him re-elected?" Bob: I've lived through a lot of presidents. You have too! Some are re-elected and some aren't. Being re-elected isn't the mark of a great president."
... Dylan, on the night of Obama's inauguration, was performing and said from stage: "It looks like things are gonna change now." Remember that, Bob?...
... "Did I go down to the middle of town and give a speech?....I don't know what I could have meant by that. You say things sometimes, you don't know what the hell you mean.... I'm not going to deny what I said, but I would have hoped that things would've changed."
"I certainly hope they have."Now, he's speaking in the present test and not the convoluted conditional of I would have hoped that things would've changed. But it's the present-tense of his own mind, a retreat from the political sphere. Gilmore finally gets a clue, which he expresses, sounding like someone who's spent a lot of time in the realm of cluelessness:
"I get the impression...that you're reluctant to say much about the president or how he's been criticized."