Time's Halperin: "Full Bipartisan Pile-On on Obama “Bitter” Remark"

[ruggerson]

http://thepage.time.com/2008/04/11/obama-small-town-pennsylvania-clinging-to-guns-religion-antipathy-because-theyre-bitter/

Clinton and a top McCain aide both pounce on Obama’s remark, reported Friday, that economic woes make small-town Pennsylvanians “cling to guns or religion.”

Clinton: “As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive… Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them, they need a president who stands up for them.” Click above to watch.


McCain aide Steve Schmidt: “It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking. It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans.”

Plus: Rove says on Fox that this will “doom” any chance he has at winning Pennsylvania, while conservative Grover Norquist goes further, telling ABC News: “That sentence will lose him the election.”

Obama camp responds to criticism: “If John McCain wants a debate about who’s out of touch with the American people, we can start by talking about the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans… that he wants to make permanent.” Full statement here.

All comes after Obama’s comments last weekend in San Francisco: “And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

[jackson_dem]

1. So Obama can bring unity!

:rofl:

[tekisui]

2. Yep. The People agree with what he said.

[jackson_dem]

4. The "netroots" is not The People (thank God!)

[tekisui]

6. I seriously don't see why anyone would be upset by his remarks.

[jackson_dem]

9. Which says a lot about how out of touch the "netroots" is

No offense intended.

[redqueen]

10. Course not.

You're only a hair's breadth away from using Michelle Malkin's term.

Why pretend? Go on... revel in it.

[jackson_dem]

14. Which would be?

Why are you such a zealous Obamite now? You didn't even support him three months ago.

[redqueen]

17. And you didn't support Clinton, either.

But hey... whatever floats your boat.

[jackson_dem]

22. Why do you think Edwards didn't endorse Obama?

He would have if Obama is what the "netroots" says he is...

[redqueen]

25. Why do you think he hasn't endorsed Clinton?

:crazy:

And FYI... I don't agree with the insight you get from your little crystal ball there.

[jackson_dem]

27. Because she is a corporate neo-lib candidate

The same reason he hasn't endorsed Obama. :)

[tekisui]

16. None taken.

I am a regular guy surrounded by regular people. I don't know anyone who would be offended, please just tell me "how" someone could take it negatively.

[jackson_dem]

19. Tune into CNN now to find out!

Three strategists will explain it better than I could.

[tekisui]

30. I am so People, I don't have cable.

My antennas don't pick up CNN.

Are they trying to say that since Obama understands the bitterness so many feel, he is somehow an elitist that prescribes the problem from above?

[jackson_dem]

42. The problem was the "religion, guns, bigotry" part of the comment

And then taking a broad brush and tarring all small town folks with it. It is elitist and out of touch with working folks. They are being asked how damaging it is on 1-10. One said 10, the other 11. It goes to his character, it goes to his theme of allegedly being able to unite the country...

[tekisui]

45. Respectively, those pundits don't know shit about working folks.

We'll see how damaging this is. I would be surprised if it is anything more than a story for a day or two.

[jackson_dem]

46. Perhaps but we have historical precedent

When Ed Koch made similar statements about rural (as well as suburban) New York he paid a heavy price and lost largely because of it. Obama's statement is even worse. Koch attacked the culture; Obama went after the culture and called the people small-minded bigots.

[tekisui]

48. It will all depend on how Obama handles it.

[jackson_dem]

50. Maybe but it is hard to come out of this without losing ground

He could mitigate the damage but it is hard to see him not paying a price for it. Whether he tanks like Koch did is the big question imo.

[celophan012]

71. People agree with which part of what he said?

He said several things. Explain.

[Cant trust em]

3. we didn't need Obama to unite Clinton and McCain

She already endorsed him.

[redqueen]

8. He also forces the neo-cons and neo-libs to make their alliance plain.

I like that.

[jackson_dem]

12. Obama is a neo-lib. He worked at the U of Chicago for crying out loud

[redqueen]

15. Funny... he's not the one aligned with Penn & his ilk.

:think:

[jackson_dem]

18. They both are neo-lib. I can admit it. Why can't Obamites?

[redqueen]

20. Heh... yeah, keep using those epithets...

or... *almost* using them ("netroots", indeed).

:hi:

[jackson_dem]

24. Lame. I called myself an "Edwardian". I called you that. You didn't whine then

[redqueen]

28. Oh I'm whining now?

:rofl:

It's all right... I'll leave you to cheerlead McCain & Clinton's unity on this Very Serious And Important Issue. :hi:

[jackson_dem]

32. You are the biggest disappointment here

[redqueen]

34. Nice!

You stay classy, jackson_dem.

:hi:

[jackson_dem]

37. You compared me to Malkin. That is classy?

[redqueen]

39. Oh here we go with the melodrama.

I did no such thing. I said you were *thisclose* to using her derogatory word for the "netroots"...

Thank God not all Clinton supporters are so quick to hop up on a cross.

[jackson_dem]

40. Not all are on "the top 10 list", 1/5 of which has already been mowed down in the past few weeks

So pardon my quick trigger.

[redqueen]

41. Oh yes... The List... I'd forgotten about that.

Better report back to HQ with my updates.

:eyes:

[jackson_dem]

43. Why would they include someone who didn't support Obama until 3 months ago?

We know about the list because every now and then Obamites slipped up and made revealing statements. :)

[redqueen]

47. I love a good conspiracy theory...

but that one is just silly.

And riddle me this... if you view both Obama and Clinton as neo-libs... why do you only ever attack one of them?

[jackson_dem]

49. It isn't a theory. It comes straight from their mouths and other evidence

The funny thing is we would not have known if it weren't for some of them slipping up and saying it. We have other evidence now that they do this.

One can beat McSame, the other can't--especially after today...both would be far better than McSame.

[redqueen]

52. I saw the "slipping up"...

it's like the "OBAMA LIEEEEED! He said he did hear controversial things!!!1111!" thing... some seem only to see / hear what they want to.

As for your thoughts on who can most easily beat McCain, I disagree strongly. One presents a stronger contrast to Bush... Hillary's backing up the White House's lies about Iraq will make all her statements on that war suspect.

[jackson_dem]

53. No, you didn't. There is a lot more that hasn't been discussed here

Obama is done with his small town, "typical white", and pastorgate comments and that is before we even get to him having no experience and the problem that poses to perceptions of him regarding national security in a general election.

[redqueen]

54. Hah... yeah well... good luck with... The List!

As for all those "issues"... doesn't seem to be hurting him at all... he's still gaining on Clinton in PA and that's with the media and Clinton's surrogates AND McCain going whole hog with everything they've got.

Those aren't issues... those are distractions... the people aren't going to be played by a bunch of nonsense this time. People are hurting, and they see a candidate who seems to get it... and he isn't getting on board with the nonsense.

[jackson_dem]

62. Dukakis wasn't hurt by Willie Horton in the primaries, Kerry by "flip flopping" either

Primaries are not the GE. If you think Obama is being hit hard now you are in for a shock if he makes it to the GE.

[chascarrillo]

58. You ousted a thread supposedly agreeing with his statement.

Liar.

[GoldieAZ49]

64. Finally we see the kind of unity he brings

:rofl:

[thevoiceofreason]

5. Here's the full context for you sound-biters

This was just added to the Huffington Post article that started this mess:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people are most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.


Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long. They feel so betrayed by government that when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama, then that adds another layer of skepticism.

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What is the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- to close tax loopholes, you know, roll back the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-s...

[uponit7771]

36. Anyone who was listing can tell he was talking about people being bitter at GOVERNMENT

[Coexist]

44. thanks, but those who are happyabout this, don't care about the rest

[BuyingThyme]

7. I don't think Hillary or McCrazy will be served well by

attacking the eloquent words of a guy who can eloquent the both of them under the table.

[redqueen]

13. I love it when they show how united they are.

That helps. :)

[NoodleyAppendage]

11. Obama dares to SPEAK THE TRUTH and the media whores jump him for it.

Obama has consistently revealed the greater truths about our humanity and society, but those who exist only because of the divisions (e.g., Hillary, Repukes, etc.) attack him for daring to "pull the curtain back."

J

[TTUBatfan2008]

21. Nobody's more out of touch...

than McCain. This is the asshole that wraps himself in the flag due to his military service and then screws over the veterans every chance he gets in the Senate.

[oasis]

23. While Obama enjoys the elitist company of Oprah and Michelle, the little

folk have only their God to give them comfort.

[jackson_dem]

33. Yup. Not everyone can get $350,000 from a slumlord when they need it

[frazzled]

26. I met these bitter people while canvassing in NH in 04

One one of the weekends we canvassed, we were given a neighborhood that stunned me. We'd been to senior neighborhoods, a trailer park, everything. But in this neighborhood, at door after door we knocked on, the response went something like this: "no politician is going to do anything to help me or care about the problems I do; I'm not going to vote." Sometimes they told us to get lost, sometimes they let us "talk them down" for a while ... but you could tell they were bitter and hopeless.

They really have lost their trust in government to do anything. I think Obama was spot on about that. His mission from the beginning has been to try to reinvigorate people's trust in the government.

I don't understand what the issue is here. Other than the usual take something out of context and then cry gotcha. Honestly, I'd been busy working all day, then came here and saw this supposed dustup. If you weren't there, it looks awfully minor.

[redqueen]

31. The issue is *they are very afraid*.

Good. They have reason to be. :)

[Nedsdag]

29. Typical Hillary fan,

Dancing on an imaginary grave.

Maybe you should fall into the hall, ruggerson.

[jackson_dem]

35. Tune into CNN now and hear what the real experts are saying

[zulchzulu]

60. Yeah, Rollins with the RNC and two Hillary pimps...experts, my ass

It was comical actually.

[redqueen]

61. ..

Yeah... I was wondering what kind of "experts" we were supposed to be listening to here...

[ruggerson]

38. Hey I'm just the reporter

but keep up the vitriol! It flatters you.

[RememberWellstone]

51. He's the savior, he can't be bothered.

He should'nt be bothered with such small trivial things, he needs to be concerned with running the world.

[Faygo Kid]

55. Like the "Goddess of Peace," no doubt. Or should I say the Exploiter?

So much for intelligent discussion. I am now more convinced than ever that Hillary will continue "business as usual" should she become president (not likely), and that she is willing to destroy the Democratic Party in her lust for power (likely).

[knixphan]

56. And we will donate even more.

And Big O will roll on, baby.

[OzarkDem]

57. Pride goeth before a fall

Insulting voters is never a good way to get them to vote for you. Pretty basic rule of political campaigning. Apparently Obama made the mistake of thinking his coronation as the Dem candidate was "inevitable".

[zulchzulu]

59. Now Obama can do the speech about NAFTA and how the Clintons were for it

Since the subject is about how jobs have gone away since the Clintons with NAFTA, this gives Obama a very easy way to strike back at the Clintons for their complicity.

Once Obama exposes the Clintons for the effects of NAFTA, they are screwed.

[knixphan]

63. Exactly. Obama is a chess player

She's setting him up for the NAFTA-CRUNCH. Game and match will go to big O.

[thevoiceofreason]

65. If he set this all up

He's got crazy mad skills. McKooky and Hillarity are going way down on this.

I just got a call from a repub redneck friend on my deer lease. He said he's mad and bitter as hell. Didn't hear anything wrong with what Big O said.

[Warren DeMontague]

66. Wow!!! If THAT isn't worthy of some serious Faux-rage, I dunno what is!

I bet he wasn't even wearing a flag pin when he said it!

[Me.]

67. TIME's Halperin Pictures Obama As Dirty Rat

Halperin = Grain Of Salt Time

“As Obama moves to respond to the "kitchen sink," Mark Halperin at TIME launches a stunningly pejorative visual preemptive strike.

The photo-illustration above appears under the foreboding headline: HALPERIN'S TAKE: The Dangers Which Might Await Obama If He Makes Negative Attacks Central To His Campaign. (On TIME's home page, the lead reads: "Mulling Obama's Negative Strategy.")

So, what's wrong with the picture?: cont…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shaw/reading-the-pictures-em_b_90672.html

[AX10]

68. Well, Obama is a dirty rat.

so there.

[scheming daemons]

69. Why did you not include the link around the text "full statement here"

... agenda?

[ruggerson]

70. Uh, there are no links at all

except to the story itself.

You want links? Talk to Prosense. She'll link you till you start screaming.