The Worst Thing I've Heard Obama Say

[2rth2pwr]

Another supporter has second thoughts-


Yes, it is galling to be tagged as out of touch by Hillary "Is that sniper fire I hear?' Clinton. Only, she happens to be right: Barack Obama's suggestion that economically suffering small-town Americans are haters who cling to God and guns out of bitterness is a way bigger deal than he seems to realize, even now. Five years into an unpopular war, and with the economy tanking, the widely held and absolutely poisonous perception that Democrats tend to look down on Mr. and Mrs. Middle America—and on their religious faith in particular—may be the most serious obstacle to the party's presidential hopes this year. Yet here's Obama not apologizing: "If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," he told the Winston-Salem Journal. Poor wording was not the problem; on the contrary, it was his precision that was so unfortunate, and his ability to pack half a dozen unintended insults into a single sentence uncanny. And in San Francisco, no less? Roger Ailes couldn't have planned it better, unless he'd maybe followed up the event with some impromptu windsurfing in the bay....

I grew up in the kind of town Obama is talking about and went back there to talk to people about their political motivations for my book...When I went back there, and visited similar small towns in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, one thing I heard over and over—from registered Democrats!—was that their national party leaders were elitists who couldn't seem to relate to their struggles. Again and again, they brought up Kerry's windsurfing and polyglot wife and Hollywood friends and brand spanking new hunting attire as proof positive of the kind of elitism that was turning them into Republicans. Perhaps worst of all in their eyes was his habit of mocking Bush's intelligence; every time Kerry laughed about how dumb the president supposedly was, they assumed he thought the same of them. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Here's how a high-school teacher in Fairfield, Ill., put it: "I used to be a Democrat, and I'm still very much independent. I voted for Clinton . I'm religious but not a fanatic; I see a lot of gray. My mother has Alzheimer's, so I'm for stem-cell research, and I'm not against people's right to an abortion.'' But Kerry "just struck me as arrogant,'' while Bush inspired "the feeling that this was a more open person who would not be "I'm important and you're not.' '' And yes, Fox News exists to whip up such sentiments, but it only works when Democrats foolishly hand them fresh material. I don't for a second doubt that Obama genuinely cares about the people he just put down -- or question whether it's his party's policies that would help low-income Americans more. Which makes this Democratic penchant for cultural condescension all the more baffling and inexcusable.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/04/13/the-worst-thing-i-ve-heard-obama-say.aspx

Sure, many Americans in places like my hometown are angry and they do "cling'' to guns and God, though not in that order. It's connecting the two that's belittling in the extreme to the "typical white person''—to cite a phrase I chose to overlook at the time. Now, if Obama is sticking by the essence of what he said out of stubbornness or arrogance, that's one kind of problem. But if he really doesn't see why this could be a game-changer, that's worse. And though I've been pretty unrelievedly positive about the guy, it's the first thing he's said that's made me question his ability to win.

[redqueen]

1. " And yes, Fox News exists to whip up such sentiments,..."

But... I thought they were the only fair cable news station?

:shrug:

[Buzz Clik]

4. Fox certainly is the preferred news outlet of the Hillary campaign.

[2rth2pwr]

8. You're deflecting.

[Buzz Clik]

12. I'm responding to the comment above. Your original post was not interesting to me.

[jasmine621]

16. Wrong! Fox news is the preferred news outlet for those same people

Obama insulted. No matter how you feel about your candidate, you must remember that thousands of others do not feel the same way and their persepective on the Dems matters.

[Buzz Clik]

23. Those people who consider Fox a reasonable news outlet will never vote Democratic. Ever.

Why do you suppose that so much amazement exists over Hillary's pandering to the extreme right? Do you think they will ever vote for her in the GE? Of course not.

[2rth2pwr]

5. "..but it only works when Democrats foolishly hand them fresh material."

When you copied and pasted you left a piece off.

[redqueen]

7. You mean like when Hillary echoes their "elitist" BS?

Like that?

[2rth2pwr]

9. It only works when Obama acts like one.

[redqueen]

13. Hahahahaha... okay... so the RW media only works when they're right.

Guess you agree with the RW media!

:hi:

[2rth2pwr]

25. Obama looks down on the average American.

In Obama’s mind, the religion clung to by the “average poor white Pennsylvanian” is BLT’s demonic “white” Church. The "white" Church the tool of oppression for

all—including poor whites—and should be shaken off just like other social maladies.

“Who would have thought that a bunch of bare footed, Bible thumping, know-nothings would take such offense?”

What has Barack Obama accomplished that entitles him to look down on his fellow Americans?

[redqueen]

26. That's performance art, right?

Theatre of the absurd, perhaps?

:crazy:

[rodeodance]

27. no, like the Dem who handed Fox the Wright stuff.

[anonymous171]

2. Typical white person?

Only RWers and Hillary supporters (small amount of difference there) care about that quote.

[2rth2pwr]

6. Really?

[AX10]

3. Hopeful voters for Hillary!

The hope iw with us now 2rth2pwr!

[rodeodance]

30. yes!!

[Hepburn]

10. "Hide Thread" is our friend...

...click.

[oasis]

22. And sand is the Ostrich's friend.(eom)

[DebbieCDC]

11. What a crock

It's not a "put down" or "belittling" anyone. What Obama is saying is the damn truth. I come from a small town near the state line with western PA and I know exactly what he means when he says people are angry and bitter and clinging to what they can in rough times. That's all he's saying, but the Shrillary and McInsane camps will have you believe otherwise -- that he's belitting people, talking down to them, etc. Looks like you drank their Kool Aid.

[2rth2pwr]

15. This is from one of his supporters ya goof.

[northzax]

20. then he should have no problem

going to Allentown and giving the exact same speech, right?

[futureliveshere]

14. Did you see the latest Gallup poll? He increased his lead to Double Digits!!

[2rth2pwr]

17. I thought the ARG was the poll the Obama supporters had faith in.

[futureliveshere]

24. The ARG normally is too volatile to be trusted by me. The Gallup gives a good trendline.

[Egnever]

18. Then you have seen it too!

"from registered Democrats!—was that their national party leaders were elitists who couldn't seem to relate to their struggles"

Whats that Bitter democrats?

You just dont like the truth when its told to you. Cause it doesnt jibe with a hillary nomination.

[Exilednight]

19. Telling the truth is now bad? I use to live in rural PA, and what he said is........

about as honest as it gets. At the time I was married and my wife was Jewish, we received three death threats over a Menorah that was placed in our front window over the holidays. We took it out the following day and the next night our house was vandalized.

Nah, people in rural PA aren't bitter nor do they cling to guns and religion, as long as you're part of their mentality.

[TahitiNut]

21. "their national party leaders were elitists who couldn't seem to relate to their struggles."

That sounds like Hillary to a "t." She sees happy folks in a worker's paradise when she visits Wal*Mart in those small towns. She must like the "greeters."

:eyes:

[rodeodance]

31. yes, and Michelle worked on a corporate board and raked in the cash

[TahitiNut]

34. Are you talking about Treehouse Foods? Do you have any idea how she "raked in the cash" ...

... as an independent member of the Board of Directors of Treehouse Foods? (She resigned in 2007.) Do the research and get back to me. Start with their SEC filings and tell me how much they compensate their Board members. (Hint: It's usually about $100/day and expenses for attending meetings.)

So ... tell me how many Chinese sweatshop workers are employed by Treehouse Foods. Tell me how much money Michelle Obama "raked in" from being on their board.

(I won't hold my breath.)

[Bake]

38. She was a corporate lawyer at Sidley & Austin in Chicago, too.

Must've needed to rake in that cash to pay off those student loans.

Bake

[LisaM]

28. That article articulates a VERY important point. It's the way Obama connected his ideas

As if a lot of people in small towns were religious, or clung to religion, if you will, BECAUSE they are left behind and bitter.

I also agree with the writer that it was his very specificity that is the problem.

Does Obama have any identity at all with small town America? He may be listening on the economic issues, but small town America is a lot more complex (and varied) than he seems to be saying. A lot of people in small towns are still proud of their communities, whether or not they're hurting.

[Marie26]

29. Non-apologies annoy

"If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," Oh, I hate stuff like that.

[2rth2pwr]

40. That's the worst.

[smiley_glad_hands]

32. Its ok if she uses right wing frames to bash the progressive movement as long she wins right? eom

[nichomachus]

33. Check your prejudice at the door

Barack Obama's suggestion that economically suffering small-town Americans are haters

I've read the Obama quote. I never saw the word "hater." That's your interpretation and says much more about you than it does about Obama.

[HootieMcBoob]

35. He only said what we have been saying for ages!

And what is explained best in "What's The Matter With Kansas?"

Many people are cynical when it comes to the government doing anything to improve their lives so they fall prey to Republican tactics of division and wedge issues like "guns, gays and God" as Howard Dean famously said. Obama is trying to get away from that and engage with voters by treating them as adults.

Hillary Clinton and all of her supporters know this too. It's the most cynical and disingenuous thing I've heard from a Democratic candidate ever.

She is doing great damage to our chances of beating McCain in November.

It appears to me that she's trying to pull a Lieberman.

I'm very disappointed in her and as a New Yorker I will work hard to get a worthy candidate to run against her in the next primary and get her out of the Senate.

As Obama said "shame on her".

[2rth2pwr]

36. "The answer to `What's the matter with Kansas' is not that there's something the matter with Kansas,

"There's something the matter with Democrats who

can't make a connection with voters whose economic interests are closely tied to what the Democratic Party stands for."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/hillary_chief_strategist_geoff.php

[HootieMcBoob]

37. And that's just what Obama is doing

Hillary Clinton knows that too.
So does Bill Clinton. He said the same damn thing.

"The reason (George H. W. Bush's tactic) works so well now is that you have all these economically insecure white people who are scared to death," Clinton was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times in September 1991.

A couple months later, Joe Klein, writing for the Sunday Times, reported that Clinton made the following remarks:

"You know, he wants to divide us over race. I'm from the South. I understand this. This quota deal they're gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they've been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade. When their economic policies fail, when the country's coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? They find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them. They know if they can keep us looking at each other across a racial divide, if I can look at Bobby Rush and think, Bobby wants my job, my promotion, then neither of us can look at George Bush and say, 'What happened to everybody's job? What happened to everybody's income? What ... have ... you ... done ... to ... our ... country?'"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/13/bill-clinton-flashback-al_n_96433.html

A former Clinton adviser made this observation:

I have been in meetings with the Clintons and their advisors where very clinical things were said in a very-detached tone about unwillingness of working class voters to trust government -- and Bill Clinton -- and about their unfortunate (from a Clinton perspective) proclivity to vote on life-style rather than economic issues. To see Hillary going absolutely over the top to smash Obama for making clearly more humanly sympathetic observations in this vein, is just amazing. Even more so to see her pretending to be a gun-toting non-elite. Give us a break!...

This has to be one of the few times in U.S. political history when a multi-millionaire has accused a much less wealthy fellow public servant, a person of the same party and views who made much less lucrative career choices, of "elitism"! (I won't say the only time, because U.S. political history is full of absurdities of this sort.) In a way, it is funny -- and it may not be long before the jokes start.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/13/noteworthy-political-scie_n_96436.html

And this is how Thomas Frank himself sees the issue:

Thomas Frank, the author who redefined the perception of the red state/blue state divide in America, says he doesn't find Sen. Barack Obama's comments on the bitterness of small-town Midwesterners all that alarming.

"People are bitter in small towns," Frank told the Huffington Post. "People are bitter everywhere. I don't know if you have seen the stock market -- people are bitter about their situation. It doesn't strike me as a very controversial statement."

Gimme a break - okay.

[2rth2pwr]

39. I swear, it's the blind leading the blind.

The Coasts and the big cities have no clue about the backbone of America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F10PYu2-3jo