Apr
14
If only he were being elitist
April 14, 2008 | 3 Comments
By now you’ve all heard these remarks from Obama, so there’s nothing wrong with re-posting them one more time. In the interest of fairness, I am going to link to the larger quote in context as McQ has done, with the key part underlined.
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.
Does the context really improve the quote? Perhaps it shows a more empathetic side to the argument, but Obama is still ultimately brushing off these voters’ concerns with a condescending tone revealing more about his own beliefs than the middle-American voters’ beliefs.
The word “elitism” has been thrown around a lot in reaction to this quote, and it is certainly an elitist, condescending and smug statement. But it is fundamentally more problematic than that.
First of all, the sentiment expressed deligitimizes the personal opinions of these voters. Deeply held beliefs are dismissed as little more than angry reactions to “fuhr’ners” and governmental inaction. It is easier to dimiss these beliefs if you ascribe base motives to them, and indeed Obama follows the left-wing playbook in doing so.
Moreover, it’s just bad sociology. I’ve heard these statements defended on the basis that Obama is really just telling the truth. But he’s not. As is often the case, there might be a select few who do hold these opions because of bitterness, but a stopped clock is also right twice a day. The overwhelming majority of those who “cling” to religion and guns do not do so out of bitterness. Think about it. Are the four million or so dues paying members of the NRA all out of a job? Is everyone sitting in Church upset at the government? Again, a handful so inclined doesn’t justify the overall sentiment. I can tell you that there this no chance that an illegal immigrant is going to take my job, and yet I still oppose comprehensive immigration reform. Maybe I am opposed to illegal immirgration and supportive of gun rights because I have – what’s the word? – oh yeah, principles.
Furthermore, as McQ says:
Obama’s definitely right that the voters of PA are frustrated, but not at all for the reasons he thinks. They’re as frustrated with government being involved in things it shouldn’t be. And they’re equally frustrated with the constant failure of government to do what they consider to be its legitimate job, such as controlling immigration. They’re tired of bureaucrats and politicians running every aspect of their lives. They’re tired of the constant erosion of their rights and freedoms. If you want to know why guns are important to these people consider the size of government and its intrusiveness and the answer becomes plain to see. And what does a politician like Obama promise? Even more intrusion.
Unfortunately Obama just doesn’t get it. He seems to be under the impression that he is the one who will come along and magically be the guy who finally fixes the problem. What it reveals is not just an elitist attitude, but quite frankly an egotisitical one. Obama must truly believe his own press clippings and now he thinks he is the Obamamessiah. For you see, where all those guys failed to fulfill their promises, he really will succeed. Oh sure, the leftist playbook has been tried and it has failed countless times, but Obama has just the right skillsets to make it work this time.
Yeah right.
It’s not surprising that leftists like Obama get bitter. They cling to their old socialist opinions or secular utopianism or their antipathy to people who do not think as they do as a way to explain away their failures.
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3 Comments so far
What’s even more frightening than the elitism is his HONESTY.
He’s a Marx-kissing mess.
Like many people who fancy themselves to be intellectuals, Obama can make some pretty basic mistakes. In regard to his crazed minister, he should have realized he was going to be an issue and attempted to deal with it a year ago. Ditto his past associations with weatherman bomber Bill Ayers and his frau. His disdainful comments regarding small town Americans were delivered to a “closed” meeting of liberal fatcats in San Francisco. Memo to Obama: When you’re running for President no meeting is ever really closed and nothing you utter is ever off the record. The truly interesting question now is whether Obama can learn from his mistakes. Some candidates are so arrogant, so sure of their inevitable victory, that they make the same type of errors over and over. Obama has received so much over the top adulation from the members of his personality cult, and largely, until very recently, fawning media coverage, that he may have drunk the Kool-aid himself and begun to believe the absurd image that was presented of him as being some sort of secular savior for the country. We should find out soon.
Great analysis.
I’ll definitely be “clinging” to my guns — and more — if this guy gets in.