Posted on 04/12/2008 9:09:39 PM PDT by neverdem
Senator Barack Obama fought back Saturday against accusations from his rivals that he had displayed a profound misunderstanding of small-town values, in a flare-up that left him on the defensive before a series of primaries that could test his ability to win over white voters in economically distressed communities.
For a second day, Mr. Obama sought to explain his remarks at a recent San Francisco fund-raiser that small-town Pennsylvania voters, bitter over their economic circumstances, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” as a way to explain their frustrations.
Acknowledging Saturday that “I didn’t say it as well as I should have,” he explained his remarks by focusing on his characterization of those voters’ economic woes. He meant, he said, that voters in places that had been losing jobs for years expressed their anxiety at the polls by focusing on cultural and social issues like gun laws and immigration.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton activated her entire campaign apparatus to portray Mr. Obama’s remarks as reflective of an elitist view of faith and community. His comments, she said, were “not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans.”
Mrs. Clinton suggested that Mr. Obama saw religious commitment, hunting and concern about immigration as emotional responses to economic strain rather than as deeply embedded values.
“I grew up in a church-going family, a family that believed in the importance of living out and expressing our faith,” she said at a rally in Indianapolis. “The people of faith I know don’t ‘cling to’ religion because they’re bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich.”...
--snip--
“It could mean he’s rendered himself unelectable,” Mr. Saunders said. “This is a perfect example of why Democrats lose elections.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The man has made himself a fool. How do you apologige for that? It will take him years to understand why he was wrong. He may never understand it.
Spin is potraying no-apology as apology to classify this episode as “gaffe”. Once you can show a man as being on defensive, then majority that has no idea what the proper context is would only hear that he somehow criticized, attacked or looked down upon small town folks. For proof, they would be presented with evidence of him “apologizing” for the remarks. Well, if he “apologized” he must have done something wrong. Brilliant move.
Where the fact of the matter is that he was describing his own frustation in not being able to connect with those voters because those folks lost faith in getting some actual hope from Govt. long time ago and have now reduced to 1 issue voters. Those issues maybe Guns or opposition to immigration or whatever.
He was explaining why that works against him. He can’t be like Klintons (no once can be) who can portray themselves as most anti-gun people in States like California, and then go tell Pennsylvania voters she is Life Long Hunter (perhaps as she was lifelong Yankee fan).
Who would have thought that a Black man would be accused of having color of skin as his greatest advantage and asset. And on top of that being accused of being an “ELITIST” by people worth over 100 million dollars. Not one person would have put thier money on that bet only couple of months ago.
The original Haters were and still are Klintons. They are the ones who have ALWAYS portrayed ALL Conservastives as backwards, bible-thumpers, Taliban, angry, bigoted, homophobic, anti-progress people. They blamed Okalahoma city bombing on of all People Rush Limbaugh - and obviously all that listen to him.
I don't know. My guess is Billary infiltrated the fundraiser with some kind of recording device. He wouldn't be trying to explain himself otherwise.
“What I love is that this is from the guy who claims to “pray to Jesus every night.” Which is it OVomit, are you a proud, devout Christian like you have recently claimed, or are you something else who suggests that bitterness is what drives people to “cling” to religion?”
He prays to that Jesus who was really a black guy oppressed by white europeans (because “Romans” were actually Italians)
Most rednecks who cling to religion are praying to the Jesus who was a jewish rabbi - and Reverend Wright teaches that judaism is a gutter religion.
Are people angry about immigration and upset at all the changes that are taking place in the society? You don’t have to go far. Just read *any* thread where McCain is mentioned. #1 Complain and source of absolute hatred against McCain is his “amnesty proposal”.
So if someone makes an observation that people who have been uprooted and devastated because the jobs that caused their communities to thrive are now in China and India and that is ONE of the reasons for their visceral reaction against immigration and being uncomfortable with immigrants - he is out of touch?
Based on absolute hatred for McCain and blind anger against him on this board due to Immigration issues, I would say that people do seem EXTREMELY BITTER AND ANGRY about the immigration issue.
When he described religion as “clutch” he definitely screwed up, because for many people, God is just as important in good times as in bad times.
He corrected himself today and pointed out that Church becomes the Community-Center for these folks as they have LIMITED venues to count upon. Once that happens, then natural social conservatism that is Church’s Philosophy usually, becomes their view point too and that works against him.
He said bitter. What he really meant to say was angry, white, redneck racists like his grand-momma.
Hillary says: About sniper fire -"I misspoke." And about Bill to her daughter - "sometimes he exagerates (ala he misspeaks"). Barak says: About small towns - "I could have said it better (hmmm, I misspoke.") And about Rev. Wright "sometimes I don't agree with him...his words were taken out of context" ( hmmm, he misspeaks?).
Don't either of these candidates or the people around them ever say what they mean? Or...is it obvious they say EXactly what they mean and then try to cover it up?
Will they use the same excuse - "I misspoke" if either becomes President? That is the big concern of the century!
Thanks for the link & text.
"The emotion between the races could never be pure. The other (white) race would always remain just that: Menacing, Alien and Apart."
That's right, Obama. We're all just Menacing, Alien White People, aren't we?
NEW ORLEANS, September 2005 -- A young Hurricane Katrina survivor hugs her rescuer, Staff Sgt. Mike Maroney, after she was relocated to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, La., on Sept. 7. Sergeant Maroney is a pararescueman from the 58th Rescue Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Veronica Pierce)
If he goes duck hunting in Pennsylvania anywhere before October he is very likely to meet up with a bitter, gun-toting, probably religious, but very much NOT unemployed warden of the PA game commission.
I think he is trying to spread the “I am a victim” ideology to whites. It has worked so well with blacks, especially for people like Rev. Wright and other black preachers and black politicians, that he sees it working just as well on whites. He is trying to sell the same Kool Aid to whites that he and others have been selling to blacks for generations. He is urging whites to “play the victim card”.
The anger is about encroachment of government on individual sovereignty...not because people are unhappy or poor, but because they see their contented lives being slowly ripped away from them by politicians that have a warped, limited world view.
Middle class Americans are more about fairness with China than anti-trade...people are generous but they don't like to be ripped off either. Dems don't seem to understand that the whole world isn't about monetary richness...but more about fairness and rewards for doing "it right". People who have jumped the border are not following the law.
Middle class values are a mystery to these Dem knuckleheads. They can't represent the people and leave out the middle class. The middle class is America's core.
If anyone needs an education, it's the ignorant people who stay locked up in their narrow view and make policy for the masses based on limited life experiences.
Our next president needs to have a clearer understanding of why people are making the voting decisions that hey are. The political landscape is full of amateur spectators, and socially lazy isolationists.
It’s not finished yet. Still some remnants of the Republic standing. But if Barry wins, it won’t be good.
Which whites is he trying to sell this to? These words were said to rich people on a fund raising jaunt in San Francisco... Somebody on the inside outed him, who? Obama appears to be attempting to 'whitewash' over words he thought would raise him some dollars.
WHO were these rich people, a room full of whites???
Almost.
Ill-chosen, and revealing.
Hillary has been swearing that she has ALWAYS been against NAFTA and hates all these Free Trade agreements.
That tells me her pollsters are telling her that’s the way wind is blowing at least in her own party’s base.
I know die-hard Conservatives, who support Free Trade, but cry about jobs being shipped out to China and worried about their own job being outsourced, almost every day. So is the life in Silicon Valley.
I have survived LITERALLY over dozen RIFS in the company I am in. The last one really broke my heart. Hard working people who are actually BRILLIANT and their work can NOT be matched by anyone from Malaysia or China, were let go JUST to make ONE QUARTER look semi-descent on the sheet. Not only that, but those people are now TRAINING all the people from Malaysia, where their job has been outsourced.
I told my Boss, don’t expect me to take any BS Package (some big chunk of money) to train people who are taking my job. I will out of here the next day.
"Obamacaca" vs. "Macacabama"!
“It’s the Maca, Macacabama,
The dumbest thing said by Obama”...etc.
[With apologies to Barry Manilow]
Yes, exactly. It was a fundraiser. The same rich white liberals who see all blacks as victims, rich or poor. The same rich white liberals who would be eager to see non-rich whites put on the mantle of "victim". He was saying it to these rich people because he was "teaching" these rich people in San Francisco that the non-rich in the midwest are VICTIMS.
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