Is Obama an "Elitist"?

So Hillary is calling Obama an "elitist" over some comments he made last week...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-qGLDs-gAnZiUXD2NU51ry3j3dwD901DFV00

Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. All depends on how you view it. But I'll tell you one thing, her comments about her Bosnian trip proves she's a liar. And I'd rather have an elitist running for president than a liar.

And to top it off, Billy Boy tried late last week to explain away that error, saying she only said it "One time, late at night, when she was exhausted, and she immediately apologized for it."

Well, we all know she said it several times, throughout all times of the day, and it took her awhile to apologize for the gaff.

Tim Russert had a great line about that yesterday on Meet The Press. He asked James Carville rhetorically, "Makes you wonder if she's that exhausted at 11pm at night, how she's going to handle the 3am call." Brilliant!

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:So Hillary is calling Obama an "elitist" over some comments he made last week...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-qGLDs-gAnZiUXD2NU51ry3j3dwD901DFV00

Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. All depends on how you view it. But I'll tell you one thing, her comments about her Bosnian trip proves she's a liar. And I'd rather have an elitist running for president than a liar.

And to top it off, Billy Boy tried late last week to explain away that error, saying she only said it "One time, late at night, when she was exhausted, and she immediately apologized for it."

Well, we all know she said it several times, throughout all times of the day, and it took her awhile to apologize for the gaff.

Tim Russert had a great line about that yesterday on Meet The Press. He asked James Carville rhetorically, "Makes you wonder if she's that exhausted at 11pm at night, how she's going to handle the 3am call." Brilliant!

I agree 100% with Barack Obama's statement, sure if should have probably been more carefully worded but the working class is VERY bitter out there about the way the rich run around more concerned with fighting the lifting of the cap on Social Security taxes or fighting for capital gain tax cuts. The working person is bitter, we need to do more to help those struggling than to help those already living in Brigadoon or Sycamore Hills buy a vacation home or a boat ... so yea I believe the American worker is bitter.

fyi ... there is an organizational Barack Obama Volunteer meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn, I will probably go to Mexico Antigua bfore or after. Anyone who wants to attend the event please just show up a little before 7 pm.

I'd have to go w/ the 'bad choice of words'. Typical politics though, can't say anything without the media getting all in a tizzy about it.

On an Obama side note, I see his Pastor was running off with his mouth again. Don't get me wrong, he's got the right to 'dog' anybody or anything thing he wants, but at a Funeral? Nice guy

I find it odd that one multi-millionaire is calling another multi-millionaire more elitist than they are....

cardinal5150 wrote:I find it odd that one multi-millionaire is calling another multi-millionaire more elitist than they are....

lol...kinda like Larry The Cable Guy accusing Jeff Foxworthy of being a redneck.

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:

cardinal5150 wrote:I find it odd that one multi-millionaire is calling another multi-millionaire more elitist than they are....

lol...kinda like Larry The Cable Guy accusing Jeff Foxworthy of being a redneck.

That's what we need, more humor in politics! Any chance that you'll be on the ballot in May Cincy?

LTRT2 wrote:

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:

cardinal5150 wrote:I find it odd that one multi-millionaire is calling another multi-millionaire more elitist than they are....

lol...kinda like Larry The Cable Guy accusing Jeff Foxworthy of being a redneck.

That's what we need, more humor in politics! Any chance that you'll be on the ballot in May Cincy?

Don't strain your eyes looking for "Mr. Redlegs" on the ballot. Plus, I'm sure I missed the filing deadline. D.C. wouldn't want me there anyway...I'm too honest for those people that cling to their lobbyist groups and big money.

pez wrote:ok... it took a while to find the text, but Obama said this:

"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 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."

Hillary and McCain are all over him for this. I read the comment and think that while it could have been said considerably better, it's an honest sentiment. The Hillary camp seems to be playing this as if he screamed like Howard Dean... Does anyone else think that McHillary is making too big a deal out of this?

Ok, carrying over pez's quote because I wanted to comment on it and keep everyone involved....

I totally agree with Obama's statements about midwestern towns. This is a very accurate assessment, but I also think it leans toward belittling the priorities of these voters. the words "guns, religion, antipathy, anti-immigrant, anti-trade, etc." Of course these are the frustrating things, because they last 4 items have changed the culture of these areas drastically in the last 25 years, hell, they've changed Fort Wayne drastically in the last 25 years. Are we a small midwestern town? NO

And what's the deal with Howard Dean's scream? I thought that was one of the coolest things ever! I think Howard Dean, Ron Paul, Ross Perot, you know some of the "radicals" act more like normal people than the over polished, manufactured campaigns like Clinton and Obama. It's disturbing to me that there is so much focus on how something could be "polished up" and said better in order to sway the opinions of the masses when beneath it all is the hidden REAL feelings of the politician. Then they get elected and we get to watch a slow unmasking for at least the next 4 years.

It's a pretty bizarre statement in my opinion. Is he basically saying these people are redneck bigots, but it's understandable because they lost their jobs, so vote for me because I understand?

Is Hillary making more out of it than she should? Yes, probably, but it's politics as usual.

Markwes wrote:It's a pretty bizarre statement in my opinion. Is he basically saying these people are redneck bigots, but it's understandable because they lost their jobs, so vote for me because I understand?

Is Hillary making more out of it than she should? Yes, probably, but it's politics as usual.

I think it sounds like he was objectively defining the conditions in smaller manufacturing towns. I wonder whether he assumes that his "I take no money from PACs and BigCorp Lobby" stance has some appeal... Desert Storm "The Sequel in Iraq" has a big appeal in smaller towns as well, 2 points for McCain. NAFTA has screwed American manufacturing jobs for many places, not just the midwest. On the other hand, China has been worse IMHO. SO out of the factors that Obama mentioned, he's gotta have a pretty strong plan to turn these voters.

meta4 wrote:...This is a very accurate assessment, but I also think it leans toward belittling the priorities of these voters. the words "guns, religion, antipathy, anti-immigrant, anti-trade, etc."

My biggest problem IS that it is incredibly belittling. I find Obama incredibly refreshing in most instances, and I felt that the Rev. Wright thing was blown way out of proportion by those who just needed an excuse not to vote for him. But this statement was made behind closed doors in a location that is the furthest thing from a small midwestern town. To me, it almost seemed like the "parents" explaining what the problem is with the "kids".

I would like to note that I am not the sort of person that his statement was referencing; that doesn't mean I can't find it mildly insulting, nonetheless.

I really didn't think his statement was that bad. I would have probably left out the gun and religion part of it but the other items he mentioned I think are kind of right on in people being bitter.

I have lived in the deep south and I have heard more bigoted racial remarks here in northern Indiana in two years than the 10 I lived in Louisiana.

You hear the NAFTA hurt this and that yet China isn't part of NAFTA and that is where most of the jobs they complain about left for.

Scooby01_98 wrote:I really didn't think his statement was that bad. I would have probably left out the gun and religion part of it but the other items he mentioned I think are kind of right on in people being bitter.

I have lived in the deep south and I have heard more bigoted racial remarks here in northern Indiana in two years than the 10 I lived in Louisiana.

You hear the NAFTA hurt this and that yet China isn't part of NAFTA and that is where most of the jobs they complain about left for.

I don't know about the deep south vs. Indiana, I've never been deep south. Most of the racist remarks that have me looking over my shoulder and feeling uncomfortable have came from the politically ignorant and semi-toothless. These folks probably care more about their next beer than the election for that matter. Or convicted felons who have lost their right to vote. You can expect all kinds of off color remarks from these folks. From my perspective these are not the kind of people that care about understand how NAFTA, China and Offshoring have hurt the American job market.

I am one of those from the IT support sector that have been stung by "Best Shore sourcing", and from splitting off the more mundane IT responsibilities (help desk, remote desktop support) to India, and Brazil. Canada has been a large player as well. From what I've seen, the elite IT guys have no problem keeping their jobs from going overseas, but they've been moved around quite a bit or "Leveraged" across several clients. My opinion of spreading expertise over several clients is that it tends to dilute the attention that one client receives. For the technician, there is a drift away from deep understanding of the day to day operations of one client causing the tech to merely respond to problems when they occur instead of proactively addressing potential problems before they occur. Also, a problem doesn't become recognized as an "issue" that needs to be addressed unless it can be described several different ways to multiple departments that are responsible for "fixing" the problem.

I completely agree with what he said.. when things get tough people want to blame someone and they go back to the things that don't change. If you take a mans job all it takes is one person in their ear to tell them it's the fault of that minority, or that next they're going to take his house, or his guns, etc. And the people who do this are the Clinton's, who want to profit from the anger of others.

For Hillary to call out anyone as being out of touch is ridiculous though. How many zero's were in here 1040's for the past couple years? Considerably more than I'll ever see, that's for sure. The facts are no politician is really "in touch" with the "common folk" of America. Hell, I seriously doubt many of us are really "in touch" with the people Hillary claims to be.. in that I'm talking about the people who have no job and can't afford their house. And I'm not talking about the people like Jugo who were in between jobs.

cardinal5150 wrote:I completely agree with what he said.. when things get tough people want to blame someone and they go back to the things that don't change. If you take a mans job all it takes is one person in their ear to tell them it's the fault of that minority, or that next they're going to take his house, or his guns, etc. And the people who do this are the Clinton's, who want to profit from the anger of others.

Yeah, the Clinton's have both employed that tactic haven't they? Interesting observation...

Yes, I agree with his statements that they would come from a person like him, from his '20,000 ft. altitude' and I guess I can understand how a comment like that could happen between a strategic campaign adviser and himself. However, It doesn't convince me that he's connected to the catalyst that can project hope for the future to this group of potential voters. Which to them, perhaps comes across sounding like he's talking down to them ie. "he's not connected with what my concerns".

I totally should have taken Bman up on his free meal offer before I said that .... dangit!

I've heard he doesn't take money from big business interests, or PACs or whatever, but this comment doesn't tell me that he's really connected to the rural lower-middle class as much as it speaks to the fact that he's going to support social programs for the urban lower-middle class.

Markwes wrote:It's a pretty bizarre statement in my opinion. Is he basically saying these people are redneck bigots, but it's understandable because they lost their jobs, so vote for me because I understand?

Is Hillary making more out of it than she should? Yes, probably, but it's politics as usual.

i didnt think it was so bad..and seems from todays press alot of folks got what he meant and agree..you cling to the few comforts of faith and tradition because you dont have much else while your jobhunting...again...

meta4 wrote:

cardinal5150 wrote:I completely agree with what he said.. when things get tough people want to blame someone and they go back to the things that don't change. If you take a mans job all it takes is one person in their ear to tell them it's the fault of that minority, or that next they're going to take his house, or his guns, etc. And the people who do this are the Clinton's, who want to profit from the anger of others.

Yeah, the Clinton's have both employed that tactic haven't they? Interesting observation...

Yes, I agree with his statements that they would come from a person like him, from his '20,000 ft. altitude' and I guess I can understand how a comment like that could happen between a strategic campaign adviser and himself. However, It doesn't convince me that he's connected to the catalyst that can project hope for the future to this group of potential voters. Which to them, perhaps comes across sounding like he's talking down to them ie. "he's not connected with what my concerns".

I totally should have taken Bman up on his free meal offer before I said that .... dangit!

I've heard he doesn't take money from big business interests, or PACs or whatever, but this comment doesn't tell me that he's really connected to the rural lower-middle class as much as it speaks to the fact that he's going to support social programs for the urban lower-middle class.

I agree, I don't think he is connected to the middle class at all, lower or upper. He's a Harvard grad and runs in circles non of us do. He's got questionable ties to Chicago "businessmen" and as his tax returns show, he's making some coin.

I'll go out on a limb and say he hasn't worried about a mortgage payment, car loan payment or medical bill in quite some time. If he lost his Senate seat tomorrow he'd be able to do nothing and still live comfortably. How many middle class people can say that? Hell, how many people can say that period?

And what the supposed "middle class" isn't questioning in all of Hillary's rhetoric is how is she more connected when she dwarfs Obama in terms of income. To me this would be like Keith Busse lecturing Warren Buffet on how to run a business. Keith turned SDI into an incredible company, but Warren has done better. Obama has amassed a great deal of wealth, but the Clinton's have done better.

I'm not of an income level where I can really see 15 million vs 25 million as being all that different....

Obama was dead on, and a lot of people are agreeing with him.

No need to worry about deciding who to vote for. "The Boss" has done that for you.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080416/ap_on_el_pr/obama_springsteen

Markwes wrote:No need to worry about deciding who to vote for. "The Boss" has done that for you.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080416/ap_on_el_pr/obama_springsteen

I cannot disagree with anything The Boss said.

Is Obama flipping Hillary the bird?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNO58WdUptU

Markwes wrote:Is Obama flipping Hillary the bird?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNO58WdUptU

LOL... you can kinda see it I guess... weak tho... Personally, I wish Obama would Kick Hillary in the ding ding...

pez wrote:

Markwes wrote:Is Obama flipping Hillary the bird?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNO58WdUptU

LOL... you can kinda see it I guess... weak tho... Personally, I wish Obama would Kick Hillary in the ding ding...

Ding Ding would be the sound it would make b/c isn't she supposed to have "a spine of steel"? (It's a reach, I know)

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:

pez wrote:

Markwes wrote:Is Obama flipping Hillary the bird?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNO58WdUptU

LOL... you can kinda see it I guess... weak tho... Personally, I wish Obama would Kick Hillary in the ding ding...

Ding Ding would be the sound it would make b/c isn't she supposed to have "a spine of steel"? (It's a reach, I know)

Kick Evan Bayh in the Ding Ding for saying that on the commercial.