He didn’t say that there was anything wrong about clinging to religion, or guns, etc… (that’s being filled in by everyone else). He simply observed that the political machines (both Democrat and Republican) have spent far too much time and effort using those points to win elections at the expense of people who have become increasingly bitter (and if you think that’s untrue tell me what percentage of politicians you would take at face value when they promise you something). Since the politicians can’t (or won’t) say “We will fix (or help you solve) your economic problems” they go on to “defending” the sanctity of marriage, the flag, any damn thing that will get a rise out of people. They’re going to build border fences to protect us from all those illegals (and terrorists) coming across the border to mow our lawns (and sneak nail clippers onto planes) and who cares that someone in PA or IN just wants a job they can feel good about doing in their neck of the woods.

Honestly, I find it pathetic that Obama is being attacked for one tenuously elitist comment after months of demonstrating actual intelligence and willingness to listen and talk to people of all affiliations, beliefs and perspectives, but it’s quite all right for someone like McCain to admit that he doesn’t really understand economics and for someone like Clinton to outright lie about dodging sniper fire. I don’t think he’s perfect, but I do think he’s a better alternative than his opponents and if this truly hurts his campaign, then we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves for clinging to our religion and our guns and our xenophobia even as our economy goes down like the Titanic. We’ll have no one to blame but the average joes who would rather vote for someone they can drink beer and go hunting with with than for someone who will spend 80 hours a week working on finding solutions to our problems.

I don’t want to be friends with a workaholic, intelligent elitist. I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with them or have them as a parent, but I sure wouldn’t mind someone like that running the country.

He’s making an implicit argument that wedge issues have only become important because politicians have chosen to use them to hide the ineptness of their economic policies, but at the same time, he’s offering nothing new or different that would make us think that his government solution for the problems of a changing global economy will really help

Obama does not have a coherent economic philosophy other than the failed Keynesian policies of typical big-government liberals.

How the hell can you call a black man from the south side of Chicago who grew up without a father and without money… who has worked his entire life for the poorest in our community…. how can you with a straight face call him elitist and out of touch?

ROFLMAO. He’s not “from” the South Side–he was born in Honolulu. He didn’t grow up poor–. From the age of 10 onwards he attended the most elite schools this nation has to offer, starting with the Punahou Academy prep school in Hawaii. After that he went to Occidental, Columbia, and Harvard. After that he became an attorney with a major Chicago firm that hired him out to left-liberal groups such as ACORN and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He filled in his spare time by teaching at the University of Chicago law school. Then he walked into a seat in the U.S. Senate when Jack Ryan’s campaign imploded in a sex/divorce scandal. And let’s not even get into his work helping Rezko become a major slumlord on the South Side using taxpayer funding!

Jesus, savior of the poor, he is NOT.

Barack Obama is considered a highly skilled rhetor and like you pointed out, it is a rare event when he errs in his words. Especially in unscripted segments, the blunders are scrutinized for their implications; are they indicative of his “true feelings” or a simple misstep? Also, given that he was addressing urbane, wealthy donors in San Francisco, rural Pennsylvanians could find the words very offensive. I appreciated your focus on the word “cling”, which I agree has negative and even condescending implications; it struck me immediately when I first read his comments.

I have to disagree with you however that these comments exemplify even a reach for the “elitist liberal ideology”. It seems more as if you have framed the events to fit into the label than attempted to accurately characterize the words. The full transcript and audio of the speech have been made available online, and they distinctively show compassion and concern for Pennsylvanians rather than a snobbish attitude. I believe adding the word “liberal” diminishes your argument. Barack Obama’s comments merit analysis especially as they are offensive, but declaring liberal elitism after two sentences is hard to justify. Obama’s campaign is famous for raising large amounts of money from small donors, and rural Democrats are a definite part of his support base; I find no strong argument that his tendency is as a liberal elitist.

At the same time, however, we agree that the comments warrant media coverage and examination. The same bloggers I mentioned earlier who will become apologists for candidates automatically brush-off the comments as irrelevant. Regardless, the comments have been made the focus of the public and therefore need to be addressed. Thank you again for providing a unique, relevant, and strong opinion on the topic.

In the end, although few people have articulated this, I think this is why this comment will hurt him. He’s making an implicit argument that wedge issues have only become important because politicians have chosen to use them to hide the ineptness of their economic policies, but at the same time, he’s offering nothing new or different that would make us think that his government solution for the problems of a changing global economy will really help (in fact, he accidentally indicted himself when he mentioned politicians who promise protectionist policies.)

As for tempests … what, a guy can’t twist around a cliche? Fine. Plain English then: it may not be an incredibly important story but there is validity in calling Obama out on his elitist remarks.

Saying the truth is not being elitist.

Being multi-multi-millionaires and wanting to maintain the status-quo (McCain, Hillary) thats being elitist. How the hell can you call a black man from the south side of Chicago who grew up without a father and without money… who has worked his entire life for the poorest in our community…. how can you with a straight face call him elitist and out of touch? Name another politician of any prominence who is as close to the people and their problems as he is.

Don’t hate him because he has a brain and is not afraid to speak his mind.

Spin, spin, spin. Wish us good luck with this president the media is chosing for us. I sincerely hope it doesn’t come back to bite us in the butt like their sorry reporting leading up to the Iraq war. I guess democracy is over and we’ve got information filtered by a corrupt media, just like in N. Korea. Yippee!

I know ratings are all important, and there’s an influx of Obama followers who just discovered politics, but remember when they move on to their next hobby, the majority of lifelong democrats who supported Clinton or Edwards will not tune in anymore. I’m close to going PBS and NPR exclusively for my “news.”

No. I’m sorry. The right wing noise maching may be pushing this story too hard, but Obama supporters are being too quick to give the man a pass on a statement that was clearly elitist in its tone. It’s not a big issue because it’s just one statement, but it is revealing. I think Kaus’ post on this is pretty good in terms of showing Obama’s defense to be nothing but damage control and spin.

Thanks. I’d defend myself but I have to go take this call from Karl Rove.

Dyre: Let us all turn to page 138 in the hymnal . . .

Kudos for toeing the party line on this one, Alan! The Right Wing Noise Machine salutes you!

If Alan is anything he’s a fair broker, so lazy comments like this only serve to distract the conversation and it’s not appreciated.

“”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.”

That’s what he said beforehand. He’s right.

I would have gone for “The Old Rugged Cross” since it actually uses the word cling in its chorus.

Kudos for toeing the party line on this one, Alan! The Right Wing Noise Machine salutes you!