Michelle Obama: We’re Average Americans
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in BarackMichelle Obama is hoping she can convince voters that she and her husband are not elitists. Here’s a bit of what she said today in Indianapolis:
We are still so close to the lives that most Americans are living. And I don’t know about you but for most of my lifetime, I’ve felt disconnected from Washington…
We’re a young couple with small kids with all the challenges and the emotions and the stresses that come with raising kids, like being a working mom.
She made the point that she and Barack are not that far removed from the years of paying off student loans and working to keep up with bills.
And so begins Obama’s “regular guy†offensive. But if Mr. and Mrs. Obama think the tag of elitist has stuck so well because they are rich ($4.2 million earned last year), they’re completely missing the point. The criticism is not that Obama is some blue blood with no comprehension of the economic struggles of middle America, it’s that he’s a cultural elitist who has little affinity with the values of middle America.
One can be poor and still think religion and guns are less-than vital values. One can be struggling to pay off bills and still wonder what’s the matter with Kansas. No matter how hard the Obamas try to be “of the people†they still appear to adhere to the values of intellectual/cultural elites.
Mind you, I’m not saying the Obamas necessarily ARE elitists, just that they sometimes come off that way. Counteracting that perception will take a lot more than talking about paying bills, it will take them demonstrating an earnest level of comfort around “average†(beer drinking, god fearing, chocolate loving, gun owning) Americans.
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May 1st, 2008 at 3:07 pm
It would probably require pumping your own gas and working a coffee machine at the 7-11 like Hillary did…oops she couldn’t make either one of them work. She is so like us.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Sure, but I think her point is that her and Barack aren’t that far removed from being in the struggling class. Not only that, he took a job that didn’t pay as much so he could help people.
I think the message is solid, but the media has done everything they can to simply take a couple sentences she’s uttered and turn her into an elitist/unpatriotic woman, when it’s clear she’s anything but.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:53 am
If earning 4.2 million in a single year isn’t “that far removed from being in the struggling class,” then this country is a lot better off then they say it is.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:14 am
Jimmy,
My point was in terms of time they’re not that far removed from being in the struggling class. It wasn’t too long ago that they had massive law school debt, and it’s not like Barack’s salary as a state legislator was that lucrative.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 am
“Struggling Class”, Jimmy, refers all those down-driven souls with dastardly student loan debt. Repaying Harvard is a nightmare of Dickensesque proportion — Malia Ann and Sasha were seen wearing burlap sacks stealing loaves of bread from the street markets.
Here message is solid: “If you elect my husband, your going to have put up with me and I’ll only be proud of this country if I get my way. I’ll be the national jewish grandmother, ready to lay a self-absorped guilt trip come the least resistance to our combined brilliance.”
This sounds very similar to the excuses being made for Rev. Wright. “Oh, he was taken out of context. You just don’t know him. You are distorting his words….exc…..” As it turned out, the media and everyone else had him begged perfectly. I think the same applies to Michelle.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
Okay Dos, keep believing right-wing created memes. Bravo. Way to think for yourself.
No, don’t give Michelle credit for addressing the “proud of America” comment and clarifying that she meant “American politics.” Instead, expect a person to be completely on message at every single second of the day and never say anything that could be taken a couple different ways.
Also, to compare Michelle to Wright is just so hacky. You can do better.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
You’re not one for nuance are you. First, I am not solely a consumer of right-wing memes, I am also an active producer of right-wing memes. In much the same vein, that you are total lap-puppy for Obama — if the man farts you post something about the scent of roses. I did not compare Wright and Michelle — I compared the response — the whole, you-took-it-out-of-context-and-don’t-really-know-the-person defense, the “mistatement” defense, the poor-choice-of-words defense…blah, blah, blah…It is through people’s slip-of-the-tongue that you actually learn what a person is thinking and/or about. Obama meant it went he said people cling to their guns, religion and xenophobia and Michelle meant it when she said she has never truly been proud of this country until it did something for her husband.
You can do better, Justin. I don’t begrudge your support of Obama, but you seem particularly susceptible to hero worship and that is, imo, not how we should elect a president.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Yea Dos!!! Never met an enormous debt he didn’t just love! Thanks for bankrupting America. BTW, how many times can the republicans lie to you about fiscal responsibility and you still believe them? My god you must be gullible!
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Don’t forget those rough adolescent years Obama struggled through while growing up in that beach front neighborhood in Honolulu.