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, and they feel so betrayed by government, and 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 (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter). [...]
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. So it's not surprising then that 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.
Read the full transcript here...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-surprise-that-ha_b_96188.htmlObama made these remarks nearly a week ago at a San Fransisco fundraiser. He's gotten a lot of flak from rival Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee John McCain. Clinton called the remarks "elitist" while a McCain spokesman called it "condescending" and "out of touch.". This story began circulating the media late afternoon/early evening.
Here is Obama's response to the criticism of his comments and CNN pundits weighing in...
This is the reason why I support Barack Obama. Not because I totally agree with what he says; it is because he tells people what they need to hear. He's honest. Clinton and McCain jumping on Obama about his comments about small town America is just them grapsing at the bit. Yes Obama could have worded it differently in a way that could have avoided controversy. He regreted the way it came but won't apologize for it. I think that is very brave and bold for him to do.
What Obama said was true in one aspect or another. These people in rural America have seen their jobs shipped overseas for the past 20-25 years. Has any President done anything to help these people? Did the Bush and Clinton Administrations do anything? These citizens are angry and use government or something else as scapegoats. Sometimes it is hard for people to hear the truth. For Obama to be punished for saying what is true is an absolute shame. Does Hillary and McCain really think it is a rosy picture out there?
What struck a nerve on me was the reaction by Hillary Clinton and John McCain regarding Obama's comments. It is truly amazing for them to label Obama as "elitist and out-of-touch". This comes from the Clinton's who just reported they made nearly $109 million from 2000-2006. This comes from John McCain who flip flopped on the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Before he was the Republican nominee he was against the tax cuts. But after he became the nominee, he flipped and started supporting it, mainly because it was politically correct for him to do so. And this also from the same person who admitted not knowing much about the economy.
Compare that to Obama, who grew up in a modest household, living in Indonesia for part of his childhood. He never got wealthy until he was elected to the Senate and sales of his book The Audacity of Hope became a bestseller. Obama worked in the southside of Chicago helping out people who were just laid off from a recently closed factory. This is the same person who worked as a civil rights lawyer. And now because he made a comment that is true, and somehow he's an elitist?
And could the Clinton campaign be any more hypocritical? Take a look at comments made by then presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1991 (thanks to HuffingtonPost):
"The reason (George H. W. Bush's tactic) works so well now is that you have all these economically insecure white people who are scared to death," Clinton was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times in September 1991.
Couple months later, from columnist Joe Kline:
"You know, he [Bush] wants to divide us over race. I'm from the South. I understand this. This quota deal they're gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they've been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade. When their economic policies fail, when the country's coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? They find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them. They know if they can keep us looking at each other across a racial divide, if I can look at Bobby Rush and think, Bobby wants my job, my promotion, then neither of us can look at George Bush and say, 'What happened to everybody's job? What happened to everybody's income? What ... have ... you ... done ... to ... our ... country?'"
Remarkable...
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