Breaking down the Obama spin on his snobbery
April 12th, 2008 by everettEd Morrissey has the best breakdown on Obama’s aloof, elitist statement at a San Francisco fundraiser last weekend:
Let’s break this statement into its component insults:
“[T]hey cling to guns…” Cling to guns? Americans have “clung” to guns since the founding of the Republic. It’s such a core value to this nation that its founders placed it second on the Bill of Rights, right after freedom of speech and religion. Speaking of which …
“or [they cling to] religion …” People don’t become religious because the economy hits a few bumps in the road. Obama may have chosen his religion based on politics, but most people follow a religion out of a deeper sense of spirituality. I can’t think of a more condescending and contemptuous analysis of religious dedication than this statement.
“or [they cling to] antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment…” Small-town voters are bigots and xenophobes; there’s no other way to read the first part of this statement. The second part, about them being “anti-immigrant”, is a non-sequitur. They may be anti-illegal immigrant, but that’s a far different issue. Obama offers no proof that small-town voters are xenophobes, but the Frisco audience didn’t demand any, either. It’s part of their own bigotry that makes them see middle America in those terms.
“or [they cling to] anti-trade sentiment …” And this is just jaw-droppingly hypocritical. This comes from the same candidate who opposes the Colombian free-trade agreement and wants to throw NAFTA out the window. Who’s clinging to anti-trade sentiment? Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Big Labor.
It would be difficult to be any more condescending or insulting in so many ways to so many voters in a single sentence. It reveals a deeply elitist and shockingly callow candidate. It’s the “Let them eat cake” of 2008.
Spot on analysis. Obama wants to paint small-town America as out-of-touch xenophobic gun-toting religious racists. Instead, he paints himself as an elite snob, and he’s got a pattern developing that supports my opinion. He remarked about the price of arugula at Whole Foods while in Iowa - where there are no Whole Foods to be found. He tried connect with the common man by showing off his bowling skills - and scored a 37. Then, while campaigning in Philly, he opts for rare imported Spanish ham instead of the traditional cheesesteak.
Now he bags on small-town America, making an emergent picture grow ever more clear of Obama as yet another Limousine Liberal claiming to know what’s best for the rest of us.
