Obama’s Vulnerability
It may be that the impression of elitism was not actually the most damaging part of Obama's statement, and that the long-term problem is not so much the word "cling" (as in small-town folks clinging to guns and religion) as the word "bitter."
For Obama, the idea of a bitter American public is at odds with his message of hope. He can describe people as frustrated or angry, but if he stops tapping into the idealism and patriotism of his audiences (as when they memorably chanted "USA! USA!" at some rallies), he won't make it.
Have you ever noticed how on TV news, when, say, a family is killed by a gunman, the survivor goes before the cameras and says something to the effect of "I'm very sad but I'm not bitter"? Whatever their straits, Americans are conditioned to deny any bitterness. So when Obama on the first day the story broke doubled down by repeating that many Americans were bitter, he compounded his mistake.
Bill Clinton's political instincts have been a little rusty lately, to put it mildly, but he was on target on Sunday when he recounted how a man came up to him before an appearance in a small town and said, "We're not bitter here; we're proud."
Turning Obama into a snob will be tough for even the most skillful GOP attack dogs. But turning him into a candidate who doesn't appreciate the basic goodness and decency of the American people is doable. It's there that Obama must take care to connect to what the president he calls "my man" Lincoln referred to as "the better angels of our nature." A few more "USA! USA!" chants would help too.
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Member Comments
Posted By: kristinkare @ 05/20/2008 2:09:32 AM
Comment: Clinton takes Indiana by a ???razor??? and Obama wins North Carolina by a huge margin. Nevertheless, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia are still to come.
The Democratic race for nomination is still very much alive ??? and most likely to be decided by superdelegates
If you???re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama
If you haven't done so yet, please write a message to each of your state's superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com
Obama Supporters:
Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It's that easy...
Clinton Supporters too ???. !
It takes a moment, but what's a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?! Those are really worth !
Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It's that easy...
Posted By: Nins @ 04/19/2008 11:15:46 AM
Comment: Jrmapu, Obama believes that the Iraq war is wrong because there were no weapons of mass destruction (that was the "reason" we attacked, and it turned out not to be true). Also, the international community was against us going into Iraq.
On the other hand, Afganistan was hiding Bin Laden after 9/11 and refused to give him up. We attacked them with the full support of the international community, which was behind us in a moral majority.
There are HUGE differences between the war in Iraq and the war in Afganistan. Most Americans can appreciate those differences. Obama has NEVER said that he is anti-war or anti-military. He simply is in favor of restraint and diplomacy before resorting to the use of force.
Posted By: Nins @ 04/19/2008 11:08:56 AM
Comment: Mzha4u, I have to disagree with you. If Obama is the Democratic nominee, lots of Republicans will be voting Democrat. And that includes me.
And, last time that I checked, guilt by association didn't hold any water in a court of law. That's your own prejudice speaking.