Arrogant, Elitist, Obama embarrassed of America:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7I3mwrC9M4
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Mr. Obama’s Washington
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A series of revolutions swept that Washington away. First the women's movement made senators' wives wonder why they were expected to drop their own lives to be at their husbands' beck and call. Then the 1994 Republican revolt made it a badge of honor to live out of a suitcase on Capitol Hill. Money dealt the fatal blow: by the late '90s, re-election campaigns cost so much that senators begged their leadership for short, Tuesday-through-Thursday sessions so they could spend the weekends raising money at home. A Washington residence for the family seemed pointless. By 2007, a majority of freshmen senators were arriving in the capital without their families.
Without the civilizing influence of spouses and children, Washington has receded into the swamp. Georgetown parties now belong to journalists and lobbyists. The influence peddlers have shifted much of the city's social center to Capitol Hill, where members of Congress bunk together in town houses for three and four and make their way at night between fund-raisers and receptions.
Obama stepped into this bachelor wilderness in 2005. Michael Strautmanis, Obama's chief counsel, recalls getting a call from the senator in the months before his term began. "Don't worry, this won't be in your job description," said the senator, "but I need you to help me look for a mattress." Obama shunned the party scene, confining his socializing to fund-raisers, dinners with policy experts and the occasional meal with old law-school classmates. "I'm not aware that he ever went to a residential party," says Cassandra Butts, a law-school friend who helped him set up his Senate office. "He could have developed much deeper personal relationships if he had spent more time in D.C," says a senior aide who would describe a weakness only anonymously.
All this makes for a sharp generational contrast between Obama and his Republican opponent. John McCain, too, never brought his family to Washington—but, until recently, he was certainly happy to make his way to Georgetown for a party or a dinner with friends. Warner, who supports McCain, says the Arizonan's "long service in the Senate" has helped him establish "close personal relationships with many senators across the aisle, which is an essential element to bipartisan success."
Obama's generation, meanwhile, scoffs at the notion that living in Washington makes for better public servants. "Don't tell me you're saying women are responsible for partisan discord," Schultz says with a sigh. "Just because [senators] don't sit around and drink a lot doesn't mean they don't talk." It's a fair point. But if they make it to the White House, the Obamas will have to live in Washington, full time. Obama often speaks about how he'd change the tone in Washington, appointing Republicans to his cabinet and encouraging open debate. He might also try some of the old customs—getting out to dinner, and opening up the bar.
With Sarah Kliff
© 2008
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