Will Obama Pay for 'Bitter' Flap?

[DeepModem Mom]

TIME: Will Obama Pay for 'Bitter' Flap?
Monday, Apr. 14, 2008
By JAY NEWTON-SMALL/WASHINGTON


Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a town hall meeting in Lafayette, Indiana, on April 10
(Alex Brandon/AP)

...."I thought his response in Indiana, in which he reemphasized the point he was making rather than apologize or 'clarify' it, was sensible and refreshing," said Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Though the first wave of criticism focused on Obama's use of the word "bitter," over the weekend critics concentrated more on Obama's use of the word "cling" and the negative connotation it gave to people's attachments to guns and God. "I think you're on dangerous ground when you morph that into suggesting that people's cultural values, whether its religion or hunting and fishing or concerns about trade, are premised solely upon those of kind of anxieties and don't have a legitimate foundation independent of them," Indiana Senator Evan Bayh told reporters while campaigning for Clinton in Indiana, which also holds its primary on May 6.

Last month Obama came under fire for comments made by his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright from the pulpit over the years, including calling on his parish to "God damn America," and labeling the country the "U.S. of KKK A." Obama responded with an eloquent speech on race and the furor died down. This time, though, giving an intellectual speech is not going to easily solve the problem. Either way, Obama is going to have to find a way to speak to working class white voters, if not before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, than certainly in the general election if he's the nominee.

"Mistakes become 'gaffes' when they play to an underlying stereotype," said Michael Munger, a polticial science professor at Duke University in North Carolina, which is scheduled to hold its primary May 6. "If Bill Clinton had said this thing about some white people being bitter and using guns, it would have been fine, since he grew up a poor white guy. But the Obama stereotype is a wealthy Ivy-League elitist. He's a little too well-spoken; his suits are a little too expensive. From him, the comment comes off as condescending."

But if Clinton, and McCain for that matter, are going to use these comments to cast Obama as an arrogant elitist, they better be prepared to deal with the blowback. As Jamal Simmons, a Democratic consultant and Obama supporter, put it in an email exchange with TIME, "Hillary Clinton calls Barack Obama elitist? Really? Hillary Clinton was a corporate lawyer who sat on the Wal Mart board before becoming First Lady and is now worth over $100 million. Barack Obama is the child of a single mother raised in part by his grandparents who went to school on a scholarship and was a community organizer making $12,000 a year before becoming a law professor, lawyer and state senator. Five years ago he was still paying off student loans. It's a bogus charge."

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1730546,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

[NJmaverick]

1. I think this is the most important point of the article

But if Clinton, and McCain for that matter, are going to use these comments to cast Obama as an arrogant elitist, they better be prepared to deal with the blowback. As Jamal Simmons, a Democratic consultant and Obama supporter, put it in an email exchange with TIME, "Hillary Clinton calls Barack Obama elitist? Really? Hillary Clinton was a corporate lawyer who sat on the Wal Mart board before becoming First Lady and is now worth over $100 million. Barack Obama is the child of a single mother raised in part by his grandparents who went to school on a scholarship and was a community organizer making $12,000 a year before becoming a law professor, lawyer and state senator. Five years ago he was still paying off student loans. It's a bogus charge."

[Craftsman]

2. Yes he will, and so will we all if he is nominated

He is getting increasingly unelectable.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

3. ????

I didn't get the memo on how I was supposed to be outraged at Obama's comments.

Go Obama!!!

[Craftsman]

5. I am.

I own guns, got to church adn usually vote Dem. But is Obigot is the nominee I will not vote for the elitest racist.

[Bonn1997]

6. If you're an elite liberal (like me), then

you probably are NOT outraged by his comments (just like I am not). If you want him to actually carry at least 270 electoral votes, then the comments are quite problematic.

[screembloodymurder]

4. These stories sound like cover for another stolen election.

If Obama loses, there will be a subsequent batch of stories explaining how "bittergate" was the reason. Don't buy it. It's controlled media conditioning us for a surprise. If he loses, go after the media with everything you have.

[Praxxus]

7. I don't think it will

Clinton is already getting jeered at speeches about it, Ed Rendell says it will be no big deal come November (interestingly, one may infer from that remark that Rendell thinks Obama will be the nominee). Other Clinton supporters, pundits, columnists, etc. are calling it the B.S. that it is, or saying Obama was right. It might give Team Clinton a bit of a nudge in the primary, but I doubt it will have a lasting effect.

Really, I just don't see how John "8 homes, tax cuts for the wealthy" McSame can pull off this attack once Obama is able to focus on just one opponent.

Off topic: I think I took a pic at the same time that AP reporter did, just from a different angle:

[DeepModem Mom]

8. I think you did! Great photo! I love the expression on Obama's face...

and the perspective, with people surrounding him at different distances, all focused on what I assume was a questioner.

[Praxxus]

9. Thanks, and yes.

He was responding to a questioner.

I have a Flickr photo set up from his visit to Lafayette, IN. I got lucky with the proximity of my seat. ;-)

[DeepModem Mom]

10. And I just noticed you're new here -- welcome to DU!!!