Obama Talks Down to Small-Town Pennsylvanians (Like Me)
I hope I’ve already convinced you (here) that Barack Obama is a pandering, typical politician.
Oh, you want more proof? O.K.
First, remember that Obama was very recently campaigning for the pro-gun vote in Pennsylvania, doing his best to project himself as a “down-to-earth” guy.
Now, Ben Smith from the Politico reports that Obama, during a speech in San Francisco, said the following:
You go into 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.
And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Maybe I’m missing something — did Obama seriously think he could bash on small-town Pennsylvanians without them finding out about it? (For the record, I’m a small-town Pennsylvanian.)
Of course, I’m sure none of the San Franciscans were bothered by the comments, because San Franciscans don’t like guns or religion, and they do like weird people and immigrants.
So enough of this “above politics” crap from Obama; he’s a politician with a political agenda, just like the rest of ‘em.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Perhaps you misunderstand his point?
He’s not bashing on them (or you).
He’s saying that their frustrations are justified, and as many people would, they look for a cause for their frustration, and finding no one entity to blame for their woes, they become bitter, paranoid almost, that the government or even whole groups of ‘other kinds’ of people are working against them on every front.
So when legislation comes through that says ‘maybe having the latest assault weapons available to every citizen isn’t such a good idea’ or ‘maybe we should be sensitive to religions other than christianity or judaism’, these folks instinctively oppose it, even though the proposal is in their best interests.
If they took a step back, out of their current situation, forgot their bitterness toward the current situation, and considered what was best for the country, and for themselves in the longer term, perhaps they would see differently?
April 11th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Ah, poor Alex. You took all the time to think of and write your response, but it was all for naught because you completely overlooked one very important factor.
Obama’s argument — and your response — both rely on the premise that Pennsylvanians are bitter. And we’re not!
It’s a false premise, so the entire argument gets thrown out the window. Sorry! Thanks for commenting, bye-bye now.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Yes, but I lived there, in Pittsburgh, for four years, and lo, I can say that there are in fact a large group of people that are truly bitter about the loss of jobs in the area, and blame is readily available to be assigned to the nearest politician, (or in this case to the nearest commenter).
(bye-bye now? is that not bitterness?)
April 11th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
If your statement is true, that’s a reflection of a major problem in our country: people need to stop looking to the government for help, because government only makes problems worse. Real economic solutions can only be realized through the free market.
And “bye-bye now” isn’t bitterness; it’s called sarcasm.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:40 am
While I am not a supporter of the majority of the ramblings that come out of his sly mouth, I think Obama had a valid point, but I also think that he took it too far. He basically credits the entirety of rust belt culture to their lack of job opportunities, possibly insinuating that should they have jobs they would be more like the “rest of us”. Try telling some hunting camo-wearing John Doe on the street that he only believes in God because he is poor, see how well that goes over, no matter how statistically accurate it is.
Also, given my history growing up as a small-town Pennsylvanian, I really doubt the people of PA were less interested in guns, hunting or antipathy in its many forms prior to the decline in industry of a quarter century ago; my Dad and Grandfather would be more than happy to attest to this.
I am also left wondering who ever said we were bitter in the first place?!
April 20th, 2008 at 4:28 am
OBAMA SHOULD RELEASE HIS SCHEDULE FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS LIKE HILLARY DID SO WE CAN SEE IF HE WAS IN THE CHURCH WHEN WRIGHT SAID THOSE THINGS.
OBAMA WILL SAY ANYTHING TO GET YOUR VOTE, BUT HIS CHARACTER IS DISAPPOINTING AND QUITE CLEAR. FRAUD