Obama "demeaning" remarks on working-class views of religion, guns, and immigration

At issue are comments Obama made privately at a fundraiser in San Francisco last Sunday. He was trying to explain his troubles winning over some working-class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions:

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_el_pr/obama_clinton

 

News: Scary black guy about to become Prez.

Boo!

 

Obama is out of touch will American values.

But considering Obama's background, what else do you expect?

 

Why yes, yes, to be sure, out of touch with "American values" as they come.

Just curious, though...who determines "American values," again?

I know it's a zany question, but 'cuz dem dere 13,255,309 folks who have voted for Barack Obama thus far are, you know, well, Americans, I'm kinda freaked, for sure...how did 13,255,309 non-Americans scam their way into the elections????

 

Hey, here is an idea. Let's start another Obama thread!

The Paulistas are getting jealous!

And Clinton and McCain are more in touch? Do you think these people have cooked a meal, or shopped for clothes? You think McCain goes down to Wal-Mart on the weekend, or Hillary keeps a small vegetable garden?

Get real man. I'm not down with Obama, but you're stretching the criticism beyond reason.

 

Higgledy-piggledy Hillary is clutching at straws and trying to pull wabbits out of hats.

MIghty Mccain awaits Awesome obama in the arena ........

 

None of them are in touch with America. When was the last time anyone of them had to worry about paying their bills if ever.
Go and read these BIOS and then decide who you would rather have leading our country Obama does not have enough experience to to run a small corporation and people think he should lead the nation, be the commander and chief. McCain is the best person running, has everyone forgot "whitewater and all the other Clinton fiasco's? Obama has only been in Washington since 2004 and how much of that time as been spent campaign?
http://www.johnmccain.com/about/
http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet_barack.php

 

God, guts and guns is what America was built on

 

John Wayne - is that you?

America was built on a helluva lot of things, and none of them come down to a three word platitude.

 

But defending legitimate criticism of Obama by bringing up "black and scary" is okay - even when it has nothing to do with the issues? That was beneath you.

This was a serious gaffe by Obama. He expressed his belief in a nexus between job losses and people today 'clinging' to religion, guns, bigotry, and anti-trade feelings.

Personally, I think it was a pretty huge screw up to say that people cling to guns and religion because of job losses. It dismisses and belittles the other strong reasons people believe in religion or the Constitutional right to gun ownership.

 

Brown, there are, I think, well over 100 pages or so of smears of Obama and his candidacy by Bogart on this forum. You'd have to read them to understand my post.

Yep, colossal screw up. But equally ridiculous is the attempt to use this to paint a further smear. A gaffe, in a long line of gaffes by politicians.

 

Man up, Obama speaketh the trutheth. He is a wuss for not sticking by his words.

 

Word.

And that's why he is just another politician, not a messiah.

 

Howard Dean made a similar comment 4 years ago that people in the south shouldn't vote on God, Gays and Guns.

I find that view point kind of demeaning to the voter, who is to say that one view point or one reason for voting for a person is better then another.

 

This CNN Clip Says It All.

McCain & Clinton's attacks on Obama over these comments are politics as usual. It's the game of taking someones comments out of context and then repeating them over and over. The political game of "gotcha." But it's just so obvious that they just don't get it. It's they that are out of touch, not Obama. The idea that John McCain is calling anyone else "out of touch" is just laughable.

 

BS. The point is that these voters are being manipulated against voting in their own interests. It's the Democrats who need to make their case to the people to not vote on those BS wedge issues and instead vote on issues that will actually effect their lives (economics.)

 

I agree that Obama is speaking the truth, but I don't see how he is not sticking by his words? This was his response to the McCain/Clinton attacks on his words. Seems to be sticking by his words to me! If you are referring to his comments that he "may not have said what he said in the best way." I don't see that as not sticking by his words, he's probably right. He should have said it differently as the way he said it is too easily used for "gotcha" politics the way that McCain/Clinton are doing.

But I am hopeful that this will actually backfire on them as it's so obviously ludicrous that those 2 are calling Obama out of touch and I think many people will feel that the heart of what Obama said is correct and will not be fooled by the twisting of McCain/Clinton.

 

Guns, religion, immigration and trade are all important issues. Obama is out of touch if he doesn't believe that these are important issues. But hell, his wife Michelle Obama has said that she has never been proud of America and Obama attends an anti-american church. So, there's no reason to believe that Obama's in touch with what Ameica is about.

 

Politically I'm sure he will take a beating for the comment. It was a long response to somewhat complicated question. In a political context it will receive the same kind of twisting as McCain's description of staying in Iraq for 100 years similarly took a beating.

By directly tieing his inability to connect, and the disconnect of small town Pennsylvanians to government....and relating that lack of govt connection to relationships to guns and religeon is a stretch of concepts.

From an historical political perspective he attempted to describe how blue collar America moved from democrats to republicans starting in the late 1960's to 1970's.

Obama has claimed he wants to discuss issues differently from the standard political discourse.

These comments will test that ability.

 

We could turn it into a WWII thread!!!