Obama calls small town Americans bitter

[chowderhead]

are anti-immigrant too

Here is Barrack Obama speaking at a San Francisco fundraiser trying to say that people in the small towns in Pennsylvania and the midwest are bitter because they have lost jobs and now cling to guns and God and are anti-immigrant as a result.

"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."

Way to be condescending there Obama! Speaking at a San Francisco fundraiser and lecturing small town folks why they are anti-immigrant or pro-gun rights. This is exactly the elitist thinking/argument that got us Kerry and Dukakis. How is he going to win over Reagan Democrats and blue collar folks if he is going to lecture about why they are supposedly bitter and presumably not voting Democratic?

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Meh, he can't help it. I mean how long can an elitist really hide his true colors behind a "hope" and "change" charade? He's lasted longer than most do...

 

[1prophet]

How about the whole transcript for in context viewing.

Full transcript:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: 1prophet
How about the whole transcript for in context viewing.

Full transcript:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

That doesn't change how elitist/ condescending his statement is.

 

[nageov3t]

Obama's the only hope our country has, and it's pretty telling that people are looking for any excuse to lynch him, even if he's just telling the truth.

 

[chowderhead]

Originally posted by: loki8481
Obama's the only hope our country has, and it's pretty telling that people are looking for any excuse to lynch him, even if he's just telling the truth.

once again, play that race card.

 

[AAjax]

Originally posted by: loki8481
Obama's the only hope our country has, and it's pretty telling that people are looking for any excuse to lynch him, even if he's just telling the truth.

If he's our only hope we are hopeless

 

[lupi]

So it's not surprising then that 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.



Ain't no amount of imaginary snipers that can come close to touching that type of foot in mount crap.

 

[glutenberg]

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: 1prophet
How about the whole transcript for in context viewing.

Full transcript:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

That doesn't change how elitist/ condescending his statement is.

I honestly believe you need to take a moment and re-read what he said. Before you re-read it, take a moment to try to make yourself a neutral party instead of automatically jumping to ridiculous conclusions that he's elitist for a remark that has nothing to do with elitism.

 

[sportage]

So so stupid!!!
The press and all the candidates catch every word,
every phrase, ever sigh and try so hard to turn it into
a massive issue.

Reminds me of being in elementary school...
Teacher, Johnny said I made a face at him...

Teacher, Betty took the last coloring book...

Teacher, Timmy wont let me hold one end of the jump rope.

Teacher..... :roll:

 

[chucky2]

While I cannot decide between McCain or Obama (although I'm leaning McCain atm), this quote, "So it's not surprising then that 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. " is so F'ing stupid it almost need verification he actually said it.

Most people "cling" to their guns because they don't want to depend on the police being right there if the sh1t goes down...they take a 'Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it' approach. That's prudent when you don't live in 90210 or have SS people protecting you.

Most people "cling" to their religion because it's their F'ing religion...just like Obama clung to his religion for 20 years under a racist church leader.

Most people who are "anti-immigrant" are anti-illegal immigrant. 12M illegals pouring across the border taking working class jobs from people who are out of work and are working class is never going to sit well.

That Obama actually holds these views does not bode well for an undecided's perception of his mental state. This is what people talk about when they said Hillary is already a known because she's been debunked up and down already when Bill was in, that Obama was an unknown.

Bad Obama. :thumbsdown:

Chuck

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY
...

That doesn't change how elitist/ condescending his statement is.

I find it interesting that you call his ideas elitist, yet you don't say he's wrong. While you're doing a great job proving that conservatives are just as PC as liberals (just about different topics), I think it's important for politicians to not be dissuaded from telling the truth just because it might hurt someone's feelings. And I think that there is something wrong with the politics in much of "small town America". Most Democrats are willing to write them off and most Republicans are willing to exploit them for their votes, I'm glad Obama is willing to say that something needs to change, particularly since I'm a liberal. I think "small town America" should be overwhelmingly Democrat, and the fact that that's not true is a problem that should be addressed.

 

[AAjax]

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: 1prophet
How about the whole transcript for in context viewing.

Full transcript:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

That doesn't change how elitist/ condescending his statement is.

I honestly believe you need to take a moment and re-read what he said. Before you re-read it, take a moment to try to make yourself a neutral party instead of automatically jumping to ridiculous conclusions that he's elitist for a remark that has nothing to do with elitism.

How dose stereo-typing an entire swath of the population as ignorant diverge from much of what he himself decry's? On the contrary, it shows his true colors. Funny how no matter what color someone happens to be the disease of prejudice infects all who hold themselves vainly higher than their countrymen , and make disparaging judgments to slander people their self interests diverge from.

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: lupi
So it's not surprising then that 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.



Ain't no amount of imaginary snipers that can come close to touching that type of foot in mount crap.

Heh, yeah even Obama campaign won't respond to the remark. Quote from Reuters:

"The Obama campaign did not comment on their candidate's remarks, but responded to both attacks by saying Americans are upset with politicians for saying anything but failing to fight against special interests."

Nice job changing the subject.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Buahahaha - Hillary's statements on this:

?It?s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who face hard times are bitter,? Clinton said during a campaign event in Philadelphia. ?Well that?s not my experience. As I travel around Pennsylvania. I meet people who are resilient, optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves.?

?Pennsylvanians don?t need a president who looks down on them,? she said. ?They need a president who stands up for them, who fights hard for your future, your jobs, your families.?

 

[First]

Condescending, but accurate unfortunately. The hate against foreign "competition" with these small town folk who are pissed over losing their jobs is the worst reasoning of all; the countless studies and empirical findings that show that foreign trade with domestic businesses leads to greater job creation and opportunities in the overall marketplace even though it'll lead to job losses in concentrated areas of the U.S. initially. Protectionism against foreign collaboration is total, nonsensical BS and small town folk are certainly the main culprit of this widespread myth. The correlation with guns by Obama, though, doesn't seem founded in anything that I'm aware of.

 

[Dari]

How is what he said isn't true? Every four years you have these politicians promise them the moon then, once elected, they send them up the river. I'd be bitter too if that shit's been happening for decades. But, TBH, these folks have no one to blame if we look at their voting history. They vote against their interests all the time by voting for someone they like rather than a politician that's honest with them.

A politician being honest and it backfires.

 

[Throckmorton]

Amazing how Obama can say something 100% true and it turns into a controversy.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY
Meh, he can't help it. I mean how long can an elitist really hide his true colors behind a "hope" and "change" charade? He's lasted longer than most do...

Good: USA PATRIOTISM GOD GUNS

Bad: IMMIGRANTS ISLAM AL QAEDA IRAQ MEXICANS GAYS LIBERALS

I guess you prefer to hear soundbites rather than cold, hard truth, right?

 

[cKGunslinger]

The more this guy campaigns, the more I like the fucker.

 

[AAjax]

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY
Meh, he can't help it. I mean how long can an elitist really hide his true colors behind a "hope" and "change" charade? He's lasted longer than most do...

Good: USA PATRIOTISM GOD GUNS

Bad: IMMIGRANTS ISLAM AL QAEDA IRAQ MEXICANS GAYS LIBERALS

I guess you prefer to hear soundbites rather than cold, hard truth, right?

more broad sweeping statements, how dose this help? This is in the same vain as Obama's statement though he is far smoother. Some say this is a true statement, but for the entire group that he lumps together for political end? And with spin talk like anti immigration when indeed most all Americans are in no way anti immigration, just anti illegal immigration, but that docent fit his political agenda so the spin. Same with the guns comment, its a right of all citizens right? But in the right context its made to look as desperate. And after Bush who can argue there is no place for an armed citizenry to be a stopgap of last resort to despotism ?

 

[Bitek]

Obama should just stick to more blatant pandering and dopey canned lines like Hillary (and McCain some too) as he ad libs to much, gets too honest and sys shit people don't like to hear. He should just walk around with tons of flags chanting "America, Fuck yeah!" and talk about how our military can kick anyone's ass.

 

[JS80]

Obama we see your true colors...

Might as well have said "those silly rednecks."

Now we have two things to swift boat the fuck out of on TV in October.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: JS80
Obama we see your true colors...

Might as well have said "those silly rednecks."

Now we have two things to swift boat the fuck out of on TV in October.

Yeah, but the problem is that this time around, the only people getting all horny at the prospect of "Swift Boating" Obama are you guys...and it's not like you were in his camp to begin with.

 

[dahunan]

If he wanted to torture foreigners those smalltowns would love him