Matthew Dowd
A Man in the Middle Looks at the Whole Wide World of People and Politics
Matthew Dowd has been a campaign strategist in races throughout the country. In 30 years, Dowd has worked for Democrats such as the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, and Republicans including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George W. Bush, for whom he was chief strategist in 2004.
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« Does Experience Really Matter? | Main | Wright Way or the Right Way: What Obama Needs to Do Now »
Lessons from a Tough Campaign
April 14, 2008 6:57 PM
As we head into the debate this week in Pennsylvania -- only a week from the Democratic primary there -- let’s take a look at lessons learned this week in this rough and tumble campaign.
Hillary Clinton was again hounded by questions of her honesty regarding her exaggerated “storytelling” of her 1996 Bosnia trip and her husband added to the fire by fumbling in his explanation of her misstatements.
Barack Obama got in a bit of hot water of his own over comments at a so-called closed event (more on that later) about “bitter” working class folks and the political causes they support.
So what does all this mean? My initial take is that neither story was good for the candidate but the two incidents happening so close together are a wash. They both take a hit. Clinton’s hit would have been more damaging if Obama hadn’t hit himself again so soon.
When these kind of things pop up in a campaign you have to look at them in two categories: first, bad news or mistakes can be just a momentary news cycle distraction that don’t have anything to do with the overall narrative of the race (and thus they quickly pass without much effect) – or, they can add to voters’ perceptions of the candidate that have already developed or are developing. The latter category is the worst case scenario for the candidate.
Rightly or wrongly, some voters question Hillary’s trustworthiness. That perception is fairly embedded in her image, and when the Bosnia incident came up, it gave those people evidence of something they already believe.
For Obama, while being an elitist isn’t embedded yet in his image, it is a developing story line for him and one that his opponents may try to build on. And the comments he made about small town voters make a case for that emerging image. I think this storm will likely pass, but if he makes more missteps or misstatements in this vein, the elitist narrative could become as damaging to him as the truthtelling narrative is for Hillary. It’s not there yet, but more could do it.
In criticizing Obama’s remarks about small town voters, Hillary Clinton drew a line between Obama and Al Gore and John Kerry, who she said lost the last couple of general elections is because of “elitist” attitudes. Is that fair? I don’t think so.
Elitism had some impact on both of those campaigns but it did not lose those elections. Kerry lost because at a time the country wanted a strong and decisive leader, he gave them a flip-flopper. And Gore lost the electoral college vote because he was seen as an ultra-cautious politician in his decision making who was part of an administration that wasn’t viewed as honest and didn’t respect the dignity of the office.
Keep in mind that both of the Democrats that Hillary called elitist won Pennsylvania in the general election in 2000 and 2004, and won the working class vote in that state!
Finally, if the Obama campaign (or anyone campaign) learned one lesson this week it is this: there is no such thing as a “closed” event anymore.
With camera phones, and tiny recording devices, and YouTube, etc, campaigns should open up every event to the press. It is likely to be reported on by citizen journalists anyway! And with the expectation that every event is open to the press, the candidate will stay disciplined at all events. I don’t understand why Obama is doing these small fundraising events these anymore since he has such deep pockets in the money he has already raised, and can certainly raise more money at less cost over the internet.
Finally, stay tuned for the ABC News debate this week and watch t see if the candidates further add to these developing or developed perceptions of their personas. That is the importance of this debate in my view.
And one more time, the lesson of the day is this: there are no secrets any more in this age of technology.
April 14, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (67)
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Nice piece.
My gut however, tells me that the Obama slip-of-the-tongue will linger. It's magnified by the fact that he presumed that what he said was private -- a hand-picked audience. Accordingly, I think he did use the exact words he wanted to use.
But, his words leaked and his image was tarnished. And, in the aftermath, he switched to the attack mode. That's 180 degree's opposite of the image he wants to project.
Posted by: Aston | Apr 14, 2008 7:34:45 PM
The debate tomorrow night is certainly going to be interesting!!!
Obama 2008 -- Yes, WE CAN!!!
Posted by: Jackt51 -- Vietnam Vet and Proud Liberal | Apr 14, 2008 7:35:59 PM
Matthew Dowd is busily trying to work the stake into Hillary's heart (although I have never figured out what he is so worried about), while positioning Obama for his next poison darts.
He has already sold his soul to right wing causes, and tries to make it look like he's a David Gergen so he can come over to the other campfire like he's a trustworthy friend. Dowd I have news for you. I know David Gergen, David Gergen is a friend of mine. Dowd, you are no David Gergen.
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Apr 14, 2008 7:49:04 PM
Well Mr Dowd, since you already declared Mr Obama the winner about a month ago how can you even pretend to be covering the race with journalistic integrity?
Sorry your declaration for Obama last month makes all your comments those of an endorse not a journalist.
Posted by: s.b. | Apr 14, 2008 7:49:23 PM
WestCoastMessenger
Any real issues or other important things you could talk about?
Posted by: S | Apr 14, 2008 7:51:31 PM
S,
Would you be referring to BitterGate? I see Obama is going on the offensive per the various news channels. News alert --> he was already offensive.
Dowd is an apologist for Bush, and was probably the architect of the "Mission Accomplished" publicity stunt, but that's not said here. I'm wondering to what degree Jake Tapper is hooked into Karl Rove, anyway. I'm thinking Rove works through this guy, so we got interesting spokes people like Dowd and Mudcat Saunders, all people that would do damage to Hillary in the short run, and Obama in the long run.
Those that say that Hillary is viewed as the weaker candidate are wrong, the R's mastered this demise brilliantly. They weren't counting on BitterGate, but are doing a good job in neutralizing Obama's Russian roulette moves so they can save him for the general.
========================================
Obama, a dream candidate for the Republican Party!
========================================
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Apr 14, 2008 8:02:22 PM
WestCoastMessenger
Much better!
Now I understand (and agree)
Posted by: S | Apr 14, 2008 8:04:10 PM
Mr. Obama, Relax! everything will be fine for you. I know media will fix your problem ASAP.
Posted by: Allison | Apr 14, 2008 8:07:47 PM
I like how Obama attacks other people
because of the words that came out of
his own mouth...
Posted by: ruc | Apr 14, 2008 8:17:36 PM
West Coast Mess:
You should be more concerned about Buttergate -- or Crown Royale Gate!
Obama 2008 -- Yes, WE CAN!!!
Posted by: Jackt51 -- Vietnam Vet and Proud Liberal | Apr 14, 2008 8:40:54 PM
It's not a wash at all. His comments in the rich enclave of Marin County just get added to lingering issues related to the Wright controversy and the big negative of his wife. It all adds up to a candidate who can't bring in new voters in November.
Now, does the DNC fall on its sword because they don't have the cajones to deal with the understandable outrage of all his supporters - who still may not understand that their guy - despite the dazzling fundraising - is not electable.
As my mom and grandmother used to say, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Posted by: s. valenti | Apr 14, 2008 8:49:11 PM
Hillary's Bosnia is error is Horrible.
Compared to Obama's
Rezko - Lied said he barely knew him
Rezko - Lied said he was a political fund raiser he barely knew
Rezko - Lied He helped me buy my house, bone head mistake, knowing he was under investigation.
Rezko - Lied he donated around 20k over my campaigns.
Rezko - Lied He donated 60k over my campaigns.
Rezko - Lied He donated 250k over my campaigans
Rezko - My Friend of 18 years
Rezko - He offered me a job when I was in college
Rezko - Donated 250k to charity, I don't think there is anymore.
Rezko - I am going to testify for him
Why not give the money back to the courts so they could return it to the people rezko stole it off of, or was it laundered money?
Ayers - Lie I did not know him
Ayers - I knew him at college
Ayers - On a Board for His company
Ayers - Was at a fund rasier at his home
Ayers - Lecuter at the college he was a professor at.
Rev Wright - He is my best friend for 20 years, my spiriatual advisor, I bounce all my political ideas off him, he married me, baptized my children
Wright - I never heard him say those things while I was in church
Wright - I heard him say those things
Wright - He is like an old uncle
Wright - Removed him from the campaigan as African American spiritual committee
Wright - He was just my pastor
Selma speech
I came to be because MLK walked over that bridge, JFK and bobby kennedy gave money so my dad came over. That is why My parents met and got married and why I am here. Impossible the dates do not coincided with when he was born, Obama was born before all those events.
condensed version goggle obama Selma speech it will come up.
Just a very few
Lies on his best friends and family how he came to be.
Obama Trustworthy No Way..............
Christian Not
Can he and does he lie a lot.......YES
Posted by: seah | Apr 14, 2008 8:52:05 PM
I forget,
Following Howard Dean's YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! moment,
How long DID it take for his campaign to breath its last breath?
Go Hillary!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: nobama | Apr 14, 2008 8:54:13 PM
Mr. Dowd, the issue isnt that they voted Dem - but that they arent voting for Obama.
Posted by: tony | Apr 14, 2008 9:06:11 PM
Barack Obama said very demeaning things about people that live in small towns all over America to rich campaign donors in a closed media event in San Francisco, since then he has:
1) First said that his comments were true, just that he should have used different words
2) Later on said that if he offended anybody he regretted it
3) Then he said that "Maybe" his comments were not right
4) Has attacked Hillary Clinton and John McCain for pointing out his mistake
5) Has continually tried to change the subject
6) Ever since the comments were made Public on Friday not once has he APOLOGIZED TO ME OR ANY OTHER OF THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS THAT LIVE IN RURAL AMERICA!! NOT ONCE
7) My wife told me today this reminded her of when I say something stupid and I make her feel bad, that i tell her "Honey, I am sorry that you felt bad for the horrible things that I said, I did not mean them!" Jaja, that made me laugh
8) Sincerely this Obama fellow reminds me of GEORGE W. BUSH, They can never be WRONG
Whenever Obama messes up, his campaign and himself act like it is wrong for anybody to question him!!! We can not even touch this Snob "With the Tip of a Rose Petal!!!"
Posted by: Gabriel | Apr 14, 2008 9:09:34 PM
Gabriel,
Very well put. In the eyes of the Limousine Liberals Obama can do no wrong. In the eyes of the working class we have yet to see it.
========================================
Obama, the candidate of the Limousine Liberals!
========================================
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Apr 14, 2008 9:24:23 PM
Check out this hilarious graphic of Obama being a snob-
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/11/photoshop-of-the-week-typical-liberal-snob/
Posted by: Lesson 4 the Elite | Apr 14, 2008 9:44:19 PM
To say the obvious, if Sen. Obama is the Democratic nominee, it would be a huge mistake! Now with all those deprecating comments about rural Americans and working-class Americans and what they are like, Sen. Obama invalidated his own claim to be the unifier of the divided, polarized, fragmented America of which he promised to bring together. This unification theme was the foundation of his campaign and predominant of aspect of political philosophy. By his hubris and deprecating comments, he has destroyed all of that! Although, the media has placed Sen. Obama on a very high branch, now under scrutiny he is looking more and more like political Humpty-Dumpty. If he still happens to be the Democratic Party nominee, after all, which I hope not, Republicans are going to have an orgy attaching him. Besides, I am sure the Republicans are going to make Rev. Wright his running-mate in the fall. Having not won even a one major state during the primaries and having manipulated the caucuses with small groups of zealots, but now not in play for the presidential election, Mr. Obama is going to find himself stuck! Without Latino voters, women and working class and rural voters, I don’t think Sen. Obama stand a realistic chance at winning the presidential election in 08. Remember, old Ralph is in the game too. That will be end of story for Democrats. Sen. Hillary Clinton has done the impossible that only Bill Clinton was able to accomplish, to bring in the rural and working class Reagan democrats back to the fold. The best chance of winning the White House for the Democrats is obviously with Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: charleychaplin | Apr 14, 2008 10:09:50 PM
This is definity the "silly season of politics". People are loosing their jobs, the country is in recession, we are in a war we should not be in and that we cannot win, and people are listening to an old polition having a hissy fit over nothing.
I am bitter, mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore.
Posted by: John | Apr 15, 2008 8:08:24 AM
I love that snob pic...lol
Posted by: J | Apr 15, 2008 8:16:53 AM
I love that snob pic...lol
Posted by: J | Apr 15, 2008 8:19:58 AM
Obama has a problem with the truth. He talks about Clintons whoppers here's his:
Small Town Americans are bitter and cling to Guns or Religion. They are anti-immigrant, anti-free trade. Given at San Francisco fund raiser
“Typical White People” quote
More Blacks are in Prison today than in college
Abortions are better than being “Punished" with a baby
Went with Farrakhan to the Half-million man march
Mis-statements on the number of casualties in IRAQ
Never attended a White Church (even though he and Michelle preach diversity)
His Wife is finally proud of America (1st statement) then she is really proud (2nd statement)
His flat declaration that lobbyists “won't work in my White House” changed after it turned out his own written plan says they could, with some restrictions.
His wife wrote an essay on black separatists in Princeton
Told a story of how his Kenyan father and his Kansan mother fell in love because of the tumult of Selma, but he was born in 1961, four years before the confrontation at Selma took place. When asked later, Mr. Obama clarified himself, saying: 'I meant the whole civil rights movement.'
His Hate pastor gave Farrakahn an award and supports Hamas
Obama exaggerated the death toll of the tornado in Greensburg, Kansas, saying 10,000 people died – he was only off by 9,988. He was trying to tie the deaths to the lack of National Guard heavy equipment because of Iraq – also incorrect.
Obama caught with handwriting on Liberal Survey supporting unfettered Abortion and strict gun control
Obama still hasn’t explained REZCO ties fully - Tribune stories linked Rezko to questionable fundraising for Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2004 -- more than a year before the adjacent home and property purchases by the Obamas and the Rezkos
Several direct-mail pieces issued for Obama's [Senate] campaign said he was a law professor at the University of Chicago. He was not. He was a senior lecturer at the school.
Obama=Hate=Wright=Farrakhan=Wrong for the USA
Posted by: Dean | Apr 15, 2008 8:24:28 AM
Obama made the exact same comments about small town voters in economic downturn on the Charlie Rose show in November of 2007 to millions of viewers and there was no controversy in his statements then. Rose understood exactly what Obama was saying about how poorer Americans will vote for those who share their feelings about guns, religion, or immigration, and against their own economic self interest if they feel that nobody is interested in helping them economically. In other words if you can't control one part of your life, you try to find an area you can control. The idea that Obama said this behind closed doors to "elitist" supporters, when he said it on PBS months ago to at least hundreds of thousands of viewers is ridiculous. This just goes to show that often it is not what the candidate says, but how it is reported and what the spin on the story is that determines the reaction. Obama's comments are not elitist they are true, and the lesson here is that Obama speaks the truth while Clinton lies and spins the truth.
Posted by: Kate1349 | Apr 15, 2008 9:40:44 AM
I think he says one thing and does another.
Obama has a way of ducking hard votes or explaining away his bad votes by trying to blame poorly-written statutes. Case in point: an amendment he voted on as part of a recent bankruptcy bill before the US Senate would have capped credit card interest rates at 30 percent. Inexplicably, Obama voted against it, although it would have been the beginning of setting these predatory lending rates under federal control. Even Senator Hillary Clinton supported it.
Now Obama explains his vote by saying the amendment was poorly written or set the ceiling too high. His explanation isn't credible as Obama offered no lower number as an alternative, and didn't put forward his own amendment clarifying whatever language he found objectionable.
Why wouldn't Obama have voted to create the first federal ceiling on predatory credit card interest rates, particularly as he calls himself a champion of the poor and middle classes? Perhaps he was signaling to the corporate establishment that they need not fear him. For all of his dynamic rhetoric about lifting up the masses, it seems Obama has little intention of doing anything concrete to reverse the cycle of poverty many struggle to overcome.
Posted by: greenfun | Apr 15, 2008 9:48:17 AM
here how it really was on that meeting :
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/Story?id=3105288&page=2
Posted by: Linda,Fl | Apr 15, 2008 10:03:31 AM
OBAMA CANNOT CHANGE CHICAGO, CANNOT CHANGE REZKO. OBAMA CANNOT CHANGE REV WRIGHT AND HIS HATEFUL speech. OBAMA CANNOT CHANGE HIS CHURCH.
(OBAMA has close ties with REZKO who is on trial for corruption and politicians there are involved.)
What MAKES us believe that OBAMA can change Washington?
What sort of changes he will bring?
Posted by: John_Lai | Apr 15, 2008 10:45:00 AM
Not remembering what happened on a single trip twelve years ago when one has taken a thousand trips is not worth the stupid media coverage it has received. I bet not one person can even remember what they had for lunch last Thursday or what outfit they wore to work on Monday. This was just another biased, over-reported slam against Senator Clinton. Now, why don't the media pay as much attention to the Larry Sinclair drug and sex deal, the Tony Rezko house and campaign deal, the Pastor Wright and Black Liberation Theology sermons that Obama believes in heart and soul, the felon who is teaching campaign workers how to lie, Obama bribing campaign volunteers to work for him and his condescending attitude to the people of this great country. Senator Obama is simply another politician who will say or do anything to win an election, but after the election will be a do-nothing as he has shown to be in south Chicago. Most of the bills he sponsored took tax money and gave it to irresponsible people for their unwise life choices.
Posted by: Mary Holmes | Apr 15, 2008 11:42:09 AM
I certainly hope the voters of this country finally see the real candidate named Senator Barack Obama. Several polls showed Clinton ahead as much as 23 points in PA.
There is no way that I would vote for this man as I consider him more of a candidate for the jail house than the White House. He has great oratory skills but little intergity. His judgement and experience is sparse and he thinks like his pastor and black church members.
We need a President who will represent all Americans. God bless America.
Posted by: Senior Citizen | Apr 15, 2008 12:04:28 PM
Let me remind some of the people on this post of an important fact. Liberals vote. Liberals are entitled to vote. Liberals are also, often, working class. Liberals, and people in cities are entitled to vote. The working class, if you look if up, voted for John Kerry. Liberals are entitled to vote for, and against, whoever we please. If we convince more people to vote for a liberal, we win.
And this will not be a good year for Republicans.
Posted by: sumac61 | Apr 15, 2008 12:08:09 PM
All of you who say you are satisfied with the state of the country (supporting Hillary) are lying to yourselves. I am honest enough to admit that the US is in a mess and the only one who can begin to repair it is Senator Obama. Yes I am bitter, bitter because we are spending billions in a war, americans are being killed senselessly not to mention the number maimed, innocent Iraquis are being killed and maimed; we still don't have healthcare for 42 million people, we have homes foreclosing in hugh percentages; The Clintons and McCains are business as usual and all of you who vote for either one will once again complain if either one of them is elected. If either one of them is elected I am moving abroad as this country will only get worse.
Think about it, do some research and only then vote
Obama 2008
Posted by: tiredofthelackofknowledgeofvoters | Apr 15, 2008 12:30:54 PM
Everyone on this board yelling about the "bitter" comments is the worst of the elitists. You like to run around saying, "oh, I'm just a regular Joe" and then position yourselves as people who "understand small town America." Obama's comments could have been better phrased. But the "outrage" that has been manufactured by HIllary Clinton's twisting of what he says, backed up by the Manhattan media elite trying to keep this race going is outrageous. People in Pennsylvania are not children. Nor are they so fragile that they get weak-kneed over some silly comment. Nor are they willing to listen to Hillary Clinton tell them how they MUST feel and that they MUST be outraged. Give us all a break with the sanctimony.
Posted by: Scott | Apr 15, 2008 12:39:56 PM
Feel free to support your candidate - whoever it might be. But, please, for Obama supporters, Please, could you not to put that infamous line (Yes, WE CAN!!!) over and over again on the comment area? I might vote for him in GE (haven't made my mind yet), but this piece of line simply makes me vomit. Please for God sake, stop putting it anywhere! Big Thanks to all!
Posted by: tiger | Apr 15, 2008 12:40:54 PM
Senior Citizen, the "jail house"? Unbelievable. Based on what, pray tell? Just pick a couple of things. None of us have time for some angry rant about a raft of nonsense.
Posted by: Eyes Wide Open | Apr 15, 2008 12:42:43 PM
Tiger, I'm with you. The best argument for Obama is to make an argument. That tag line is tired.
Posted by: Scott | Apr 15, 2008 12:43:49 PM
Dean are you aware that all of your statements that you have made are inaccurate, why won't you research before you spew inaccuracies or just stop repeating what you hear until you verify its validity...
Posted by: tiredofthelackofknowledgeofvoters | Apr 15, 2008 12:47:56 PM
Why are you voting for obama? What change do you want? Please tell me which plan of his you most agree with.
Posted by: justme | Apr 15, 2008 1:35:27 PM
tiredofthelackofknowledgeofvoters...why do you think obama can fix these things?
Posted by: aquestion | Apr 15, 2008 1:45:48 PM
The Politico reports that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign manager, Rick Davis, a former lobbyist himself, “is quietly selling [McCain’s] gameplan to the inside-the-beltway crowd,” giving presentations to major Washington lobbyists:
The previous night, Davis was giving a similar, if broader, presentation to a smaller group of the capital’s top lobbyists and p.r. gurus at Johnny’s Half Shell, a Capitol Hill watering hole.
Davis spoke to about 30 people, according to a lobbyist who attended, and described the gathering as the manager’s “first major outreach to the Washington community.”
Present were top officials from energy and utility concerns such as Nuclear Energy Institute, Edison Electric, the American Petroleum Institute, American Gas Association and Exelon. Also there were senior executives from heavyweight p.r. firms Edelman and Burson Martseller.
Posted by: BlueJersey | Apr 15, 2008 2:20:55 PM
The Politico reports that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign manager, Rick Davis, a former lobbyist himself, “is quietly selling [McCain’s] gameplan to the inside-the-beltway crowd,” giving presentations to major Washington lobbyists:
The previous night, Davis was giving a similar, if broader, presentation to a smaller group of the capital’s top lobbyists and p.r. gurus at Johnny’s Half Shell, a Capitol Hill watering hole.
Davis spoke to about 30 people, according to a lobbyist who attended, and described the gathering as the manager’s “first major outreach to the Washington community.”
Present were top officials from energy and utility concerns such as Nuclear Energy Institute, Edison Electric, the American Petroleum Institute, American Gas Association and Exelon. Also there were senior executives from heavyweight p.r. firms Edelman and Burson Martseller.
Posted by: BlueJersey | Apr 15, 2008 2:20:57 PM
http://www.slate.com/id/2188985
You all need to read this...Its the truth about FL and MI...Im not sure you can handle the truth.
Posted by: Beka13 | Apr 15, 2008 3:07:16 PM
The lesson is that we can not trust OBAMA. It is not okay for him that a grown up woman drink a beer or take a shot of wine but it is okay not to pernalize his daughters in case they get pregnant at early age or have an abortion. Double standard.
He also mispoke about the people in Pennsyvannia because he forgot to ask his advisers first what to say. What's new. He can not decide unless he ask his advisers first. Is this the one who is ready on DAY ONe!!!
He is like Wright or maybe OBAMA is just BITTER.
Posted by: Alfredo | Apr 15, 2008 3:14:19 PM
The lesson is that we can not trust OBAMA. It is not okay for him that a grown up woman drink a beer or take a shot of wine but it is okay not to pernalize his daughters in case they get pregnant at early age or have an abortion. Double standard.
He also mispoke about the people in Pennsyvannia because he forgot to ask his advisers first what to say. What's new. He can not decide unless he ask his advisers first. Is this the one who is ready on DAY ONe!!!
He is like Wright or maybe OBAMA is just BITTER.
Posted by: Alfredo | Apr 15, 2008 3:14:24 PM
Obama didn't make a "misstatement" nor was he "misunderstood." He said EXACTLY what he and all other liberals believe.
The liberal stereotype of the Republican recipe for victory is "God, Guns, and Gays." Google those three words and you'll see what I mean - the internet is plastered with their disdain for conservative opinions on these issues.
What we heard in San Francisco is Obama speaking to his far-left base. Hillary shares these beliefs, which only makes her repudiation of these remarks more ridiculous.
The second-most embarrassing thing for a liberal politician is occasionally having to tell people what you really believe.
The most embarrassing thing for a liberal politician is introducing people to your friends, family, and supporters.
Posted by: RMM | Apr 15, 2008 3:39:43 PM
Justme, I agree with his plan on HealthCare, the Economy, Immigration, the war to name a few; check them out go on BarackObama.com
Posted by: tiredofthelackofknowledgeofvoters | Apr 15, 2008 4:25:53 PM
Let's see.....
Senator Clinton embellished a story.
If embellishing a story is an idication that a person is untrustworthy then I suspect 99% of the people in this country would be considered untrustworthy.
Senator Obama insulted an entire class of citizens of this country and when confronted he came out swinging rather than apologizing.
On the heels of the "typical white person" remarks by Senator Obama last month, his insulting remarks regarding the principles and values of the working class when he thought he was addressing an exclusive audience of wealthy individuals raises yet more questions about his true character.
Posted by: TexasLJ | Apr 15, 2008 5:03:53 PM
tiredofthelackofknowledgeofvoters, you know he adopted those policies from Hillary don't you just go to HillaryClinton.com and see for yourself
Posted by: justme | Apr 15, 2008 5:36:01 PM
100 PA Mayors endorse Hillary
Posted by: justme | Apr 15, 2008 5:41:13 PM
Gallup daily tracking poll has Obama up by 11 points and Obama's lead has been maintained through out all this nonsense.
Obama grew up way too poor and has been poor for way too long and has been poor recently, so go ahead and continue to hit him on being an elitist.
Posted by: Ann | Apr 15, 2008 6:53:50 PM
Ann, elitist has nothing to do with money, it means snob, it means he thinks he is better than small town america. Are you a typical obama supporter?
Posted by: justme | Apr 15, 2008 6:55:35 PM
Also, Ann, he was never poor, has never been poor.
Posted by: justme | Apr 15, 2008 6:56:19 PM
How many storms have to pass? He has had a whole lot of them already! And a lot more that should have been storms, but weren't. Or maybe a better wording is how many more storms will he, with the blatant help of a good percentage of the mass media, be able to distract us from?
My goodness, if McCain or Clinton had even half as many documented storms, the media would be doing electron microscope scans of the lint from his/her pant)suit!
Posted by: mary | Apr 15, 2008 8:11:09 PM
Xenophobia, San Francisco style
Debra J. Saunders
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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In case you haven't heard the Barack Obama quote surreptitiously taped at an April 6 San Francisco fundraiser, then broadcast on Huffington Post, here it is: Obama noted that in many high-unemployment small towns, jobs have been gone for decades and neither the Bush or Clinton administrations helped restore them, so "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."
You've heard this song sung before. Before he became Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean voiced the same condescending view of voters in 2003 when he said that Democrats had to stop letting the GOP woo voters on "guns, God, gays" and abortion.
Get it? If any blue-collar workers vote Republican, it cannot be because they had good reason. No, they must have been tricked into doing so, so they can't be very smart.
The attitude is that what these folks believe in is not important - be it the right to protect themselves or that federal immigration laws mean something. Democrats like Obama and Dean know what really is in these voters' self-interest.
Obama later admitted, "I didn't say it as well as I should have." No lie. His big mistake was that he played to the conceit of Bay Area liberals when he was asked how to appeal to Pennsylvania voters, whom, Obama was quick to note, can be "culturally" very different from San Franciscans.
In Obama's answer, one could hear that he is wise to the precious Bay Area Liberal lament: Oh why, oh why, isn't the rest of America as enlightened as we are?
And: If only the rest of America were better educated, then folks would turn in their hunting rifles and head for the sushi bar, sneer at devout evangelical Christians and happily hire immigrant gardeners - just like we do.
No wonder Hillary Clinton panned the remarks as "elitist" and "offensive."
Yes, but Obama's condescension is not rare. New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof recently wrote, "Barack Obama's skin color may cost him some working-class white voters, but it's also winning some votes among blacks and among whites eager to signal their open-mindedness."
Kristof meant well, but he apparently is so open-minded that he lumped working-class whites into the heap of lesser beings who - unlike him? - buy into noxious stereotypes. Note that when Latinos don't vote for Obama, pundits don't automatically assume it's about race. Ditto college-educated whites. Only working-class whites are so quickly presumed racist.
I am not anti-intellectual. I've read Sophocles in Greek, Ovid in Latin and Baudelaire in French. That makes me more educated than the average bear, but I still don't know how to fix my car. And if life has taught me anything, it is to not assume that when people hold an opinion different from mine, it is because they are bitter, do not know what is in their own best interests and should be wearing T-shirts printed with, "I'm with stupid."
It cannot be an accident that Obama spoke as he did in an area where many two-college-degree Democrats think that, because everyone they know thinks as they do, that all the smart people must be liberals. It does not occur to them that they are cocooned in their own like-minded world, just as guys who go duck-hunting and women who cook for the church bake sale might do. They dutifully nod when Obama talks about small-town voters who express "antipathy to people who aren't like them" - and they don't even realize they are doing just that.
Then they congratulate themselves for being so broad-minded.
E-mail: dsaunders@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Posted by: Antonn | Apr 15, 2008 8:19:57 PM
Censorship runs rampant on this blog!!
Posted by: Bag-the-Billster | Apr 15, 2008 8:58:10 PM
I do not understand you American's. What exactly is wrong with what he said. He has explained himself and it makes sense to me what he said and i understand what he means. Calling him elitis and looking down on voters is an absurd conclusion to come to especially by Hillary Clinton. Which ever side you are it is important to be objective and fair. At this point i think Hillary is looking ridiculous. i have no dog in this fight as i can not vote but hillary is going too far and some of the comments i have read actually show that you guys are bitter.
Posted by: stella | Apr 15, 2008 9:37:37 PM
I think it says a lot about Obama's character when he approves an ad that uses Obama supporters strategically placed in the audience of a Hillary event who obediently boo her on cue and then use that audio in his ad to imply that Hillary was resoundingly booed by one and all, etc. etc - implying that no one agrees with her comments, etc. This is simply false and misleading. Frankly, it's a malicious tactic. But I firmly believe that is the real Obama. He is a fraud - a wolf in sheep's clothes.
Posted by: Caroline | Apr 15, 2008 9:57:00 PM
First, how many of you are staunch Republicans? Second, how many of you are Clintonistas?
Okay -- most of you. Thought so. You haven't been to WaPo, MSNBC, Talkingpointsmemo, RealClear, or Politico blogs lately, have you?
If you are a Democrat for Clinton, open your eyes. I, as a 45 year old caucasian woman, was once for her. Not anymore. Her dishonesty and chameleon-esque style during this campaign leaves me cold. Her latest role as The Wicked Witch of the GOP is just an example.
The only thing she can possibly achieve at this point if she is to strong-arm her way to the nomination is the terminal fracture of the Democratic Party and the guarantee of a McCain presidency. She'll take her dishonest tendencies with her -- and would to the White House -- but she won't get there.
Obama has been honest. People ARE bitter after eight years of Bush -- and they're bitter from rual PA to the streets of SF. Unless we vote for real change, our country will remain in the toilet.
Posted by: scj | Apr 15, 2008 10:48:25 PM
Mathew Dowd is pal with the Bushes, he is very worried that Hillary can win the nomination because she would defeat the republicans. He pushes Obama because he knows Obama is unelectable
Posted by: libre | Apr 16, 2008 1:21:13 AM
I hope Obama will answer some of the questions with his own thoughts. I hope he does not start mumbling to say, "I agree with Sen Clinton, but I was a community organizer" in nine debates that was always the way he started his answers.
Posted by: libre | Apr 16, 2008 1:25:40 AM
No, Hillary was endorsed by 99 PA mayors -it was supposed to be and was billed as "1000 Mayors for Clinton" - 901 mayors never showed. Now, some may have had conflicts, but 901 of them?
Posted by: sandy | Apr 16, 2008 1:47:10 AM
Most Hillary supporters are pretty bitter for a lot of reasons. One of which is that she has no chance to win and she is incapable of organizing an effective campaign.
Posted by: catiger | Apr 16, 2008 2:33:10 AM
Oh, they just don't get it
Posted by: catiger | Apr 16, 2008 2:34:52 AM
OBAMA fans, I want an answer for your OBAMA:
He did not change CHICAGO politics.
He did not change REZKO.
He did not change REV. Wright and his church.
How can he change WASHINGTON and bring hope to America? Don't be a fanatic. Give me an answer.
Posted by: John_Lai | Apr 16, 2008 4:47:40 AM
OBAMA fans, I want an answer for your OBAMA:
He did not change CHICAGO politics.
He did not change REZKO.
He did not change REV. Wright and his church.
How can he change WASHINGTON and bring hope to America? Don't be a fanatic. Give me an answer.
Posted by: John_Lai | Apr 16, 2008 4:49:54 AM
Where is the truth about CA Meeting???
Seems Media created scandal based on unconfirmed 'citing".
Here how it was : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-coleman/i-was-there-what-obama-re_b_96553.html
Posted by: Linda,Fl | Apr 16, 2008 8:36:20 AM
Sen.Obama has defeated the shameless media and the Republicans who voted for HRC. I take a look at the Americans news via my mobile internet phone from Holland in Europe , where I live now. For the past days, everything I saw on CBS news as I logged in, as their top stories, were incendiary attacks against Sen.Obama. It was awful! Today CNN mobile hasn't even posted the election results, Yahoo shows a smily HRC with a Clinton won Indiana,CBS called Indiana early for HRC , it is really a media conspiracy..Anyway, we are very happy here that he will be the nominee, there is just no way around it!
Posted by: carmen | May 7, 2008 2:40:05 AM
WHY SHOULD THE USA VOTE A BLACK PERSON FOR PRESIDENT TO BEGIN WITH. WE NEVER HAD ONE IN THERE YET. SO LETS SEE, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?? IT MEANS THAT THEY ARE WORTHLESS AND MEANINGLESS. THEY WILL DO NOTHING FOR OUR COUNTRY EXCEPT BRING MORE INTO THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE GOVERNMENT AND EVERYTHING. WE DONT NEED THEM IN THERE. THERE IS ENOUGH THAT THEY ARE RUINING NOW IN THIS WORLD. THE WHITE POPULATION IS GOING DOWN TO SHREADS, IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS THE WHITE POPULATION IS GOING TO BE NOTHING. BECAUSE THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD BY THEN ARE GOING TO BE MIX BREEDS. PATHETIC ISNT IT. AND GUESS WHAT THE WHITE MAN WONT STAND UP TO THEM, BECAUSE THE BLACK MAN YELLS RACISM. BUT IT IS OKAY FOR THE BLACK TO DO ALL THIS SH*T TO THE WHITE AND NOTHING IS SUPPOSE TO BE SAID. WANNA KNOW WHY, BECAUSE THE BLACK WILL CALL IT RACISM. IF ANYONE IS RACIST IT IS THE BLACKS, NOT THE WHITES. WE JUST KNOW HOW AND WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT. AND THAT IS NOTHING BUT TROUBLE, ASSAULT, DRUGS, AND THEY ARE WORTHLESS HUMAN BEINGS. NOTHING GOOD TO BRING TO THIS WORLD AT ALL. THE AFICANS OVER IN AFRICE DONT CONSIDER THE BLACKS OVER HERE IN THE USA AFRICAN AMERICANS, THE AFRICANS CALL THE BLACKS OVER HERE N*GGERS. THAT IS WHAT THE ARIFICANS CONSIDER THEM. THE AFRICANS DONT EVEN LIKE THE BLACKS OVER HERE AT ALL BECAUSE OF HOW AND WHAT THEY ARE ALL ABOUT. SO WHY VOTE FOR A BLACK PERSON TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT, THAT I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.
Posted by: GOONIES | May 12, 2008 4:56:58 PM
OBAMA HAS RUN HIS ENTIRE CAMPAIGN ON LIES!
WILL WRIGHT SPEW "GOD DAMN AMERICA" FROM OUR WHITE HOUSE?
What is the most important "right" granted to U.S. citizens? THE RIGHT TO VOTE!!!
A GROUP OF "POLITICIANS" (including Obama) ARE TAKING IT AWAY FROM MILLIONS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS IN FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN!!!
WE NEED TO COUNT THE "PEOPLE'S VOTES" --- NOT THE "DELEGATES".
IF OUR REPRESENTATIVES DON'T LISTEN TO US --- WE NEED TO VOTE THEM OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
WE DON'T NEED A RADICAL, ANTI-AMERICAN IN OUR HIGHEST OFFICE. OBAMA HAS TOLD TOO MANY LIES. He has too many anti-Jewish, Anti-white, Anti-American and terrorist friends and associates.
HILLARY 2008.
Posted by: REPLACE CONGRESS! | May 27, 2008 9:57:15 AM
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