Really Dennis? What a shameful thing to say.

The fact that Obama was talking to a farmer in Iowa, and he was surpirsed by the gentlemens question, has nothing to do with being racist...

I'm white as a ghost and I would be surprised by being asked a question about Burma from ANYONE, WHITE or BLACK in overalls and a seed hat.

Where's the outrage? People like you who naturally twist stories like this to try and stir up some sort of racially grounded outrage ARE the outrage.

I'm with Barack... folks in tiny, small towns asking a presidential candidate about their opinion about a country in turmoil 8,000 miles away...

Cool... overalls and seed cap aside... Americans do care!

Cool!

I was using the black "thing" as how obviously stupid that assumption would be. I would not do that just like a presidential candidate (not you or I) should not assume because of appearence that someone is not informed about the world.

It was always about prejudice.. it was the best example I could think of at the time. And prejudice is not the same rasist

**And prejudice is not the same as being racist

Dennis makes a point there. You are offended by the presumption of Dennis' racism but not offended by Obama's assumption that the only intelligent thought a guy in overall's can have is about corn? If I'm the guy in overall's I'm pretty offended. The conversation has to go both ways.

Thank you John for understanding and expressing my point better than I

Obama made a remark about a man in overalls from an IOWA farming town where CORN is "THE" crop and one of the major points of contention in our country's quest for renewable energy sources and is therefore a major discussion point in Iowa. So, yeah, I think it is ok for him to be PLEASANTLY surprised by a question about Burma from someone in corn country. Or from anyone in this nation for that matter. He is basically complimenting Iowan's for their political acumen and informing his audience that if these corn farmers in Iowa who are busy trying to figure out how to fuel and feed our nation can find the time to think about other places in the world, perhaps it is not so difficult a task for the rest of us.

And, the statement that associating crack and black people is not racist is suspect at the very least.

I think Dennis has a point. But since it was said in a lighter vein we could let it go...so Chill ppl:)

this is news???????????

Responding to: Sounds a bit prejudiced to me, I mean I know when a black guy walks up to me he must want to sell crack, just like a guy in overalls must want to talk about corn. Where's the outrage?

Please he was in Iowa talking to FARMERS. Get a grip!

fOR intelligent,educated Foreign Policy Forum go to:

OBAMA '08

He was in Iowa,CORN country talking to CORN farmers. That's why he might think a man in farming attire in CORN country might ask about CORN. If the man was in Berkeley, with a free Tibet T-shirt on, or worked at the U.N., he might not have been so surprised. It was an odd juxtoposition(I believe).

i think Obama needs to not judge people. I didn't think the man in the overalls was necessarily white, but i am offended that Obama would think that a farmer would be less educated or less concerned about political issues than himself. you shouldn't judge people by how they look and that is exactly what he did. i'll bet he wouldn't expect a question about economic policy from an 18 year old college student with blue hair. he needs to wake up and stop labeling people.

I am very impressed with Obama, he sounds so sincere and genuine. If I weren't voting for Ron Paul, I would seriously think about Obama

He was in NEW HAMPSHIRE, at a FOREIGN POLICY FORUM, discussing the restoration of America's leadership in the world. How do those two things correlate? Turn the conversation around. Just because a guy is in overalls doesn't mean he's a farmer with no political intelligence outside of corn just as the black guy walking through the projects isn't necessarily going to sell you crack. Just because it seems obvious doesn't make it true.

I agree with Dennis. I think there are some general assumptions made about places like Iowa. One being that the state is a rural population, which has other implications as well. So being in a rural state, Iowans are predisposed to want to discuss "rural" things. I'm sure that most Iowans, and most Iowans are not farmers, are more concerned with various issues, not corn. Another situation that could invoke similar feelings would be if a candidate was speaking to a poor single mother, the intuition would be to expect questions about government welfare programs. But when the women instead asks about how the candidate will improve relations with France, some may be surprised. This is a matter of stereotypes and assumptions we as a country make about people based on their appearences.

Gosh, guys! Maybe the "farmers" in overalls are really Swift Boat Republicans transplanted to Iowa to ask impertinent questions about Burma just to muddy the water that floats their boats.

Obama demonstrates perfectly in this video why he is not qualified to be president. He pretends to be the every day average citizens best friend, but in reality has'nt a clue what you or I think or feel. His remarks were not only in poor taste ans border line inflamatory, but they were condescending. I hope Iowans see this video and Obama is exposed for the hypocrite he really is. Hillary Clinton may not be perfect, but she is sincere when she says she wants to help all Americans. her health care proposal and education agenda is not just a campaign ploy, but a true desire to reach the average American citizen. Wake up Democrats. Hillary is the real candidate for change, baggage and all she is more real and honest than anyone ou there.

It sounded to me like a positive report that hardworking folks are up on the issues affecting the world at large.

I'm sure the commentators above would find it wholly unremarkable to be chatted up about Burma by corn farmers in Iowa, and would have taken it in stride. Maybe you all should run next time around. Meanwhile I'm with Barack, I think it's very cool and encouraging.

It is an insult not only to the farmers in Iowa but to the entire Iowa population to be stereotyped and underestimated by Obama the nincompoop as only thinking about "corn". This is discrimination and I hope Iowa wouldn't be dumb to support this man who happens to be an ignorant buffoon.