By Julie Bosman
Hillary Rodham Clinton - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog
VALPARAISO, Ind. - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton managed to co-opt Mr. Obama’s message of hope and optimism, beginning a speech in Valparaiso, Ind., by talking about how positive and “fundamentally optimistic” Americans are.
“We don’t get bogged down and looking back – we’re always looking forward,” she said, as heavy applause nearly drowned out her words. “Whatever obstacle we see, we get over it. Whatever challenge we have, we meet it. We’re the problem-solvers, we’re the innovators, we’re the people who make the better future.”
For the third time since Mr. Obama’s remarks were made public Friday night, Mrs. Clinton criticized him at length, saying his comments seemed “kind of elitist and out of touch.”
“I disagree with Senator Obama’s assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration,” she said.
She described herself as a pro-gun churchgoer, recalling that her father taught her how to shoot a gun when she was a young girl and said that her faith “is the faith of my parents and my grandparents.”
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Now, like some of you may have been, I was taken aback by the demeaning remarks Senator Obama made about people in small town America. Senator Obama's remarks are elitist and they are out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know - not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York. You know, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it's a matter of Constitutional rights. Americans who believe in God believe it is a matter of personal faith. Americans who believe in protecting good American jobs believe it is a matter of the American Dream.
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That Clinton statement represents a major moment in the 2008 presidential race. It's a moment that can't be undone and represents a significant Clinton commitment to a new line of attack and an emphasis on "American-ness" that hides the patronizing elitism that lies at the core of Clinton's DLC views.
In the name of "American-ness" and "bringing America together" Senator Clinton is maligning the leading Democratic presidential candidate using a Republican line of attack that makes him out to be elitist and, by implication, un-American...counter to all the available facts.
Clinton is, in the name of "unity", creating a contrast between what she clearly delineates as her "American" heritage and her belief in "
the faith of our parents and grandparents" and Senator Barack Obama. The "American" angle is deliberate and obvious. There is not a sliver of daylight between Clinton's overuse of the quality "American" to contrast herself with Barack Obama and John McCain's
first television ad: "The American President Americans have been waiting for."
While Clinton makes points about trade and immigration that sound within the Democratic frame, she is actually using a highly divisive line of attack against a fellow Democrat that takes his words and ideas in the worst light imaginable and amplifies her disagreement with Obama using Republican frames that have been used to destroy Democrats in previous elections. Further, she is doing this to explicitly hide her own pro-Nafta, pro-corporate, pro-DLC elitist views.
moreby wmtriallawyer
Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 08:38:26 AM PDT
Let me get this out of the way out front: by every measure, people are free to consider me part of the "elite." My wife and I make substantial income, live in a nice house, buying an even nicer one, drive nice cars, hold good jobs with pensions and health care paid for, are overeducated, hold positions of respect and power within our communities, etc., etc. Hell, we even live near Washington, D.C., home field for the elite.
But you damn sure better never call me an "elitist."Elitism, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is the following:
The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
That ain't me. And neither is it Barack Obama.
I don't have any perceived superiority. I don't believe in favored treatment just because of my status. I feel damn lucky to be where I am. I work hard, just like lots of Americans. But not nearly as hard as some. Not nearly as hard, for instance, as the South Asian guy who runs my local 7-11 where I pick up my morning coffee. He's there every stinkin' day, managing that place, early morning to late evening. I once saw him in the grocery store with his FIVE small boys. I've gained a ton of respect for that man.
And I'm sure if Barack Obama met him, he would have a ton of respect too. Because Obama worked with folks like him in his community organizing days, when he didn't have to. Because Obama was raised by a single mom, without any particular inherent advantage, and received top notch schooling to get ahead.
Because Obama personifies the damn American dream...that given an equal shot, we all can get ahead.And let's not kid ourselves. That's what the American Dream is. Not "work hard, and you'll get ahead." I know plenty of people that work their asses off -- friends of mine -- and they can't get ahead. No, the dream is to have an equal shot to get ahead, and you too can make it.
And that equal shot is not forthcoming. And damn right people are bitter about it.
You want elitism? Try being married to an heiress to a beer distribution fortune and being stuck in the most exclusive club on earth inside the beltway for the past twenty years. THAT'S elitism.
You want elitism? Try making $109 million over the past six years and running for President by virtue of the fact that your husband has already been President. THAT'S elitism.
You want elitism? Try being a pundit that been ensconsed inside the ultimate insider world of Washington politics, and then poo-pooing telling the truth about the mood in the countryside as being "condescending." THAT'S elitism.
I have a news flash for all these elites...YOU ARE PROJECTING.You are projecting the fact that you are elitist yourself, knowing full well YOU are the ones out of touch with America. I mean, do you seriously want us to believe that the American public isn't pissed and bitter with our government when the public approval of all of our branches of government is at all time lows? Do you really want us to believe that the "resilient" American public is walking around with smiles on their faces thinking "happy days are here again"?
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Simply put, Obama's words were only condescending if you are an elitist.
To the rest of America, they are the TRUTH.
linkImitating Republicans:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/23/14417/7638/731/434555">Hillary to Obama: 'Shame on you' (Video)
Hillary Clinton Joins In (Video)
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