Obama does damage control.
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign veered into damage control mode today following the reporting of the candidate's comments at a San Francisco fundraiser.
Trying to explain rural white culture to the California billionaires, the Democratic candidate said, "You go into 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... 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."
Although Obama merely stated the obvious truth, many voters in Pennsylvania were apparently angered by the characterization. To stem the backlash before the state's primary, the candidate hastily arranged a meeting with typical white people in rural Pennsylvania.
Obama's Rural Outreach Coordinator Miss Jane Hathaway (top left) called the 10-minute meeting a "rousing success."
"Contrary to some press reports, Sen. Obama has the common touch," according to Hathaway. "He may not have understood the folksy references to possums and cement ponds, but the Clampett family was very receptive to the senator's economic assistance."
By all accounts, the family will be supporting Obama on April 22 — especially if their newly-decorated car is any indication.
UPDATE: Thanks to Hugh Hewitt and Rand Simberg for the kind links. Y'all come back now, ya hear?
ANOTHER UPDATE: And Conservative Grapevine among others — thanks!
Trying to explain rural white culture to the California billionaires, the Democratic candidate said, "You go into 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... 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."
Although Obama merely stated the obvious truth, many voters in Pennsylvania were apparently angered by the characterization. To stem the backlash before the state's primary, the candidate hastily arranged a meeting with typical white people in rural Pennsylvania.
Obama's Rural Outreach Coordinator Miss Jane Hathaway (top left) called the 10-minute meeting a "rousing success."
"Contrary to some press reports, Sen. Obama has the common touch," according to Hathaway. "He may not have understood the folksy references to possums and cement ponds, but the Clampett family was very receptive to the senator's economic assistance."
By all accounts, the family will be supporting Obama on April 22 — especially if their newly-decorated car is any indication.
UPDATE: Thanks to Hugh Hewitt and Rand Simberg for the kind links. Y'all come back now, ya hear?
ANOTHER UPDATE: And Conservative Grapevine among others — thanks!
What obvious truth(your words) did Obama speak? They don't need to "cling" to their religion. It's a part of who they are. They believe that the second means what it says. They aren't anti-immigrant. They are against illegal immigration. Shame on you Hugh. You obviously share his elitist sentiments.
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The article is written from an MSM viewpoint. They are the elitists. It's a joke.
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needs more /sarcasm tag
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Get your facts straigh boy...
Them Clampetts is Texans! Not Pennsylvanians!
Racist Finns!
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Whatever. They all look the same to me.
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if memory serves, they are from the ozarks, which would be missouri or arkansas.
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Bugtussle, Tennessee
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Actually, it's Tennessee, see wikipedia here.
The song refers to "Texas Tea", a slang term for oil...
Not that it matters.
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Let's try that wikipedia again:
here.
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Pennsylvania, Texas, whatever - all the same to Obamalamadingdong and his puppetmasters
The Spirit of '76 lives - my (Pennsylvania) ancestors did not fight and die in a Revolution for it all to come to this. Americans - prepare to fight to reclaim your birthright. Voting merely forces you to endorse the humiliation.
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Wow! Such unashamedly down home Columbia-educated contempt for bitter middle Americans. And after all NAFTA did to secure them American jobs in the poorhouse. Scandalous! It seems when disaffected middle America is endangered by the whims of its own left-leaning intelligentsia, I guess they really do muster their weapons, increase their faith and bristle toward people who are clearly against them - haters like those left-wing icons who hide their own deep-seated anti-American sentiments or divisive anti-Citizenry prejudices, as another strategy to stealthily impose their right to preach the radical politics of militantly immigrant churches in America. If civil rights politics Obama style is to have any meaningful contribution to make in U.S. politics, it must be more than a cheap shot weapon wielded by left-wing curmudgeons to bludgeon Americans they personally dislike. The cult of the uber-socialist centred on Obama is an enabler for that typically lofty academic hatred of America's salt of earth citizenry. Adoring liberals will make up the usual excuses for people like Obama being prejudiced. It's because he's bitter and black (or more bluntly at least he thinks he should be). Obama isn’t turning out to be much of the vaunted Ivy League savior of all working class American voters in the country that he might have liked more. It seems our hero of the Sucker State hood will have to cling on now to the bitter end. There will be no room left for Obama's disaffected mini-United Nations after any more of this unbridled Wright-wing Kenyan-Hawaiian-Indonesian-New York State-Chicagoite hick hating.
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I wouldn't vote for that fellow. He would give the country to the Blacks and we would be in deep trouble worst than we are in now.
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First he would give much to the Communist, then to the Islamic buddies and then spread the 1% left over between his HipHop look alikes and the Por Blacks, The blacks now think there getting something but it willn't be until they bend over will they know what they got!!!ALSO why don't we go back and call 1/2 black & 1/2 white MULATO OR JEFFERSON WHITES AS THEY USE TO BE KNOWN ??????
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Are these for real? "Hillary Guess" & "Hover"?? I hope they're kidding. Although anybody who spells "they're" t-h-e-r-e and uses "willn't" and "use" instead of "used" must be an uneducated red neck. Not surprising that someone like that would have such ignorant, racist thoughts in 2008.
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Spoken like a true and typical Liberal with absolutely no sense of humor.
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You find that funny? Anybody amused by hateful racism has a gross sense of humor.
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Hillarious! Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Texas, wherever. Good job, Jon. Now linked over at The Drum and Cannon.
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WOW! I agree, Anita. Those were disturbing. But Obama is right: people explain their own frustrations by hating others (racism). And a lot of uneducated folk are frustrated!
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"Folks" are against illegal immigration. "Folks" are seeing that the rules they apply to their daily lives somehow dont apply to illegals. Cling to guns? like the 2nd amendment is an afterthought? "Folks" value thier religious freedom and are offended when elitist racist punks like Obama attack them. Obama is being exposed every day for what he is: a white hating, America bashing, racist loser.
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Why so much anger, Jeff? Are all "folks" so angry? And do they all take out their anger on people who have SO much less than they do (undocumented immigrants)? And talking about "rules" and illegal immigration, I wonder what the Native Ameiricans originally thought of all us white people coming to their land. Do you see the hypocrisy? And we only won because we have always "clung" to our guns. Obama is a "racist punk"? Or does he speak a truth that is too painful to accept? And "white hating"? Come on now, Jeff, his mother is white. And he is hardly a "loser." Again, why so much anger?
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Yep, he a great one. When he needed an excuse for another racist remark he threw his 'white' grandmother under the bus. The messisah is simply another 'typical' black that never worked a day in his life and thinks/knows it's his privilage to live his life on 'other people's money'. What the he** is an undocumented immigrant? Is that the same as the Criminals that sneak across the border? The same people that bitch about spending money on the military (in Iraq)to protect the country support spending 400% as much on the criminals that came to America to kill Americans that Americans won't kill. Not an educated elitest but I can see the education system has failed half the country or there would be no democrat voters.
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I am so happy that I stumbled across this site. I honestly didn't know people like you still existed in this country (although now I understand how Bush was elected). "Typical black"? Nice. I am learning how you all justify your racist hate, but doesn't it feel uncomfortable living this way? Seriously. Our invasion of Iraq hasn't "protected" us. Really, now. What Mexican immigrants want to "kill" Americans? They're here for work. And how cliche to blame education. Anything else to complain about? What makes you happy in life? What are you GRATEFUL for?
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Be careful the red eye of jealousy is rearing its ugly head. What typical black are you referring to that does not work. I am a 55 year old African American and I have been working all my life along with all of my family. I have never received any type of assistance from the government. How do you think that Obama graduated from Harvard University with honors. He had to work and work very hard. Keep your racist remarks to yourself you will have to answer for them when you meet your maker. Maybe you can get Sarah Palin's minister to pray for you to get the demons out of you. Good luck
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Anita: check out this funny cartoon:
http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/041308.jpg
A typical white person in Texas
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Hey Anita:
Wait a minute...didn't Obama refer to his own grandmother as "a typical white person"? Couldn't that be considered as rascist too?
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I think it is the time for us to grow up. I the world of globalization, we don't have any authority to justify racist activities. I am surprised see this here.
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Update: The Obama administration has announced the term for hillbillies has now been rejected and from now on the group will be known as hillwilliams.
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