It smells like elitism. Or so Republicans and Hillary Clinton would have you believe. Pot, meet kettle.
Problem
But really, Obama’s statement that rural, working class voters were ‘bitter’ for their economic situation, and ‘cling’ to guns and God for solace was politically tone deaf. Not to say he was wrong, but the choice of words is appallingly bad, especially for Obama. He should know that Clinton and the Republicans will twist statements like that to mean the worst things possible.
Trying to cast yourself as a man of faith, particularly after the Rev. Wright dust up, and then saying people ‘cling’ to religion screams out that you are not really a person of faith. No one who truly believes would say something like that, nor believe it. This seriously undercuts his claim of being a believer. Clinton deftly exposed this weak flank,
“The people of faith I know don’t ‘cling’ to religion because they’re bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich. Our faith is the faith of our parents and our grandparents. It is a fundamental expression of who we are and what we believe.”
Add that to the Rev. Wright issue, and Obama has a long-term problem regarding faith.
Moreover, the elitism charge also sticks. He cannot bowl, and now he basically claims that people who like guns only do so because their job sucks, if they have one. Man, that just smells of not understanding the culture of guns, religion, and bowling, and if people do not believe they can have a beer with you (notice Clinton just did that?), they will not vote for you.
Sen. Evan Bayh, a Clinton supporter, nailed this one,
“We do have economic hard times, and that does lead to a frustration and some justifiable anger, it’s true. But I think you’re on dangerous ground when you morph that into suggesting that people’s cultural values whether it’s religion or hunting and fishing or concern about trade are premised solely upon those kinds of anxieties and don’t have a legitimate foundation independent of that.”
He has dug himself a huge hole, and Clinton is doing her best to dig it deeper for him. So far she has done a good job. Her problem is overreaching, so she has to be careful not to go on too long or too harshly.
On a more strategic level though, I have to agree with Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo about the damage Clinton is doing by repeating Republican mantras about Democrats being out of touch elitists. It simply does no good to reinforce the opposition’s narratives, especially ones entrenched in the public’s mind for decades. Uprooting the ‘elitist Democrats’ frame will take a long time, and Clinton simply makes this task harder. This negativity was my one concern about the extended primaries.
Solution
However, Obama is just the man to jump out his hole and propel himself into a stronger position. He did it in regards to the Rev. Wright controversy, making a speech so powerful on race it will be considered seminal and transformational even just five years from now. That speech was transformative because he took on old conventions and exposed their flaws. He blasted both blacks and whites, while praising both as well.
He has to do this on the culture issue as well. And not just for his own sake. Democrats lose on culture issues in a major way, and as such have avoided them for years, just as they have done on defense/foreign policy. Guess what? They lost. When Democrats finally started talking about Iraq and foreign policy in ‘06, they won. After Obama took on race, he got a boost in the polls. I have said it here before, you have to tackle issues head on if you want to win them. You cannot win by avoidance.
So how should he address cultural issues? Do what he did with race. Point out our pluralistic society and how it is our strength, but also point out that refusal to understand or accept other’s lifestyle/cultural choices breeds intolerance. Wealthy, urban types look down on rural people, and vice versa. Neither is good. What we need is for all people to work together and not judge people by cultural facades. This will make it easier for us to work together and solve our problems.
In fact, in many ways racism is a convenient excuse for what is in reality a dislike of certain cultural activities/values. Thus, Obama could use his previous speech on race as a springboard for a new speech on culture. Start a thread, a dialogue, on the basic issue on not understanding others and rejecting their ideas out of hand. This has a great tie in to the partisan deadlock in Washington that Obama promises he will break.
He showed he could do it on race; now he has to do it on culture.
Messaging
At the same time, Obama needs to defend the core of his initial claim, which is that people vote against their own interest because they concern themselves more with issues of culture. Say something like,
‘It is folly to continually vote Republican because they claim they will stop gays from marrying and then drop the issue as soon as they get into office.
Banning all the gay marriage and abortion you can will not get you health care, or a job, nor will it get us out of Iraq. It will not get your foreclosed home back, nor reduce the deficit. It will not get us out of recession. It will not create energy independence or lower gas prices.
People need to start looking at larger issues and not fall into their comfort zones, no matter how comfy. We have to fight for our well-being, for our jobs, for our standard of living, and you do that by looking beyond your cultural safety zone. You also do that by electing people who will break the status quo in Washington, people who look beyond the pat answers of both Parties and try to find new answers and common ground.’
That is what I would say at least. I am sure Obama’s speech writers can do it more eloquently, but the core is there. Challenge people on their misconceptions that Democrats are out of touch elitists, and confront them on hiding behind their safety net. We are not going to make progress by staying in our safety zone, but by moving outside of it, constantly pushing forward.
That is the narrative Obama has tried to evoke, and he needs to do it again now. If he can, it may well be the stake in Clinton’s heart. and perhaps even McCain’s.
I am having visions of a November electoral map which shows the US ringed by blue with a whole lot of red in the middle. If McCain punches a hole in just one of those states, Obama can keep his desk in the Senate for another couple of years.
Obama’s hostility to gun owners is well-known. Now he is showing he doesn’t understand other elements of middle American culture.
He has a LOT of work to do before November.
Left by Progressive Conservative on May 21st, 2008