The most common insult tossed at Obama Supporters is that we are somehow all part of a "cult of personality," and therefore by implication - weak-willed and looking for a "saviour." Now the Democratic party is using it on itself.....Thanks a lot Evan Byah and Hillary Clinton.....
Let's dissect this for a second:
Politicians are typically charismatic characters who choose public life for myriad reasons, among which it the need to be in leadership roles. Senator Obama is no different from Senator Clinton in that way.
Hillary Clinton could easily have faded from public view as many other First-Ladies have, and lived a comfortable life writing memoirs and doing public speaking engagements. Instead, she chose to represent the citizens of New York state as their senator. Good for her. In being elected to the United States Senate, Hillary had to campaign "for" certain things in order to attract a sizeable base of "followers" who voted for her.
In running for President of the United States, Hillary again had to decide what positions and philosophies she represents in order to attract the sizeable number of political supporters that would secure her the election. That's the nature of politics in a democracy. You have to be able to attract "supporters" or "followers" in order to get the votes you need. That those people have chosen to ignore her combatative "scorched earch" campaigning style and things like the Lie about landing under sniper fire could easily be construed by people like myself as a suspension of critical thought....the definition of followership....but I digress....
So - Along comes Obama, who is arguably more charismatic than Hillary and appeals to segments of the electorate that Hillary cannot reach for whatever reason. Those segments, it turns out, have given him a lead in the primary contests that have been held to date.
Into the fray leap the Clinton supporters - who, stunned to find their "inevitable" candidate in Second Place, are searching for answers.
So started the "cult of personality/elitist" explanation.
This is the best they can do?... It can't be about the Man's message. It can't be about the philosophy behind his candidacy. It can't be about the positions Barack takes on key issues. The simplistic answer that many Clinton Supporters have turned to is that Barack is somehow a "messianic" figure and that he has connected with a base of supporters who are non-thinking, blind followers....and ironically...those non-thinking followers all happen to be elitist and highly educated... Hmmmmmm........
In trying to wrap my mind around this set of apparent contradictions....
- The Latte-Drinking, College Set: How is it that Barack is supported by a group of cult members who all happen to fall into the "highly educated," "critical thinking" demographic of "college educated, latte drinkers?" How do you square a critique that simultaneously characterizes his "followers" as being educated, and intelligent and yet unwilling or unable to think critically for themselves?
(By the way - since the Majority of Barack's campaign funding has come in donations less than $75 at a pop, it's hard to argue that this "elitist" group of people are solely responsible for his success.
- Numbers - if it's a cult of personality, then it's clearly one of the largest cults going. At 13,568,526 members, this is a whopper of a cult. This is a REAL reason for fear if we are to believe that the key reason to support Obama is because of his "messianic" qualities. HigherEdinfo.org tells us that nationally, 55.8% of high school graduates enroll in college. That's a sizeable population (1,699,635) in 2004 alone. But the graduation rate nationally (for an Associates' degree, drops to 29.1%. It's even lower for a Bachelor's degree. There are many reasons for this but at least one of them is that it takes great work habits and enormous perseverence, to succeed in College.
- I have seen these comments and heard them from Hillary Supporters who I know to have advanced degrees from major universities. Why would the Hillary supporters be the only ones who came out of college with the ability to think critically and independently?
- The CULT of negativity: The principle critique of the Obama candidacy is that it's created a "cult" of people following it. That, by definition, means that at least the Obama Campaign is "for" something. In attacking those who are working hard to get their candidate elected, the Clinton supporters are really "for" nothing. They are "against" Barack. You can argue that this candidacy of negativity can also create a cult-like group of followers. In fact, it is the destructive and negative behavior of cults that we find so worrisome. It's actually MORE plausable that the Clinton followers are ignoring data and facts and following Hillary for more "visceral" reasons. Most of her campaign is against something. She's not George W. She's not for Big Oil. She's (now) not for NAFTA (as far as she knows). She's against the Iraq war, but also against Barack's plan to end it. The fact that she's got no mathematical way of winning the nomination, except by convincing delegates to change votes or getting the supers to support her is data that's somehow slipped below the radar to many Clinton Supporters.
Remember, elitism is not confined to the upper echelons of society. There is an elitism inherent in all groups of people. There is a kind of elitism involved in being anti-intellectual. A kind of elitism involved in being a "savvy politician." ... Or in being "realistic" (translation - cynical and jaded)..... We saw one of the truest elitisms in the Chinese Communist Parties' purge of "intellectuals" during the "cultural revolution" in China. All of the university intellectuals were either incarcerated for "re-education" or sent to work on farms and in factories. That was pure elitism....or perhaps an elitism of "anti-elitism."
There is for sure an elitism in the ranks of almost any social movement. The word "elitism" is therefore almost meaningless without context. It's nothing more than a weapon of negativity.... and it should be noted that it's the EXACT same weapon being used by the Republicans against the Democrats in race after race since the days of Ronald Reagan.
So today we see Hillary and Evan Byah use that argument to describe Obama and by implication, people like me who support him. I can take it when Karl Rove uses that. I'm used to it and I have an argument for them. But when my OWN party calls me an elitist who's out of touch with the "regular" Voter - I am deeply offended.
We are Obama Supporters - we are socially active. We volunteer. We work in a range of jobs from blue collar to white collar. Some of us attended college, some of us did not. Many of us are sick of Reagan and Rovian tactics being used year in and year out to scare the electorate into a "safe" vote. We see in Barack a person who is trying to do things differently. A guy who took his "elitist" education and tried to make a difference for poor people who were disenfranchised.
If that's "elitist," then great - sign me up.
I'm elitist.... and I vote.