US!
So I was checking my email, and I had an email forwarded to the Columbus of Obama group (if you're an Obama supporter, make sure you sign up for a local group, it's a great source of information for what's going on with the campaign so you can get involved), and the email said:
Please forward to your other groups:
Watch this video... Then sign on to the letter below and show that you agree with Barack's comments! I know it's not always easy to hear the truth and some people wand the pandering of most politicians who just say what they think you want to hear. But this time is going to be different.
Barack Obama is asking for you to listen to him and sign this campaign letter and tell him why you are frustrated with government!
http://pa.barackobama.com/...
Cheers,
LISA
So I go to click on the link to read the letter:
A few days ago, Sen. Obama made some comments that his opponents are now using to make him appear as if he is something he is not. Instead of speaking to us honestly about how they intend to solve the problems we are facing, they are playing the same old Washington games that accomplish nothing.
What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and that politicians in Washington haven't been looking out for them. He also said that, as a result, many people have become frustrated, angry and even bitter about all the broken promises.
He was right.
And this has been evidenced by most of what I'm seeing on the net, especially diaries on DKos. I was a little worried at first, especially after our opponents jumped on it like it was the last bottle of water in the Sahara desert. Clinton even had the audacity to print up "I'm not bitter!" stickers and hand them out in NC. I read a comment somewhere that someone at one of the rallies saw Clinton campaign staff rushing to hide the box of stickers backstage. Which makes me wonder, if this story only broke on FRIDAY, how is it that they have boxes of stickers on SATURDAY? And it looks like once again the Clinton Camp. made an error in judgment, because regular people in NC just aren't buying it. But back to the letter:
[snip]
As our families have struggled to make ends meet and our communities fought to stay intact, how has Washington responded? By giving tax breaks to the wealthy, rewarding corporations who ship jobs overseas, and turning the levers of power over to the lobbyists and special interests.
Sound like anyone we know currently in the race?
I have to give props to whoever drafted this letter, it's very effective, I like how they tie it all together:
It's easy to feel a little frustrated when you see these Washington politicians continue to ignore you. But it's not the only emotion we feel. When someone comes along who is untainted by the system in Washington, who doesn't take money from federal lobbyists or special interests and who promises that things can be different, we feel something else—hope.
That's why we're supporting Barack Obama. Others have come along and promised change, but failed to deliver. Sen. Obama is different than the rest. He doesn't take money from the special interests, and he speaks honestly about the issues we are facing.
Way to stay on message! They don't even MENTION the hypocrisy of the two candidates who have pounced on this so quickly up to his point in the letter. THIS is why so many are drawn to Obama. I know there are times when I really wish he'd stop being so damn nice and follow the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Well, Obama has been doing what he wanted his opponents to do unto him. He hasn't pounced on all of the gaffes, misstatements, and outright LIES told by Billary, instead he just leaves it to them to clean up the mess. Do they offer him the same courtesy? NO. So maybe they want him to weigh in on all of the BS. Perhaps his campaign is so effective because he's not "Doing unto [Clinton] as [she] do[es] unto [him]" and it's pissing her off. But I digress, back to the letter:
In addition to supporting his plans for jobs, health care and education, we believe that he can deliver on his promises to ensure economic opportunity for family farmers, to provide support for rural economic development, to promote renewable energy in rural America, to protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns for the purposes of hunting and target shooting, and to preserve open land for hunting and fishing.
All of the issues important to PA voters in one (albeit long) sentence, and shows that he doesn't mean to take away guns. As a Constitutional Scholar, Obama understands the importance of the Second Amendment, and is not going to do anything to take that right away from law abiding citizens.
Unlike his opponents who have been part of the Washington establishment for decades, Barack Obama understands the struggles we are going through. We welcomed him with open arms as he made his way through small towns and rural areas on his recent bus tour across the state. And we will work day and night from now until the primary on his behalf not only because he has heard our frustrations, but because he speaks to our hope that Washington can actually work for people like us.
And then a subtle dig, not enough to really cause an uproar, because Lord knows there could have been an enumerated list of offenses that Obama's opponents have against the working-class. They are more of an afterthought by placing them this far down in the letter and then not even affording them an entire sentence. I kinda wish they would have reiterated that Obama speaks the truth in the closing, but overall this is a very impressive letter.
This shows that Obama is not just going to roll over, he has the organization and supporters to back him up, and it's not blind worshiping of him. We (Obama supporters) know he's not PERFECT, but he's HONEST which is a hell of a lot more than we can say for other Politicians. In fact, usually Barack (and Michelle) get in trouble for simply telling the unvarnished TRUTH which most people who aren't used to that sort of thing can't handle. There are people who would rather continue to ignore the truth (that things aren't exactly all sunshine and roses in America), and those people probably weren't going to vote for Obama anyway.
But we need to make sure that we reach out and get all of the people who CAN handle the truth.
So please, pass the link to this letter on to all of your PA friends and family and get them to sign it. We need to send the message that telling the truth is not "elitist" or "looking down" or "being condescending" to those voters. If anything, continuing to encourage the LIES is condescending.
In the comments, Stand Strongalso added another opportunity for PA locals to tell how they feel, please take some time to participate in this as well:
WPVI Channel 6, here in Philadelphia, is looking for reader feedback to both Obama's comments as well as Clinton's response.
Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama has conceded that he chose these words poorly in San Francisco last Sunday: "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."
How do you feel about what Senator Obama said? Do you think he did the right thing in conceding his word choice was poorly chosen? What are your thoughts about how Senator Clinton reacted to Obama's remarks?
Also, I found this cute article about Obama surprising IU students the other day:
Though rain has been in the forecast, there was bright sunshine as the race started, and the announcer thanked Obama for it.
"Cheer for Obama," the announcer said. "He brought the weather."
Among the people who greeted Obama as he criss-crossed the track, surrounded by a crowd of well-wishers and reporters, was Indiana University women's basketball coach Felisha Jack. A few moments later, as Obama stood on the stage with organizers of the race, he spotted members of the IU women's basketball team.
"I want to go play with you," Obama, a basketball fan, said.
[snip]
After leaving the Little 500 after the first few laps were run, Obama headed to the street where most of the students will head tonight: Kirkwood. There, he headed to a popular tavern, Nick's English Hut, where ecstatic diners stood on their booths and craned to get a glimpse of him through the crush, or better yet a handshake.
[snip]
On the tavern's second level, Shana Rubenstein, an IU student from New York City, was beside herself as she heard that Obama was in the building.
"This is the best day of my life!" she said. On second thought, she said, maybe the best day was the free Dave Matthews concert that Obama sponsored last Sunday at IU.
[snip]
As he walked through the tavern, Obama thanked students who said they support him and said: "Remember, everybody's got to vote!".
By now, word had spread that Obama was in the tavern. As he stepped back outside, surrounded by Secret Service protection, he was mobbed by a huge crowd. Pandemonium broke out, with some people runing down the street to see him, shouting his name, pushing to get closer and waving their cell phones to try to snag even a blurry picture.
(Note: The pictures are from the official campaign: Obama Stops in Bloomington Indiana)
I love that he makes little surprise stops where people aren't expecting him, it gives him a chance to talk to people a little more without all of the fanfare
Updates #1 & 2::
Several people are referring to a video of Obama speaking on this same issue in 2004, please disseminate this video as well. If nothing else Obama is definitely CONSISTENT :o)
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Also, from TPM:
Ever since last fall, we've seen this same cycle repeat itself, with minor variations, over and over again. Some event happens that the Clintonistas fixate on as the THE BIG ONE: the Big Bolt From the Blue (or from Howard Wolfson's Blackberry—same thing as far as the MSM is concerned) that will finally end Obama's upstart attempt to usurp the office to which Hillary is rightfully entitled.
[snip]
The MSM leaps like trained seals to tossed fish at Hillary's emails, breathlessly reporting that Obama's campaign faces THE crisis of his campaign, a potential game changer that could deliver the nomination to Hillary, regardless of that pesky math stuff that silly who don't understand good TV keep trying to talk about. Politico hyperventilates, Fox foams and raves, At ABC, Tapper sneers and Sunlen Miller circles in the sky, waiting for a meal. Halpirin transcribes and engages in vapid pontification and CNN alternates between substance, sensationalism and superficiality in a dizzying cycle.
Across the Intertubes, Hillary's trolls and sockpuppets rub their hands and cackle with glee. "At last! This time we finally have him! He is dooooomed, doooomed, I say! Buahahahahahaha!" In the Hillarite alternate e-universe of Taylormarsh.com, MyDD.com and Hillis44.org, the victory celebration begins with the obligatory bile spitting. In the real blogs, dispirited supporters of Hillry who haven't been seen in days or weeks reappear to express their confident predictions that, at last, all these deluded Obama voters will finally WAKE UP! (TM) and see what a [pick one or more of the following: (fraud) (sexist) (elitist) (empty suit) (racist) (inexperienced naïve incompetent) (snake charmer) (snake oils salesman) (muslim sleeper agent) (bad evil person misogynist of the male gender who is trying to stop America from electing the Only Woman in America Who Will Ever Have a Chance to Become President)] Obama is.
[snip]
And then, as always, Obama will calmly do that Akido thing he does with all these nontroversies. He'll stand his ground, talk about the Thing Which Must Never be Said that he did say, doing so again and again, as many times as it takes to make the MSM realize that he was actually making a point rather than gaffing. And he'll use the point to pivot back onto McHillary, exposing their attacks as yet another example of the petty game playing and point scoring Washington nonsense that has got to change.
The MSM will then feel foolish and some will turn on McHillary for having made them feel foolish. The scandal will die everywhere but on Fox News and the wingnutosphere, where they'll keep ranting and raving about it for weeks on end until the next thing comes along, but no one who'd ever vote for a Democrat will be listening.
I don't want to violate any rules, but you should definitely go read it, it's really good :o)
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Video from Bloomington, thanks indybend:
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UPDATE #3 Thanks to jenontheshore for this link to a letter from Theda Skocpol of Harvard University posted on TPM:
I have been in meetings with the Clintons and their advisors where very clinical things were said in a very-detached tone about unwillingness of working class voters to trust government -- and Bill Clinton -- and about their unfortunate (from a Clinton perspective) proclivity to vote on life-style rather than economic issues. To see Hillary going absolutely over the top to smash Obama for making clearly more humanly sympathetic observations in this vein, is just amazing. Even more so to see her pretending to be a gun-toting non-elite. Give us a break!
I wonder if she realizes that gaining a few days of lurid publicity that might reach a slice of voters is going to cost her a great deal in the regard of many Democrats, whose strong support she will need if she somehow claws her way to the nomination -- and even more so if she does not clinch the nomination. The distribution of "we're not bitter" stickers to her campaign rallies is the height of over-the-top crudity, and the reports are that very few audience members seem to have much enthusiasm for this nonsense. Not surprisingly, people cannot see the reasons for so much fuss.
Yes, she wants a big break, she desperately wants the nomination she and Bill believe is hers by right. We all know that. But where is her authenticity and her dignity and her sense of any proportion?
This has to be one of the few times in U.S. political history when a multi-millionaire has accused a much less wealthy fellow public servant, a person of the same party and views who made much less lucrative career choices, of "elitism"! (I won't say the only time, because U.S. political history is full of absurdities of this sort.) In a way, it is funny -- and it may not be long before the jokes start.
And the thing that gets me, is Hillary's bragging about her gun prowess is only going to make her the butt of more jokes. The jokes are really just starting to write themselves at this point. When a presidential candidate is on her way to becoming FUNNIER than GW Bush, I think it's time for that candidate to just throw in the towel. The longer this goes on, the more Hillary will continue to prove that Barack was correct when he said that she will say/do anything to get the nomination.
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Update #4: Looks like
BILL CLINTON said something like this back when he was running against Bush #1:
As the rumination continues over Barack Obama's comments about economically-depressed small town voters, statements made by Bill Clinton on the same topic -- uttered while he was running for president in 1991 -- have now surfaced.
"The reason (George H. W. Bush's tactic) works so well now is that you have all these economically insecure white people who are scared to death," Clinton was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times in September 1991.
Someone was wondering why Bill has been so quiet on this, maybe it's because he agrees.
"You know, he [Bush] wants to divide us over race. I'm from the South. I understand this. This quota deal they're gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they've been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade. When their economic policies fail, when the country's coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? They find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them. They know if they can keep us looking at each other across a racial divide, if I can look at Bobby Rush and think, Bobby wants my job, my promotion, then neither of us can look at George Bush and say, 'What happened to everybody's job? What happened to everybody's income? What ... have ... you ... done ... to ... our ... country?'"
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Update #5: Obama the Elitist
Obama the Elitist
13 April 2008
Written by: Mike Krauss Posted under Essay Index
Senator Barack Obama seems to have a penchant for honest thought. It was again on display in remarks he made this past week about some Pennsylvania voters.
Obama said, "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone for 25 years?And it"s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren"t like them?They take refuge in their faith and their community and their family and the things they can count on."
Hillary Clinton immediately accused Obama of "looking down" on Pennsylvanians. A spokesman for the McCain campaign described the remarks as "condescending" and "out of touch."
To the contrary.
[snip]
As Director of the PA Bureau of Rural Affairs I was responsible for the rehabilitation of dilapidated houses throughout rural Pennsylvania. As Director of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee I assisted candidates and campaigns in counties no candidate for president will set foot in this year, or ever.
Obama got it exactly right, and initially he didn't back off.
[snip]
Obama is not an elitist, which may be broadly defined as one who has a sense of entitlement by virtue of belonging to a group or class of people with self perceived superiority. That would be Hillary (Ready On Day One) Clinton, who has relied on the moneyed elites with whom she and her husband have hung out for two decades to fund her campaign, while Obama has run the most broadly based fundraising operation of any candidate for president ever.
But while Obama may not be an elitist, he is undeniably part of the American elite: a well educated, wonderfully articulate and intellectually capable member of the most elite club in the world, the one hundred member United States Senate.
[snip]
And all things considered, I think I may actually prefer Obama"s evident intellectual remove to the contrived folksiness of many of the other elites who have campaigned for and governed as president in modern times. I name no names.
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Thanks to Wild Starchild and BitterVoters.Org for this picture:
Love it!
See? It's not as bad as our opponents wish it had been :o)
And thanks for the Recs! Together we CAN do this!!
(removed previous clarification, sorry for the confusion :o) )
RE-CLARIFICATION: On second thought, I think we should all sign the letter, but still be diligent in getting it out specifically to people in PA. They can always simply remove non-PA signatures if they need to, but let's all pitch in to show that we are ALL in this together, and yes, we are all a little (or a lot) bit bitter about the way Washington treats us!