Bitter Americans and Elite Politicians

Upon first hearing about Barack Obama's comments at a fundraiser in San Francisco on April 6, I didn't think it was that of a big deal. Americans, specifically Small Town Americans, are bitter. What's surprising or controversial about that? It seems like the primary focus has been on the idea that calling people "bitter" is insulting. This idea doesn't make sense to me.

Hard working Americans are losing jobs, paying more to fill up their gas tanks and have been lied to over and over by politicians. Meanwhile, CEOs are no longer just millionaires but billionaires, gas companies are raking in the cash and politicians are still lying to them. I'm bitter. I want change. We should all want change. We should all be bitter, even angry. To quote Howard Beale in Network, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

As I've read various reactions to Obama's comments (here's one example from Pennsylvania), I've come to believe that most people agree that people are bitter and it's not just Small Town America. It makes me wonder who really is out of touch here. Obama is exactly right while Clinton and McCain are just saying what they think Small Town America wants to hear. But in the process, they come off, at best, as the ones out of touch and, at worst, patronizing to people who are sick and tired of being patronized.

What gets Obama into trouble, though, isn't the bitter comment ... or rather, it shouldn't be the bitter comment. Where Obama has a problem is in how voters look at him now. In particular what he said about what Small Town people "cling" to: guns, God and good ol' American values ... not to mention good ol' Americans. That doesn't sound great with that spin. These Small Town Americans are so bitter that they irrationally lash out at anyone different from themselves. Hm.

Let's take a look at what he said, though. And before we do, it should be pointed out that I did read that Obama was responding to a question asking what demographic is his hardest sell (such as working class Pennsylvania). I can't find a full transcript that would show what prompted this portion of the speech but here is what I have found:

So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laughter), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of 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. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that 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.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing. (copied from this Huffington Post article.)

Well, taken in context, this all looks entirely different to me. Obama has not dismissed anyone as gun toting, Bible beating, xenophobic assholes. I think that if Clinton or McCain had to respond to more of the speech than most people are quoting, most of their comments would not hold water. To me, Obama made it perfectly clear that he is not talking about everyone in Small Town America and also that wherever you go, there is a mix of people.

More importantly to me is, as I've said before, Obama wasn't accusing anyone of anything. He was giving a credible reason why people are disenfranchised with a disappointing government and how, if the conservative part of the working class wants to maintain some optimism in their government, they must focus on (even cling to) the few issues in which they get some kind of satisfaction from their government. After all, neither Democrats (Bill Clinton's administration) nor Republicans (both Bush administrations) have done much of anything for them in terms of employment or economics in the last 20 years so they concentrate on the social issues where experience has shown they have a chance at some satisfaction.

These social issues are also where they seem to differ from liberal-Obama. Why is it so surprising that Obama lays these issues out and talks about how he wants and needs to convince people that he would not disappoint them on employment and economic issues? If he wants to unite and lead, he will have to convince people that he is able to make a difference in their daily lives and that there is good reason to be optimistic about the government.

I do not find it surprising that people are offended by parts of this speech. I think it is important to point out that Obama did not feel a need to explain himself fully because he did not expect his words to hit the press. That is not to say that he showed his true colors as some "liberal elitist," but instead that he skimped his words while in a room full of like-minded individuals waiting to hand over their money.

Had he given a similar speech in Small Town Pennsylvania, I think he would spend more time explaining why he feels they aren't so different on social issues. After all, Obama also supports the right to gun ownership, Obama also has a strong faith in God and Obama also cares about immigration reform. Most probably, he would then go on to try to convince Small Town Pennsylvania that not only are they not so different socially, but also that Obama can and will make a difference in their daily lives by helping them out in terms of employment and economics.

Having gone through all of this mess and analysing it all, I am more strongly convinced that Obama is not the one out of touch here. It seems to me that he has his finger right on the pulse of things and has a good understanding of what he is up against: convincing Americans that even though their government has been a disappointment in the past and they have little reason to believe he will be different ... he will be different. A daunting task indeed but Obama is not intimidated by it. He understands it and is resolved to address it full-force.

I am even more of the opinion that it is ridiculous for any one of these candidates to call any of the other elitist. All three of them are part of the elite and none of them should act like Americans do not know that. The best they can hope to do is to show that they have some understanding of those they serve instead of pointing fingers and hoping to make everyone forget that the pot often calls the kettle black.

Related links:
What is a political elitist?
Obama on the Issues - Poverty
Obama on the Issues - Rural America
Clinton on the Issues - The Middle Class
Clinton on the Issues - Rural America
McCain on the Issues - Taxes and Economics