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September 12, 2008 07:37 PM UTC

Obama v. McCain - VERDICT: Not Race, It's Judgment and Relational

  • 54 Comments
  • by: GOPpundit

(Some very good points – promoted by DavidThi808)

Salon.com… not exactly a bastion of balanced political views has a report detailing Obama’s challenges. They say that while race might be a factor with a small number of people, far more people just don’t relate to him or are not comfortable with his judgement. I think rural Coloradans will trend similarly.

For three months during this summer and early fall, I’ve been traveling across America, exploring the nation’s small towns and rural areas and meeting the people there. From Michigan to New Mexico to North Carolina, I’ve conducted dozens of interviews with white working-class voters across 18 states, gauging, among other things, their thoughts and feelings about the first black man to have a serious shot at winning the White House. Beyond Obama’s race, what I found was a more complicated set of concerns — whether accurately informed or not — about his religious faith, values and cultural and educational background. That is, many of these white rural voters expressed a discomfort that may have more to do with unfamiliarity about the type of person Barack Obama is, rather than with direct concerns about his race.

“He’s just not someone I can personally relate to,” explained Cathy Massingale, 33, of Cullowhee, N.C., a Democrat who first supported John Edwards this election, and then Hillary Clinton. “Obama just doesn’t feel like someone who knows me.” Massingale’s husband is in the military, and she wants to see a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. But she said she remains undecided about Obama or McCain.

Verdict? My two cents is that this is not something than can be “solved” by the Obama campaign; 50 days is not simply enough time to take someone perceived as an elite, urban type and make him palatable to the rest of America.

Full Salon.com article: http://www.salon.com/news/feat…

Comments

54 thoughts on “Obama v. McCain – VERDICT: Not Race, It’s Judgment and Relational

  1. is a very fair, and very interesting assessment of the work Obama still needs to do with white, working class voters.

    The fact that the woman in the caption wants to see a withdrawl of US troops from Iraq, but still might vote for McCain, could be very troubling indeed for the Democrats.

    1. The report talks about the impact of Palin and I think that particularly in Colorado she will (continue) to play extremely well.

      Palin may have shifted the game entirely. Colorado may now be out of reach for Obama.

      1. here since her selection have said otherwise, but you may be right.

        I just don’t think people vote for VP. She may excite them, or get them thinking about McCain, but when they get into the booth, they will look at the two men who are in the President slot.

      2. 50 days is not simply enough time to take someone perceived as an elite, urban type and make him palatable to the rest of America.

        Compared to a guy who owns more houses than he can count and woman who buys sun glasses worth more than my car?

        You thugs really are something else; a bunch of lying SOB’s. McCain and Palin are pathological liars who are completely out of touch with America. So out of touch they won’t even touch on the important issues facing every day Americans.

        1. You and I know that Palin supported the Bridge to Nowhere long after Congress wanted it killed.  You and I know that McCain/Palin want rape victims paying for the forensics work required to catch and convict the rapist.  You and I know that Obama’s tax plan is better for 95% of all Americans than McCain’s.  You and I know that Obama spent much of his life in and among the working class, while McCain has been all but completely isolated from that experience.

          And you and I know that McCain/Palin continue to lie through their teeth about all of it.  But the GOP wouldn’t keep running these deceptive ads if they didn’t think they were “catapulting the propaganda” effectively.  They’ve stated this isn’t about issues, though tough issues are exactly what the next President must face.  The only hope McCain has is to continue the recent GOP trend in reality creation.

    2. I feel one’s personal life has much to do/say about who they are in their public life. Sometimes I vote Republican and sometimes I need to vote Democrat.

      However, in this situation, There is just too many red lights showing up towards Obama. Why is the media keeping this hush hush?? He attended Jeramiah Wright’s church faithfully for 20 years. If Obama does not feel the way His Pastor feels towards White Americans and our U.S.A., then we must ask the question why did he keep himself faithful to Wright’s ministry for 20 years?? I cannot believe Obama does not secretly feel the same way.

      Go to Youtube and check out Jerimah Wright’s speeches also check out Fox News coverage and the questions they asked Jeramiah in an interview.

      Also, I found out Obama and William Ayres have been friends for decades(since 1986) If you don’t know, Ayres was an Anti American, traitorous radical who was the leader of the Weatherman(an underground terrorist group that declared war on the United States government and they bombed over 30 establishments leading to multiple fatalties back in the 70s)

      We MUST ask the question how much of their lives and dealing have been intertwined through the years? In 1995, Ayres hosted Obama in his home and donated to a campaign Obama was working on. what does their assoicaiton say about Obama’s political views and perspectives?

      I feel the Mccain Party and the Obama party both have their faults as far as the “issures are concerned) as well as their positive points.

      Therefore, we must look at character, personal life and vote on that. This has nothing to do with one’s race but one’s character. We cannot and I will not trust Obama.  I beseech everyone to look deeper. Test them both if you must, but look and you will find!!  

    1. For the sake of discourse I’ll nominally accept your premise that Obama is not an elite. That said, how do you change that perception (as highlighted in the article) over the course of a very short period of time?  

      1. That’s it in a nutshell, according to clinical psychologist Drew Westen who wrote a book called the Political Brain:

        http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/4

        “What Obama Needs To Do in the Final 60 Days”:

        http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/4

        There is no relation between whether a message is ethical or unethical and whether it is positive or negative. Sarah Palin told some wonderfully positive stories as tens of millions of Americans watched her and enjoyed her “spunk” and sense of humor. She told that great story about how she sold the governor’s private jet on e-bay. It happened not to be true. Voters vote with their emotions, and if you misinform their emotions by refusing to speak negative truths about your opponent, you are misleading the electorate and endangering your candidacy.

        McCain’s entire convention-up until his speech, which wisely took the high road after he’d allowed all his minions to soften the American people up along the low road-was all about dividing the country into us and them: us who are “really” American, us with traditional values, us with evangelical Christian faith, us with small town values, us who are pro-life (with the implication that the rest of America is pro-death), us with family values (with the implication that the rest of us hate our families), us with our white skin (oops-that one just showed up in the wide-angle shots-thank heaven for Bobby Jindal). Dividing American against American is unpatriotic, and Obama needs to call McCain and the Republicans on it.

  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

    Shows Obama’s refusal to salute the American Flag.  Shows his campaign offices flying the Cuban Flag.  Etc.

    Wow – this guy really is scary.  I am starting to wonder if the reason he is wanting to dimantle the military is to expose us to terrorism.

    I hope not.  But you never know.

    1. Troll Pie:

      Begin by preparing your standard pie crust. Bake the pie crust until golden brown, and cool. While it cools, chop troll into chunks. Feed chunks through food processor, on “chop” setting. Once entire troll is processed, place in large pot on the stove, set to “simmer”. Stir in the troll’s shoes, unlaced. Simmer until thickened and add a dash of spite and two teaspoons of unaccountabilty. Ladle into pie crust. Refrigerate one hour. Serve with a dollop of immaturity.  

    2. When you make decisions based solely on gender, you are a sexist.

      When you make a decision to vote for someone based on their gender, you are an idiot.

      When you decide to cross to the darkside for Palin because you can identify with her dangling beef curtains, you are a champion of the human spirit.

      just kidding.

      If you support Bush/Cheney/McCain/Palin and you don’t think you’re a fascist, then you’re a stupid fascist.  

  3. It’s pretty pathetic when The View calls your campaign out for being filled with lies. (Hint to the rest of the media)

    Seriosuly, how can anyone trust this man’s judgement after everything we have learned about his deceptive campaign tactics, his lobbyist-managers looking out for their corporate elitist friends, and McCain picking a religious extremists like Palin as his running mate?

    McCain is a megalomaniac who’s not suited for the White House.

  4. will ignore the issues and vote based on who they want to have a beer with.  Worked before but we live in a different and world today with a half trillion dollar deficit this year and a floundering economy.

    You also have to ignore packed stadiums and record voter turnout in primaries to reach the conclusion that Obama doesn’t connect with voters.

    Finally the rural white vote is getting to be a smaller and smaller percentage of the electorate and voter registration favors Democrats.

          1. Just kidding.  You must have just finished training to be such an obvious plant.  Next time you pick up your check, ask for a refresher course.  You are making Laughing Boy look positively brilliant which I considered unthinkable at one point.  Ahh for the good old days when the Repugs sent out people who understand discourse.

            1. is she/he/it shaves everyday and uses cologne before heading out to the public restrooms.  The Repugs really do need to hire better quality trolls or at least ones who can pretend better.

    1. Remember, thanks to the electoral college, those rural voters (white or otherwise) can matter, especially in those states with smaller populations that are boosted by the college’s built-in bias.

      1. I am assuming that you dislike the EC based on your comment… The EC is the only reason states like Colorado get two seconds of attention. The EC is one of the most incredibly brilliant inventions of our nation and I hope it stays in place forever. We are a REPUBLIC after all, not a pure democracy.

        1. The EC is a necessary evil to allow for small states to have some power.

          Pundit still likes it even though Obama may beat McCain in the EC and lose the popular vote.

    2. We saw how voters were motivated for the worst possible candidate in 2000 and even after 4 years of disaster, again.  They voted for the guy who seemed down home and would have a beer with.

      Of course, both Bushes were elites, as is McCain.  While his family background may not have been wealthy, a multi-generational officer family is elite.  They are well off, attended military academies, and have all their health care provided for.  Not exactly your average voter’s background.

      And now it’s 2008.  Tom Friedman had a good piece in the rag today about Obama needing to light some fire in the gut.  Then there’s the quote of McBush’s manager, “This election is not about the issues.”  Wow. Holy shit.  An outright admission that the Republican party is about emotions.  

      Dems keep fighting the issues. Republicans yank the emtional chains.  And they keep winning despite continual proof of how bad they are for the country generally and middle class and under voters.

      Fool me once, fool me twice, oh fuck, fool me again.

  5.    There really should be a new classification of voters called the “I’m not a racist, but”. I’ve met a number of them and they always start off their answers like this before explaining that they don’t like Obama because he is either a muslim or there is something wrong with him “that they can’t place” or they just “can’t relate to him”. Of course the underlying theme is race and anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves. There is no doubt that these people exist but my bet is there is still not enough of these folks outside of Appalachia to make a difference.

      These people do, however, make me appreciate white supremacists for their honesty.

    1. can make a big difference in winning what we sometimes call the ‘Eastern Slope.’

      Having a good campaign in the 3rd CD, and not writing it off, is good for all the statewide (and presidential) Dem candidates.

      1. is by going after the club 20 vote.  I have read that nobody really does anything on the west slope without consulting Club 20 first.

        They are a powerful organization.

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    2. Being from El Paso County I can assert that the score here will be the telling number. Look at the Owens and Bush races. They won statewide thanks to excessive wins in places like EPC. Similarly, if Obama wins the state it will be because he won big in Boulder and Denver.  A lot of the other counties will be close races… running up the score can be what wins.

      1. and takes the state and the nation.

        Woohoo.  Gilpinites turn the tide.  All 4,000 of us.  We’re almost as big as Wasilla.  Rural Coloradans for change.

  6. …cuz it mostly confirms it for me.  “I can’t relate to him,” or “I don’t know him,” are bullshit/code phrases for racism, especially when his politics are very similar to Clinton and Edwards who are coincidentally (ha!) white. And both are  millionaires, unlike these rural white voters.

  7. I saw another quote today stated, “Obama is just so different from me and my views.  My life is nothing like his.  I just understand McCain more.”  WTF???

    I wish understood McCain’s life more – 7 houses, Lear jets, shopping sprees in Paris, a $280,000 dress for the convention, man, I wish I had that life.

    What some of America thinks is that being Black is so different than their lives?  That’s why ads featuring criminal Black guys and Barack work. The Repubs understand America’s deepest fears and they are acting on them.

    Some people go to the most colorful stereotypical image of Blacks.  McCain’s ads reinforce that – racism is an effective advertising tool.

    Now, I will agree with Dabee, on one his posts.  Even though he is young enough not see racism for what it is, he is correct in saying that bitching about won’t win us an election.  Barack is going to have to get smart and fight back. And fight back ugly.

    One last note on racism, I believe we should point it out every time it happens.  We can never again become comfortable with that type of advertising or imagery.

    1. Fighting back ugly is like telling Frodo to use the ring because we have good intentions.

      If Obama goes off then he gets labeled as a nasty angry black man.  He has campaigned on a platform of change and you undercut that message with trying to out ugly the Republicans.  What I think has to happen is for the other Democrats in the country to start talking about the Republican lies and deceit.  What could be more deceitful than running as reformers.

      IMHO, Obama needs to continue to fund his ground game and keep organizing.  This election is going to be won in the neighborhoods not on TV.

      1. Look, I have been in politics for over a decade. I wish I could say people voted for the guy who stayed above the fray.

        There is a delicate balance that has to be achieved – having the ability to be seen as someone who doesn’t go down easy and attacking your opponent in a way that people see it as somewhat fair game.

        I believe McCain and Palin are making some critical mistakes.  All over the major newspapers, the opinion page is calling them liars.  I have never seen that word, “Liar” used as much as it is right now.

        I have heard “not so truthful”, “not presenting the facts correctly”, etc. I have never seen the word “Liar” in print as much as I am seeing it this last week.  I look forward to opinion page this weekend. Even the Joy on the View called his ads “lies”.

        If Barack is smart, he will turn this to show the Party of Lincoln has lied its way into a major war, the lies have cost us 4100 of our best young people, and John McCain is continuing the tradition – and he isn’t even in office yet.

        Palin had the nerve, at her son’s going away ceremony to claim that he was going fight the people who attacked us 9/11. (He is going to Iraq) Seven years later, why would she repeat the lie that has cost us so much? On the anniversary of one of America’s darkest days?

        Liars – that is an amazingly strong word. I hope the 527s show America what this campaign is all about

  8. Your truncated analysis displayed here is so logical, why swerve so far off base in your verdict??? Obama is perceived as he is – an elite, with poor judgment, a lousy record on anything having to do with values, and an inability to connect with voters he clearly disdains. These are not complicated concerns, but practical ones.

    No matter how much he cries that John McCain’s policies are just more of the same, his own plans for tax increases, adding a trillion dollars in new spending and proposing cradle to grave social and educational policies are the antithesis of what Americans either want or need.

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