Noteworthy Political Scientist Says Clinton Was For Characterization Of Working-Class Voters Before She Was Against It

Oh, noes! Would it crush anyone's beautiful velveteen pony to learn that Hillary Clinton hasn't always been a duck-hunting, beer-drankin', Senator-Saint who walked among the commoners and lived as they do? It's true, it's true, and apparently, there are witnesses!

Harvard University political scientist Theda Skocpol - also an elite, I guess! - provided Talking Points Memo with a following statement, which, in part, reads:

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!...

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.

Perhaps, however, it can be said that Pennsylvanians are not "bitter," at least, relative to their candidates.

[hat tip: to Isabel]

Comments

[BitJam]

I hope Clinton saves some of her "I'm not bitter" bumper stickers so they can be used after she loses the nomination.

[NorVaGal]

BitJam: I love it. You are soooooooo right! LOL !! (P.S. She should be SURE to save some for the Ragin' Cajun.)

[HAP]

Great point!

[ornery]

The smearmeisters obviously think Americans are pretty stupid.

A while ago they were trying to say Barack was "not black enough". Glen Gecko et al.

Then for a while they tried to label him "exotic". McLaughlin O'Reilly et al.

Now he's "elitist".

It's not working, but they'll keep trying.

They forget the most beloved President to date (if being elected 4 times is any measure) never, ever tried to hide his patrician origins. The costume, cigaret holder, cuff links, public receptions at his Hyde Park estate, sailing his yacht---all bespoke the elite of which his family were charter members.

Jobless folk in the bread lines didn't hate him for it; they seemed to love him all the more.

Because FDR's character radiated and overrode the labels.

Barack has that same power, to let his inner light shine. The more voters see, the more they like.

So, smearmeisters, ply your trade. Collect your fees while ye may. You'll never come up with a label or catch phrase that will stop Barack.

[foreffectivegovernment]

Senator Barack Obama is just as Black as he wants to be. He has a make-up artist that travels with the campaign to change his skin tone to suit the audience he adresses, just as Michelle re-arranges her audience to emphasize White people.
He is just another politician, "Folks" and wants to be the "First Black President" of the United States of America. The kids are supporting him because they think it would be "Historic" and "Cool". The Elite Rich Democrats are supporting him because they can control him. He will go gorward to become the Democratic George W. Bush and that will be as "Historic" as the past 7 years.

[DasBoot]

Say, do all these conspiracy theories make your head hurt?

[SheTiffany]

Geez. Who let you out of the asylum?

[NorVaGal]

Wasn't Hillary the one who was on TV just last week saying she should be given extra brownie points for it taking so long to put on her "face" (read mask) every day? Maybe SHE needs to borrow Obama's make-up artist. Hers doesn't seem to be doing so well.

BTW, the "kids" have a choice between supporting someone who wants to be the "First Black President" or the "First Woman President.­" Maybe the "kids" and the "Elite Rich Democrats" know a winner when they see one. At the very least, they are smart enough to know a LOSER (HRC) when they see one. Good for them!!! OBAMA '08

[nomobull]

this is truly scraping the bottom

[Pharos]

Where are the Clintons being elitist in the above description? It sounds to me as if they are trying to understand what motivates the voters. If I were running for president and I felt I was not connecting with a certain group, I'd sure want to know why and fix it. Being "clinical" in discussing strategy does imply elitism. Where is the elitism in the activity described by Professor Skocpol?

[erinm]

It's not elitism. It's hypocrisy.

[Pharos]

Oh, well since there is no mention of hypocrisy in the article, what's the point of the article?

[AnninCA]

Well, Obama takes the cake on hypocricy. His religion is Wright, but yours is due to being bitter. LOL*

Let's not even go there.

[SharonB]

Remember when she sat on 60 Minutes and told us all, “I’m not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette."
When that is EXAC TLY what she was. Well okay, she ain't exactly like Tammy Wynette... Tammy had the guts to walk out on George Jones when he whored around.
The woman is not to be believed.

[AnninCA]

Why in the world would you care about her personal choices in that situation?

I will never get this to my dying day. Too much Oprah?

Everyone thinks everyone else's life is now their business?

[NorVaGal]

Why in the world would anyone care about a personal choice such as standing by Rev. Wright? I will never get to my dying day why people would denigrate Hillary for standing by Bill or Obama for standing by his pastor. Why in the world do you feel it is YOUR business to call someone "elitist?" Too much Oprah? Works both ways.

[marc1antony]

this IS hypocritical and in direct conflict with an earlier message you posted. Better remind yourself not to be in direct conflict with your earlier statements.

[greensky]

Lets see. How many times have you heard Obama was raised by a single mother? It may not be long before the jokes start when everyone finds out that when Obama lived with his oil company executive step father or when he went to one of the best high schools in the United States Obama was living with his bank vice president grandmother. Even more so to see him pretending to be from the streets of Chicago. Give us a break! . . .

[chronic]

Get real!

Try again!

[Dalpine]

Hillary wants the good people of PA to forget that her husband sent all their jobs overseas.

[ohioangel]

And Hillary wants blue collar people in PA to think that she regularly swills beers and slams shots while eating pizza.

[NorVaGal]

HRC's also decided to tote around Charlton Heston's gun, since he won't be needing it anymore. She just LOVES duck-huntin', ya know. Poor li'l ducks.

[Pharos]

Do you know she doesn't? Not that I care.

[cramos]

The truth does not matter....­......BO with his 130 present votes in the ill. Government.

There were 6 other occasions on important votes where he voted then put it into the record that it was a mistake...­...so he could cover both sides

His colleagues did not trust him

[SheTiffany]

130 out of how many? 500? 1,000?

[NorVaGal]

I've read that during his years in the Chicago senate, he voted over 4,000 times and the 130 votes of "present" were a sort of protest, meaning that he supported the bills, if particular changes could be made. Using those numbers, he voted approximately 97% of the time. The 130= about 3%. Not bad at all.

[TinaFreeman]

"Present" is considered a normal voting option in Illiniois. It is designed to signify that you do not wish to vote against a bill, because you believe it has merits, but do believe it needs further modification.

[TinaFreeman]

Check your facts on his Indonesian stepfather. The first few years they lived there, they were quite poor, lived in a poor neighborhood in a home that did not even have refrigeration. Only after that time did his stepfather get a job with an oil company, and it took time before they were able to get a reasonable standard of living.

[SuppersReady]

There is nothing Pennsylvanian's hate more than a phoney. I know I am from PA. What she doesn't understand is that guys in PA who hunt and fish don't invite their wives along. It is a guy thing and a woman to pretend to be an outdoor gun toting drinker is not going to come off as real. Remember, John Kerry and all the crap he took for hunting in 2004. This will not work. I did not know that Wellelsley girls aspired to shooting ducks and downing shots. Next thing you know she will be toking on a bong.

[dawlishgal]

A newly minted Pennsylvanian (and I love it here), and I came from 'elitist' places like CT. and MN.

That said, I am NOT thrilled to live in place that is so dominated by Democratic machine politics of the suck-up-to­-corporati­onists variety. Anybody who takes a ride down the Monongahela will pass through the bead-string of devastated former steel towns. We had to go through 4 or 5 of them before we could even find an open gas station (among all of the boarded up businesses).

A whole decent and dignified way of life is gone, probably forever.

Pittsburghers are the nicest people I have ever lived among...th­ey even have what is known as the "Pittsburgh turn," in which they allow left-turners through before oncoming traffic. That is why it is so sad to see the machine pols marching around with Hillary, and some of the people here being suckered again by Rovian bullcrap. She screwed PA workers 3 times ...with NAFTA, GATT (and Bill is taking big bucks for trying to screw them again with that Colombian deal) and the failure of her healthcare, which left the American disemployed not only without health insurance, but stranded in a noncompetitive position in a world labor market where we are the only country that dumps the costs of employee healthcare onto employers.

As I have said here many times, they could have said, "No healthcare; no NAFTA," but they didn't.

[SURRYMARK]

Hillary Clinton ran her campaign based on segmenting the population???
Won't Mark Penn be surprised when he hears this!

[NightRider]

Hillary lost a great opportunity for once in her failing campaign to stand up and agree with Barack Obama, considering Bill Clinton was making the same intellectual argument. Instead she was sending out GOP talking points to reporters.

See Barack and Bill Clinton's comments on Charlie Rose show. This is PBS. The people's station. Not an elitist setting as Hillary and McCain would like you to think.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6oGF3cyHE7M&feature=bz301

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYi_qNWdjgw&eurl

Pennsylvania you are smarter that how Hillary is portraying you. Wise up!

[4wehttam]

I don't understand why the SD's won't come out and just endorse Barack already? Geez, what the hell are they waiting for???????­?????????? Hillary HAS LOST HER MIND!!!

SD's wake the.......­you know what up for the good of our nation!!!!

[NorVaGal]

NightRider: Thanks for those links. Really interesting. Hope others take time to listen to them.

[eladora]

I'm small town America and I am pissed . I dont think the word is bitter--I think it is cynical. This govt of the people for the people has been almost destroyed these last years. These comments are great to open dialog . I wish everyone would be pissed and vote the rep pary to another island as a statement on their bush-crushes. Say it out loud Obama. Get people to say it with you. We are pissed. People cling to their politics because of guns, abortion, and religion. That is what keeps the repubs in office---someone is going to take away your gun. Piss on them. I am mad--how bout all of you? Really----

[4wehttam]

I AM MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!

Rural PA woman for OBAMA!!!!!!!!!

[NightRider]

Go to your window and shout. LOL.

[TexasMom]

I grew up in one of the poorest counties in MN and the descriptions I've seen of rural PA are practically interchangeable with descriptions of my home county. Who isn't mad if you see news articles of former Pres. making over 100 million dollars in 8 years and you live in a place where the possibility of making slightly over minimum wage has to be gauged against a 30 mile one-way commute at gas at $3.50? If anyone is being disrespectful of rural America, it's the candidate who diminishes the reality of the disparate economics of rural America vs. urban America. As my 15 yr. old son said, "If you make over 100 mil you don't know what a gallon of gas costs because there's no way you pump it yourself!" From the mouths of babes (or teens)...

[Ron]

Looks like borderline alcoholism trying to keep up with the good ole boys for a PR moment. Didn't she admit to having a drinking contest with John McCain awhile back. Maybe she has a problem with drinking , and thats why she's getting her facts mixed up pretty regularly.

[sillyseason]

Why Doesn't This Surprise Me... Hillary - Once a lying hypocrite, always a lying HYPOCRITE.

First it's learned that ole Slick Wilie said some "demeaning and elitist" things about certain white voters in 1991 when he was running against the elder Bush... And now we find out the Hillary "I Can't Tell The Truth" Clinton has done the same thing. ... Absolutely pathetic.

The truly sad part is, these facts will get very little, if any, play in the media like Senator Obama's did. I almost forgot, the Billion Dollar Corporations that control the media have high paid lobbyists too - They're probably Clinton donors.

The suffocating of America. SAD, SAD, SAD

[armadillious2002]

And she distinctly remembers dancing with the pagans around the campfires to crude flute tunes all the while under sniper fire.

[Kingbreaker]

Please don't slur crude flute tunes. I dropped $2K on a wooden Irish flute. For real.

But your larger point holds :)

[joeholla]

I'll take Obamas clumsy truth over Clintons elegant lies.

[donaldw6]

Or, Obama's elegant truth over the Clintons' clumsy lies.

Whichever.

[nton]

The cojones, the chutzpah, the gall - bite your tongue Hillary Rodham Clinton! I guess there's some truth to the notion that u have to be a good actor to be a good politician - the Oscar goes to HRC .
As for Obama's remarks they can be viewed as an update to Marx who said "religion is the opiate of the people" Obama should also have added cars, sport, cellphones, porn and Britney to the list of opiates...

[PardonMyFrenchFries]

Your right, Obama has some nerve. Pandering to rich people and calling out poor people and their values.

http://www.zombietime.com/obama_visits_billionaires_row/

[shinybear]

Hey last week you guys said Obama was a wild eyed black radical because he listened to Rev. Wright sermons.

Now he is a preppie elite who doesn't care about the poor!

Just because your candidate has multiple personalities doesn't mean Obama does as well!

Try to keep your slime straight!

[c1ee]

Could you please link something a bit more reputable than some site that looks like it's been made in 5 minutes using dreamweaver?

[abot]

whats your point here?

There is nothing wrong with a candidate having a private fundraiser. what do you think the Elton John concert was. That was not a public concert. Candidates have $1000 a plate dinners all the time. So what.

There's nothing to see here so move along.

[4wehttam]

You just missed nton's point, didn't you. He's not defending Hill, but oh well, Clintonites see and hear what they want to hear.

[cyndeewi]

pardonmyfrenchfries butt!

Your stupid candidate was the first to go Pinhead!!!

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/02/clinton_obama_seek_money_in_california/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-campaign4apr04,1,316562.story

Do you research and know what you are talking about.. Billary was there and got her money first!!!