Donna Brazile, Paul Begala Angrily Spar Over Dem Stereotypes

Apparently, way before this election began, Paul Begala got together with Lou Dobbs in heathen New York City, where they ate the Food Of The Working Class and pinned Barack Obama's electoral hopes on whether he could prove that he was able to accommodate dwarves with their insatiable need for marmalade. Or something. Begala may be drunk, or filling the performance-art vacuum left by his absence of pal James Carville. We don't know. But Begala did find a way to denigrate "Volvo drivin', NPR tote bag totin'" liberals, and claim Obama needed to "put the jam on the lower shelf where the little folk can reach it."

[WATCH.]

BEGALA: The challenge now for Barack, both the key to the primary and the general election for Barack will now be white, working class voters. At the very, very beginning, of this entire election season, Lou, you and I and a bunch of us all got together in New York and talked about what the election will be about and I said then and I say it again tonight. My advice to Barack Obama is put the jam on the lower shelf where the little folk can reach it. In other words, talk more about those blue collar, economic populist issues that John Edwards first raised and now Hillary Clinton is raising so effectively. If he can do that, he'll hold this wonderful base built but he needs to reach out now to the white working-class voters and means a different message than he generally talks about. He's got to stop with all the arguments for the Volvo drivin', NPR totebag totin' liberals, he needs to talk to middle class working people.

Of course, if Edwards' supporters are anything like Edwards' donors, the populist break for Obama has already begun. Begala and I may differ on whether Clinton's been "raising" these issues "so effectively," but that's only because I don't think duping blue-collar voters with a phony "gas tax holiday" amounts to "effective" populism.

Donna Brazile, however, wasn't having any of it, and minutes later took the opportunity to dress Begala down (and in front of her boo, Lou Dobbs, to boot!). Begala protested, "We can't win with eggheads and African-Americans." Brazile, on the other hand, seemed to think that unifying the entire Democratic base would be preferable to alienating and insulting large demographic cross-sections of it in order to make blue-collar voters feel sufficiently pandered to. "You've got a hearing problem," Brazile jeered, "I've drank more beers with Joe Sixpack and Jane Sixpack than most white Democrats." She also took issue with Begala's continually referring to the Democratic Party as "my party." "It's our party, Paul."

[WATCH.]

Comments

[redzinger]

How many times have you seen the hackneyed likes of Paul Begala, James Carville
and Lannie Davis stinking it up on CNN. Everyone by now knows they are Clinton
Talking Heads but CNN tries to feign objectivity by calling them "Democratic Strategists"
or something similar.
They don't represent my thought. I have served in the Democratic Party for a few
election cycles.
They certainly do not represent the Emergent Nominee and the many millions of his
supporters. They represent the Clintons who continue to discredit themselves.

I think that the executive producers at CNN have had their collective heads stuck far up
the up the buttocks of Bill and Hillary for a long time. They probably need some fresh air.
Eventually the popularity and great potential of Barack Obama will force these executives
to re-examine their positions.

[ANewYear]

Personally, I think CNN has their nose too far up the Government/Republican butt and want to maintain the status quo.

They could do me a huge favor (which they won't) by getting rid of that useless Gloria Borger she IS a shill for the Bush admin). But really, I can't stomach them and won't watch them anymore.

Their ratings are tanking and that's a good thing! Maybe we've allowed them to forget which side their bread is buttered on.

[RageAgainstTheNeoCons]

What do you expect from the network that brings you something as hideous as Wolf Blitzer in HD?!

[Deadbeat1000]

It's amazing how people forget that Clinton won because Ross Perot took votes from the Republicans in both 1992 & 1996. Clinton didn't build a coalition. He was fortunate that Perot ran.

[bettychilds]

Next time someone says racism is dead in America, turn on the TV to watch the talking heads cite White Working Class Blue Collar Beer Drinkers Who Won't Ever Vote For A Black Man as proof to the contrary.

[GrainOSand]

If Senator Obama is to be the nominee then one demographic aspect of the Democratic Party will pull their support. That would be the closet racist aspect of the party. Malcolm X talked about the difference between the southern redneck that was honest about his/her bigotry and the northern liberal, who felt the same as their southern counterpart but embraced the concept of political expedience through duplicity as a method to secure power and maintain power. This dynamic still exists within the party labeled liberal. Lincoln was a Republican and though he vacillated on the moral imperative surrounding the institution of slavery, he did eventually have his enlightened moment and rise out of the gutter of social thought and policy.

Bigotry is not unique to any one party. This election is all about who are we as Americans --the classic litmus test for a people. The process and the results will paint a clear picture that cannot be spun.

The Philadelphia police officers, who were recently discovered to have had their Rodney King moment, must have been bitter while they clung to their guns with thoughts of their God in their head as they brutalized three elitist murder suspects who did not look like them. I wonder how many of them were liberal (we know the color of their collar) and not inclined to support Mr. Obama. I wonder would any moral person want such support.

[PhDcommonsense]

The Clintons, the Republicans are repeating ad infinitum this working class lie. Working Class people or so call Reagan Democrats voted for the Bush Administration in lock step, and did not look out for their economic interest. As far as I can see it is just another ploy on the part of the News Media to separate the Democratic electorate. All Obama talks about in his speeches are issues that affect working class people. But for some reason Clinton and Media says he does not. So if Clinton and the Media are going to keep putting that distortion out there, I only have one question? IS THE VOTING PUBLIC REALLY THAT DUMB? Clinton's surrogates are repeating this same lie, because she has loss a significant voting block with African Americans so lets further divide by saying only the working class will vote for her. Read that as code for white working class. Are there no working class black voters? If the working class in all of the groups were not voting for Obama, then he would not be ahead in Delegates and popular votes. Are all of the people voting for him in all of the States he has won all elitists? NOT A WORKING CLASS AMONG THEM?

AGAIN, I SAY IS THE VOTING PUBLIC REALLY THAT DUMB? According to the Republicans, McCain, Clintons and the Talking Heads THEY ARE?

[cg3]

Of course they are. They reelected Nixon, Reagan and Bush in spite of what was in front of their eyes...

[GrainOSand]

Our biggest fear should be that die-off has not tilted the playing field in the opposite direction of this sort of flawed thinking that would elect these sort of people and deem that good for America. We can only hope for change until we decide to change and that has nothing to do with Senator Obama and everything to do with --we the people.

[PhDcommonsense]

Lyle, you go boy. Those are my sentiments also. Does the Clinton campaign have no shame.?They are trying to split the Democratic vote. When her surrogates and Clinton and Bill themselves constantly give the talking points to the Republican Party, what money and resources do the Republicans and McCain need to spend including the Media and Talking Heads repeating it ad infinitum. Donna set Paul Begalla straight and she needed to. Maybe I missed something, but I felt as though Paul was insulting other groups.

[masee]

I love Donna, she is one smart woman. I would love to see her in some cabinet position

[OsamaBushLadin]

I would too. Pine about six feet under.

[CindyKay]

F**k You Tard ! Danna was 100 % Correct !

[StandingStill]

What a sick and ignorant thing to say. Grow the hell and go back to Rush, you Republican, hate-filled troll!

[Quipman]

Thank you Donna Brazile for reminding all of us that the Democratic party is our party. And its now time for us all to start to pull together and bring to the end what has been in my 50 years the worst eight years I have ever seen. Yes I believe Democracy is worth saving and the time has come to take this country in an new direction. So I'm asking the Hillary supporters to pack it in, hug and prepare to help Mr. Obama wipe the floor with John McCain and the Republicans. This is not the time for being bitter or angry and divide ourselves Paul. Because as Obama has said it not about Obama its about we the people. Something that was stolen from all of us these past eight years by Bush and company.

[roneckley16823]

You go Donna - It is our party, not the party of the Clinton's as Paul believes. Obviously his advice is incorrect - look at what happened to Hillary. Oh well, they will just have to adapt to the change. Not sure if Hillary will, she is still out there trying to get more money to pay off her debts created by total mismanagement of her campaign. Bill will just have to make another speaking engagement at some foreign country. Great post Jason.

[oscarp]

Whenever I read "it's time to unify the party" and right after they trash Hillary it makes me wonder what kind of unity are they talking about. It is easy to forget everything that Clinton did for the poors, for the minorities, even for the afro-americans, when even them called him the first black president. But human nature is ungrateful. How can you unify the party when you refuse part of its history? Just because you have a black candidate does not mean that you have to forget that there were others that did a lot of good. Sorry, but your attitude reflects manynegative things that I believe the Dem party would not promote. Whenever there's a human being, there will be flaws and positive things, no matter what happens I still don't trust Obama. I have always voted Democrats in the past, this year it seems that I will stay home or vote for McCain(with all his flaws ), by the way, I live in Florida, does it ring a bell????

[mspost]

Oscarp, you're sounding like Carville when he felt Richardson was Judas because he supported Obama. This is America, and people are not obligated to the Clintons. America allows us have the freedom to vote for the person of our choice, and this my friend is what freedom is about. If Obama or Clinton wins in Nov. I will vote for a Democrat because it would be stupid for me to vote for McCain. However, that is my free will, and again, everyone is free to vote for whomever, because that is what our country is about.

God Bless America, and bring the party together

[uheardme]

Name ONE thing she has done for blacks.

[joyfulnoyz]

"afro-americans?" It's African-American. It figures you live in FL, where the Black vote was illegally disenfranchised by Republicans in the 2000 election. No one did anything except the Congressional Black Caucus. Not one senator (including Hillary) would sign on. Unifying the party should have started with more people standing up for Black disenfranchised voters in FL back in 2000.

[MyAudacity]

It is time to unify the Party. What we've seen exemplified in this Election Process is what my Political Science Professor said more than 25 years ago......There is a Black Democratic Party and a White Democratic Party.......this really is an opportunity to actually become a united Democratic Party to run against the Republicans.

If the white rural voters are deemed to be more important than the Obama supporter's who are a mixture of all races and demographics, then what can we expect in November. Why would anyone take a chance that they would not vote at all or would vote for McCain. There seem to be an assumption that they would vote for Clinton only. I believe that if they are true Democrats they will vote for the party nominee.

By placing such a high priority on the Race of the candidates the Democratic Party is shooting itself in the foot, now having to gamble that they are correct with either candidate.

Why not stop the manipulation, and treat the process the same way they would if it was 2 white men running....if they had the same scenario.....what would have been done by now?

[OsamaBushLadin]

You are delusional. This is the start of the same crap we suffer through in Chicago with race based politics. Black swill always go to the black candidate no matter what, and ram it through. 95% of blacks supporting only Obama says that this is true. Whites will vote mostly vote for pocketbook and split their influence. Some will be racist and vote against a good black candidate, but not the majority of democratics. I would love to support Obama, unfortunately he does not support damn thing I support and those issues, immigration, fair trade aggreements, the economy, etc. what he has said sounds like McCain. Screw protecting the borders and winking at the Canadians that NATFA is a go with Obama. Big difference. Ha.
If you want good example of race base politics check out Cook county board President election recently. That's Obama's home county. No black officials or black voters really said a word about this stinking pile of crap. That was until he started hitting them by dropping their partonage jobs. Then you should have heard the teeth gnashing on how Stroger backstabbed them. Resident never weighed in on it either.

[OsamaBushLadin]

You are delusional. This is the start of the same crap we suffer through in Chicago with race based politics. Black swill always go to the black candidate no matter what, and ram it through. 95% of blacks supporting only Obama says that this is true. Whites will vote mostly vote for pocketbook and split their influence. Some will be racist and vote against a good black candidate, but not the majority of democratics. I would love to support Obama, unfortunately he does not support damn thing I support and those issues, immigration, fair trade aggreements, the economy, etc. what he has said sounds like McCain. Screw protecting the borders and winking at the Canadians that NATFA is a go with Obama. Big difference. Ha.
If you want good example of race base politics check out Cook county board President election recently. That's Obama's home county. No black officials or black voters really said a word about this stinking pile of crap. That was until he started hitting them by dropping their partonage jobs. Then you should have heard the teeth gnashing on how Stroger backstabbed them. Resident never weighed in on it either.

[uheardme]

Right, whites vote their pocketbooks. That's why we have gerrymandered districts. That's why black democrats in Congress come from MOSTLY Black Districts. White voters vote race just like everyone else. Assshole.

[joyfulnoyz]

I was born and raised in Chicago, and I remember Mayor Harold Washington taking on the Machine and beating it. Now another Daley is back and we have another political machine. Obama was able to become a U.S. Senator without being beholden to Daley, which is a feat unto itself. As for NAFTA, it turns out the Canada/NAFTA thing was a wink from Hillary's camp after all, not Obama's. And if you can't see the difference b/w Obama & McCain, you need to get your eyes checked.

[generaldelivery]

Paul Begala is speaking truth to power if anybody wants to seriously listen. He is spot-on when he talks about the "Dukakis coalition", which is what Obama is relying on. Obama-heads think that in the world of "change" and "new politics" white working class and Hispanics don't count. That's the defintion of "elitist". The Dems lost their last chance with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama is going to lose and lose badly.

[StandingStill]

Stop lying! We Obama Supporters do NOT believe the white working class & the Hispanics don't count. We have NEVER said any such thing. We support a candidate who has a Coalition of every race, gender and age, why would we exclude anyone from that mix? Hillary has never gotten much of the black vote or the young vote, are you suggesting that Hillary supporters BELIEVED she could win a general election without Blacks & the young? STOP TRYING TO DIVIDE THIS PARTY! Enough of this crap is enough!

[LISABONA]

GENERALDELIVERY: I totally agree with you.Obama can't win just with the black voters support and the others young unexperienced (the majority)college graduates.He needs the working white middle class,without them,is no democratic president for America.

[sistermoon]

And Hillary can't win witihout black voters. Without them, Democrats will not win the White House.

[Whatshop]

On what grounds do you make such a generalization and stereotype Obama supporters and say that if you support Obama then you are not "white working class" or Hispanic? That's just nonsense. I'm white. I work. I support Obama.
Quit trying to put everyone in classes and categories. You are the "elitist". If you want four more years of Bush, then go ahead and vote for McCain. If not, then vote for the Democrat. We all vote and we all win. It's that simple.

[SCharb]

No, no, no. Obama doesn't play the "which demographics count?" game. The only reason he lost these demographics in the first place was because of the seeds of fear, hatred and division planted by Mark Penn. Blue-Collar Whites and Latinos are their reward for months of playing the race card. (Mark Penn started "refreshing people's memory" about Latinos hating Blacks before Nevada, and suddenly they flipped to Hillary.) The Clintons have been trashing Obama fans with labels meant to pander to blue-collar whites. Anybody, pandered to sufficiently, will coalesce into a (more or less) group-think mentality.

If you trash those voters enough, they're even more likely to vote against you unilaterally, as the Clintons have done to black people.

[BetterDeadthanRedState]

This slicing and dicing of the electorate is so Rovian, so old politics. I really don't think there's anybody that fits the stereotypes Begala and some posts are insinuating. Like someone from "Podunk, Kentucky" as someone on here cited, is really so stupid that he's going to feel he can't vote for someone like Obama because he uses big words. Like any Democrat is going to be so stupid as to not realize that people who think they need to reach "down" to that level (beer-guzzling, gun-toting) are just being more patronizing than those who don't try to "dumb down." And Paul, you must have taken the crash course in dumbing down if you think as you said that this has "worked well" for Hillary.

[Smartey]

That Brazile woman would do well to take an English diction class, to try and dampen down the ebonics.

And that Bagala dude just needs to be roughed up by a couple of good old boys.

After that, people might start taking both of them seriously.

[k6007]

cute.

[adled]

ignorant.

[moana]

Obviously this is the first time you've heard her speak, you ignorant idiot.

[Shayrae]

You go Donna. These people cannot stand the fact that Hil is done. Personal attacks are outmoded. Didn't Hil teach you guys that cheaters never win? Jeez.

[uheardme]

You should take an English class too.

[Arji]

Am I imagining things or is Donna Brazile starting to lean over onto Obama's side? She's talking a lot less competitively than she used to. She's also softened her tone and shown she's a classy, sweet and funny lady. I nominate her for P.O.T.U.S. in 2012.....and I'm a 55 y/o hispanic white guy. :-)

[Bluesage]

You're kidding, Right? Starting to lean over to Obama? LOL

[econdr]

all politics aside.

is it just me, or is that paul begala is reallly really annoying.

[Bluesage]

No - it's not just you. He's really, really annoying.