GOP Takes Aim At Obama's Education

Politico:

Even as Barack Obama takes eight days off from the campaign trail to vacation in Hawaii, where he lived for much of his youth, the Republican National Committee is again attempting to paint the Democrat as an out-of-touch elitist, this time in a mock "Barack Obama's Hawaii Travel Guide" tweaking the Democrat for having attended an elite prep school there.

"Barack Obama's Hawaii Travel Guide," e-mailed to reporters on Friday, lists four "destinations," among them the beach locals claim is the one where Obama was photographed in his swim trunks in a shot that ran in People magazine early last year, and "Punahou School, a coeducational college preparatory day school" that Obama attended "from 1971 to 1979. The school campus covers 76 acres at the edge of the Manoa Valley."

Obama, raised by a singe mother, entered the prestigious school at age ten on a scholarship. "No one means to demean the academic successes of Barack Obama or the schools he attended," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "The RNC and this campaign have sought to simply point out that on his Hawaii travels, there are certain landmarks reporters will likely see and this was a way to put those on the map."

Obama's elite schooling may prove a risky topic for McCain, who attended St. Stephen's, an exclusive school in Alexandria, Va., and then Episcopal High, a private boarding school in the same city, in the 1950s. The son and grandson of Navy admirals, he ended up at the Naval Academy, where, as he often reminds voters, he finished near the bottom of his graduating class.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[DRaymond]

So going to a top prep school is only acceptable if you did so because your parents are famous or donated a ton of money to open the doors.

[Bubba Gump]

And McCain thinks graduating near the bottom of his class IS SMART?

[exmun]

Only in the looney tunes world of the Republican party is attending a highly regarded private school a badge of dishonor. It's more than ironic that the Republican party is the party whose platform includes vouchers for school aged children to attend (drum roll please) ... elite private schools. I don't see why the Obama camp could not easily throw water on this nonissue.

[iswideopen]

Oh, one more thing. This message must be for the republican "low information voters". I believe their education level is the same as McExxon's and those "wannabe" journalist at Fox News. Americans want an uneducated, unintelligent, bumbling, forgetful, soon to be 72 year old president with absolutely no effective communication skills. He'll make America look good all right. NOT!!!!

[Hatchibakku99]

Shhhhhhhhh­hhhhh..... Let's not point out to the GOP that they're doing our work for us. We want the entire nation to know how smart and hard-working (along with many other positive qualities) Barack Obama is. What better way to help get that message out than to let everyone know that, even at an early age, he was smart and hard-working enough to earn that scholarship? Thanks, GOP!!! We'll be issuing new talking points to you very soon!!!

[CyberGal619]

The GOP isn't just scared - they're petrified. And their obvious lack of proper formal education is becoming more evident every day. Keep it up, rethugs. McBush is 86 days from a complete takedown.

[neesy08]

McCains's campaign is all over the place. Have you noticed that the issue is Obama and not the problems facing this country? No solutions, just attacking Obama.

[biglover]

Of course, this is his only shot - he cannot discuss issues because he is so far away from how the public feel on the economy, health care and the war so his only hope is to hope that the attacks will stick. Well, they may stick with the yahoos and the folks who would probably never vote for Obama but I can't believe it is going to work on the rest of the folks.

Look out for the new evangelicals too who are moving away in droves from Hobson and his ilk and the young latinos. They are going to make a big difference in this election,

[Bettysdad]

McCain is absolutely correct.

America can't afford a President with such dangerous foreign policies.

Who knows what Obama will do if Lenin invades Czechoslovakia.

[tel8034]

Who knows what Obama will do if Lenin invaded Czechoslovakia (which is on the Iraq/Pakistan border) and home to the Sunni and Shia

[manicallday]

The GOP and DNC are retarded. Look Obama has issues just like anyone else, but painting him as smart is not the way to go. If the GOP would just attack his inattention to the Black community they may have something. This is a person that basically turns a blind eye to this very day to the torture of 135 prisoners in his district when he was a state senator. In fact, Obama's record in the Black community is terrible, but the GOP will never take this angle because they are too racist to want to take this approach. They would rather lose.

[TheNuff]

Absolute nonsense. This man is a former community organizer.­..for the black community or did you forget?

[crystalclear2828]

Senator Obama was right, how ignorant can the Republican party be...that'­s the very last thing that they should attempt to attack Senator Obama on, he was at the top of his class while Senator McCluess was at the bottom. Excuse me fifth from the bottom.

[iswideopen]

Oh, I thought it was 4th from the botton. Ha!!!!!!!!

[ContraEgoiste]

As has been said by others, "Republicans are proud of their ignorance".

When the maturity and wisdom of a society is apparent by the leaders they choose, it is very telling of a group when they consider the trait of intellectual accumen a blemish, for this is what they mean when they say "elitist". And so they rather choose a low intellect individual, someone "they can have a beer with", as their leader.

I wonder, if they are ever in need of a brain surgeon, lawyer, accountant, ect., if they walk into the local bar and hire the guy sitting in the next bar-stool, or if they look for sharpest most intelligent one they can afford. Yet this is exactly how they choose the person who will lead the nation and have an impact on their life and that of their children. And so they chose a bozo that can just barely speak his native tongue without triping over it.

Yes they are proud of their ignorance, and this is a message we must drive home every time they complaint about elitism.

[bhenry112]

One of the many Republicans where I work asked me where I went to church. I told him I'm not particularly religious. He said, "You don't believe we came from monkeys, do you? You're not one of them Scientologists, are you?" I kid you not. This is mainstream thinking in the JesseHelmsState.

[mamacat]

"Oh my goodness, the Dems are running someone with more than half a brain! What are we going to do? They're going to ruin everything we've been destroying for the last 14 years!"

[MargaretO]

At a time when public schools have a declining record of achievement and Republicans continually push for vouchers to put their kids in private schools via public money and others are deciding to put their kids in charter schools or private schools or even home schooling, I don't think it's really wise of the RNC to poke at Obama's education.

The Republican party is getting more sad every day.

[Yuma]

They want you /us to stay stupid. So they can control this land.

[fourex]

The group that brought you 4 years of GW Bush wants to talk education. Duh.

[justwaitandsee]

This is what a lack of education gets you a Flake News Person refusing to talk about the issue.

This is comical:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to35KSemVbs

[chs1965]

Since when is being intelligent and attending good schools on scholarship something to be smeared.
The Republicans are stooping to new lows. This may have something to do with the basic lack of intelligence of it's leaders...­.......Bus­h, McCain, et.al.