Obama Defends Community Organizing: "Who Are They Fighting For?" (VIDEO)

Barack Obama responded Thursday to Sarah Palin's dismissal of community organizing. Asked at a town hall what makes it relevant experience, he said:

"I would argue that doing work in the community, to try to create jobs, to bring people together, to rejuvenate communities that have fallen on hard times, to set up job training programs in areas that have been hard hit when the steel plants closed, that that's relevant only in understanding where I'm coming from, who I believe in, who I'm fighting for and why I'm in this race.

And the question I have for them is, why would that kind of work be ridiculous? Who are they fighting for? What are they advocating for? Do they think that the lives of those folks who are struggling each and every day, that working with them to try and improve their lives is somehow not relevant to the presidency? I think maybe that's the problem, that's part of why they're out of touch and don't get it, because they haven't spent much time working on behalf of those folks."

Watch:

Comments

[Phil123]

This is Obama's only experience that "qualifies him" to be president.

In being a CO, and over several years, Obama funneled $14M of taxpayer's money to convicted felon, and bag-man for the Nation of Islam, Syrian national, Tony Rezko, who was Chicago's top slum lord. The money was supposed to go to rennovate numerous tenements. None of the rennovation was ever done, and thousands of poor, predominently black, people were left living in squallor. Rezko also used some of the money to buy part of Obama's lavish mansion in Chicago.

If this is Obama's concept of being a "Community Organizer," imagine what he could do as President!

[DaOne]

Phil, you're a dumb f u c k

[terragazelle60]

Phil is just ignorant. Obama wrote a couple award winning books...he paid off his and machelle's colledge loans with the first one...and bought his house with the other. And Rezko most certainly did not buy his house for him. There was a little side piece that the owners of the house had to sale, Obama could not afford it, so Rezko's wife bought it and then sold it at a profit. Really go Google the original owners of the house made a statement.­..the Obama's made the best bid for the house...th­ey got no sweetheart deal and Rezko did not help them. Phil and his brethern are just low information morans.

[chefrasta]

People like Phil, they take pride in their ignorance

[MickyD10]

First, Phil. That's a lie, and you know it.

But let's talk about Palin for a sec. Palin has close political ties to Bill Allen, The indicted and the admitted money force behind the Ted Stevens indictment. She courted his support and took $$ from him for her campaign. Further, she has close ties to Ted Stevens. She has supported Ted, and he has supported her for over a decade. Ted Stevens helped to get her her job on the oil commission and worked to secure millions in earmarks for Palin both as Mayor and as Gov. And as Mayor, Palin once hired lobbiest connected to Abromoff , a convicted felon, to secure earmarks to build a rail system from Wasilla to Ted Steven's planned Ski resort.

As far as Palin's experience as mayor goes, the general manager of my local Wal-mart has more responsibility, more employee's, a larger budget, and makes more daily decisions than Palin ever did. And he makes his Co. money. She took a city with a surplus and left it in debt.

[fmrdem]

Phil, I think you are a genius. And I may know you... does TYB/Mother Theresa ring a bell?

[NeoLiberal]

Careful spreading memes. People are catching on....

America is waking up from the GOP swindle.

[pinballnate]

Some of you are getting really carried away with the community organizer scandal. Some of you are comparing Barack to MLK, Gandhi and even Jesus Christ! I do not believe that Palin was reffering to these people when she made a knock on community organizers. Nor do I believe that she was commenting on community service workers or volunteers that some of you are confusing organizers with. If you can qaulify the above mentioned people as community organizers than certainly there are other famous people that could also be considered community organizers. I can think of one great example that is very appropriate to Barack, being from Chicago, and that is Al Capone. Others could be Hitler, Stalin and even Osama Bin Ladin. Nevertheless it was clear that Palin's main point was not to criticize the idea of community organizers but to mearly point out that Barack did not accomplish anything as one. Thank you.

[Bettysdad]

Republicans despise the idea of COs because they can't stand the idea of people doing something to help people, rather than make money off them.

[siellis]

This needs to be converted into a commercial. It goes to the heart of the matter more than any thing else.

[Dragonblaster]

agreed. turn this into a commercial NOW

[siellis]

The very first thing that attracted me to Obama was that he had been a CO 20 years ago. I was so impressed that he left a job to take a pay cut and work in the community. And even more impressed that he was the president of Harvard Law Review w/the abilty to write his own financial and career ticket but still chose to come back and work for those same people. He did this when no one was watching. This is in his heart.

I know that nothing can compare to McCain's suffering as a POW. However, we should still recognize that community organizing is service to our country. He should not be ridiculed for his service.

Great response Obama!!

[ThunderMongoose]

1-2 jab, waiting for the upper-cut.­..

"FINISH HER!!" (for the Mortal Kombat folks out there)

[smark]

Yeah!! TELL THEM LIKE IT IS!!! Tell them how out of touch they are!!! Mc Cain's sole goal is to benefit himself and his party. They did not have one solution for us in his speech. All he did was ramble on and on about his own great self!! Now who is arrogant???? Fight, fight, fight. That is all Mc and his lack-of-knowledge about the issues running mate talk about. And then out of the other side of their mouths, they claim to want to work in a bipartisan way to bring about the change that the country so desperately needs! GIVE ME A BREAK!! All they are interested in is fighting!!! I have fears that if they get elected, they will get us into World War III!!! Just say no to these losers!!

[Kanashi]

Sarah no matter how many days you will spend educating yourself about politics.
You will NEVER have the ability to speak the way he speaks. Go ahead and learn your text by heart in your cave, this man is the real deal.
He has nothing to hide unlike you.

[ChiGuy]

"I think maybe that's the problem, that's part of why they're out of touch and don't get it, because they haven't spent much time working on behalf of those folks."
__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­________

The only thing I can add is......."­MUCH" time?
More like none.

[mydoglucky]

These are serious times, we can longer elect someone who we'd like to have a beer with and listen to his war stories or elect a running mate because she is supposedly just like us. John McCain is an older version of George Bush, a towel snapping a$%hole and Sarah Palin is as nutty as a fruit cake.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are intelligent men, they will surround themselves with the best and the brightest. John McCain will surround himself with his old buddies, Joe (Hang Dog) Liebermann, Lindsey (I'm not gay) Graham and Phil (Bunch of Whiners) Gramm. Now, who would you rather have working for you?

[Lupin77]

The repubs belittle communtity organizers even though these are the grass root organizations that help millions of people across the country with their problems in life. How smug to go after these organizations who are so helpful to ordinary Americans. This is an attack of NGOs across the country and the world who do such good work like the Peace Corp.

[koyak23]

It's also an attack on orgs. like Habitat For Humanity, The United Way, and many Jewish,Catholic,and Protestant religious groups...

Shame on Sarah Palin and the GOP !

[leftintheus]

Beautifully said, Barack.

[colormebrn]

I find it funny that McCain thinks Sarah is ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, but not ready to answer questions or do interviews! That team is a joke. I have heard her repeat the same scripted speech 3times now. she is a joke. "bridge to nowhere...­then somewhere.­..then nowhere".

[passthesewords]

There two other community organizers Palin, missed Gandhi and Martin Luther King. I will stack their accomplishments against any mayor.

[smark]

Especially against one who got only 1600 votes. And to hear Huckabee OUTRIGHT LIE in his speech on Wednesday saying that Palin got more votes running for mayor than Biden got running for President! FACTCHECK SAYS SHE GOT 1600 AND BIDEN GOT 80,000!!! 1600! WHAT A JOKE!!! If she had been in the primaries, she probably wouldn't have gotten that many!!!

[NoahVail]

Jesus Christ => Community Organizer
Pontius Pilate => Governor

Hmm... Even a Pentacostal should be able to understand that.

[dsbsh]

And that, people, is THE talking point on this issue. Brilliant!