Why the "Elitism" Smear Against Obama Won't Stick

It's amazing how corporate media pundits can work themselves up into such a lather about one inelegant phrase leaving the lips of Barack Obama. Predictably, Lou Dobbs and Fox News have been flogging the "elitism" story, and the New York Times this week has featured op-eds from William Kristol, David Brooks, and Maureen Dowd voicing their bitter indignation at Obama's allegedly "condescending" demeanor. Kristol indirectly compared Obama to Karl Marx, Brooks sniffed that Obama is ensconced inside a "bubble," Dowd, in her patented mocking tone, calls Obama "Wonderboy," and Hillary Clinton spit out the words "San Francisco" with such contempt when she characterized Obama's "bitter" remarks there last Sunday it sounded like she was talking about a rare disease.

But leave it to Hillary to take it to the limit. She's currently running attack ads in Pennsylvania and Indiana trying to capitalize on this non-issue because at this point in her campaign the poor woman is completely bereft of affirming ideas.

Add to this cacophony the full-throated shrieks from the likes of Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, and the rest of the Right-wing chorus, and the last four or five news cycles have been a banner display of everything that is wrong with our for-profit, media-dominated political discourse. Civility makes for boring television; better to cast our politics into the mold of a food fight and ignore the substantive issues and challenges facing the nation that Obama has been consistently articulating.

But you know something? Barack Obama is not an "elitist."

Unlike Al Gore he's not a Senator's son. Unlike John Kerry he didn't marry a woman worth $600 million, (and he doesn't windsurf). And most importantly, unlike Hillary Clinton, Dowd, Brooks, Kristol, Dobbs, Hannity, and the rest of them, Obama can walk into just about any storefront church or community center in the poorest inner city neighborhood in America's toughest cities and relate to the people there as a true friend and advocate.

What's more, Obama's presidential campaign has successfully organized, mobilized, and energized a growing coalition of working people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. There is nothing remotely "elitist" about a grassroots ground campaign that has registered millions of new voters and garnered small donations from over 1 million people with the average donation being about $109. Union households support him overwhelmingly.

The corporate media has ignored the whale of a story while fishing for minnows: The struggle within the Democratic Party today is like the one between Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Obama is trying to unseat the staid party leadership with a grassroots insurgency. He seeks to remake and rebuild the Democratic Party from the ground up after years of being hollowed out by corporate money. That possibility scares corporate media types -- the great unwashed masses might actually have a say this time in a national election.

Obama has inadvertently exposed the folly of the political punditocracy. Here they are fulminating about Obama's "elitism" when his two opponents are far more privileged than he has ever been. John McCain is wed to a beer-brewing heiress who is worth about $200 million. And Hillary Clinton's tax returns show that she and Bill raked in $109 million since 2000. The Obamas struggled for years to pay off their student loans -- how "elite" is that? And really, let's be serious, do you think David Brooks and William Kristol and Maureen Dowd and Sean Hannity and the gang are somehow less "elitist" than an African-American couple from the Southside of Chicago?

Hillary Clinton represents the "centrist" Democratic Leadership Council; the Joe Lieberman/Diane Feinstein wing of the party. The Democratic Party "leaders," when they are not LOSING elections, will talk you death and promise you anything. But when they go to Washington, as Bill Clinton did, they'll vote against the interests of working-class people, screw over the labor unions with corporate-sponsored "free trade" deals, vote in favor of wars and corporate bailouts, deregulation and shifting the tax burden away from the rich and on to the middle class. We've seen that movie before -- it's called the 1990s -- and we don't want to have to endure the sequel.

Comments

[wildgeeseNC]

I find it all very funny- media insiders who scramble all over each other to make every A list in existence harping on who is and is not an elitist. And Hillary- HILLARY!!!!- "my grandfather was a factory worker"...never mind that her father was a wealthy textile factory owner.....

Trust me, out here in small town NC, no one is discussing whether Obama is an elitist. This is a complete non-issue outside of news media and blogs.

[batspaul]

It's such a classic Republican ploy: take somebody's greatest strength, and try to make it a liability. When Kerry, who I thought was a bad choice, but still a legitimate, decorated war hero, ran against Chickenhawk Bush, they made Kerry out to be some kind of peacenik weakling. Edwards, by all accounts a good-looking, telegenic candidate, was called "Breck Girl." Gore, a serious, intelligent man with an understanding of the most complex issues, was made out to be a flake.

So now we see the child of a single mom who had to go on foodstamps, a man who only recently got out from under the student loans that enabled him to go to college, who chose public service as a community organizer over lucrative corporate work, labelled as "elitist."

I expect this from that ignorant, hate-mongering blowhard Lou Dobbs, the Father Coughlin of our day. I'm not surprised to see it from Maureen Dowd, who never met a catch-phrase, reductive analogy, or silly metaphoric theme, no matter how inaccurate, that didn't excite her adolescent understanding. And the discredited neo-con Bill Kristol? He's like somebody who continues to argue that the sun revolves around the earth.

But to see Senator Clinton accuse Senator Obama of elitism is to see true, self-serving, conscience-free, destructive hypocrisy, practiced by a candidate who knows better. Hillary Clinton has no integrity.

[DanoS]

First it was "oh, Obama isn't experienced enough", then it was "Obama is a Muslim", then Obama isn't black enough", then "Obama is too black", then "Obama has associations with terrorists", then "Obama doesn't have good Judgment", now "he's an elitist" - (despite the fact that he came from a broken, poor upbringing and spent years helping lowing and middle income people as a community organizer.)
What's next? "Oh, Obama is too every-man".
Yet the truth remains, the too black, not black enough, Muslim, inexperienced, lacking judgment candidate is ahead in delegates, popular vote and more states won.
The major network media pundits and so called journalists are the real elitists. They tell us they how to interpret speeches, press conferences and debates as if they know better than the so called "voters" or "public". Oh, really????
The mainstream media"s power of agenda influence is dangerous for those whose only means of political "information" is TV broadcast. At least in a "public" setting such as this, everyone is included to voice fair agreement, argument, fact or opinion.

[ann1]

You forgot one.....he can't bowl. That alone disqualifies him!

[jthornton21]

It is an interesting day when a woman, who has raked in $109 million in 7 years, calls an African American male raised by a single parent the "elitist". As other posts have noted, the out and out hypocrisy of Hillary never ends.
Also as others have noted, isnt ELITE something we want out of our President. In the good sense at least. As a younger individual I have hope for the future of our country in that people are seeming to wake and not be bullied or persuaded by cheap arguments, rather they are seeing the campaign for what it is, a turning of the tide, no more fear, this is a great opportunity, one not to be missed.

[Syco]

And they say sexism is worse then racism

[cramos]

Smear?

Did you miss his performance last night?

[TerBoy]

Great column. However, I would argue that Barack Obama IS elite... in the best possible sense, ie: an "elite" team of surgeons or an "elite" athlete. In other words, he's the guy you want on the bus with you because he's very, very smart. Slouches don't get scholarships to Columbia and Harvard. Slouches don't make Harvard Law Review, much less become head of it. But the case Senator Clinton (who swoops into San Francisco every time her piggy bank gets low) and Senator McCain are making -- that Obama's so privileged and lives is such rarified air -- is laughable.

Watch Jon Stewart's take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doAsTaltaTQ

[Syco]

So he is of the elite just not elitist

[Northerner]

i saw the bitter-cling thing totally differently. I think Obama just left out the word "issues" in his sentence by mistake. He meant, I think, that small town people, bitter from being ignored and duped time and again, cling to ISSUES like religion and guns. In other words, frustrated and shut out of honest political debate for so long, some folks seek refuge in wedge issues like gun control, religion, gay marriage etc. I think Obama wasn't even remotely talking about a "bitter" individual's personal ties to God or guns.

[ajax2]

Mr. Palermo, why do huffpost editors Cooper and Rosen insist on calling Fowler an 'ardent Obama supporter'? I just read some excerpts from her posts where she slams Obama for everything under the sun including personal appearance. Do Cooper and Rosen have such a low opinion of huff readers that they insult our intelligence or have they been fooled? Her posts are full of personal attacks on Obama sprinkled with small portions of factual info. Is Fowler Arianna' s own Rush Limbaugh?

P.S. the talking point coming out now from Republicans and Clinton supporters is that Obama called PA small town people bigots.
In reality Obama was asking middle America voters to vote their interests and not be swayed by corporate scare tactics. The voting phenomenon Obama talked about in SF is well documented in books by Frank, Phillips and Greider. There is nothing elitist about it. His solution is populist.

[doubter421]

Only Americans could turn a word like elite into an insult. Youv'e just had seven years of the least elite government in your country's history. How's that working out for you? Obama's comment wasn't a "gaffe", it was a statement of the obvious. Working class Americans need to get their heads out of their asses and stop voting for phony populism.

[CaseyBabes]

Democrats like the view from "up there."

[Syco]

By up there you mean reality right?

[priscianusjr]

Of course Obama's not an elitist. That's his greatest strength, especially in the disgustingly elitist atmosphere of current American politics. But then, John Kerry was not a coward who faked his purple hearts either. The fiundamental principle of the Rove playbook is that YOU ATTACK YOUR OPPONENT ON HIS GREATEST STRENGTHS. The most attractive thing about them, you claim just the opposite. Evidence -- just make it up. The damaging spin is what's important.

So first, we notice once again that Hillary is indeed following the Rove playbook here. And secondly, we notice that this is a phony question, the purpose of which is solely to have the MSM repeat and discuss it, thus giving it "traction." So the real question is not whether Obama is an elitist, but whether the Rovian forces can make it "stick."

They can't, and the reason is not because of the truth, namely, that Obama is not an elitist -- but because Obama fights back effectively. When his supporters or potential supporters see this, they take heart and think, "This man really is a leader." That makes them less worried about the bullshit. This is a continual process that keeps adding to his popularity and subtracting from that of those who attack him in this bullshit way. Obama has discovered how to neutralize the Rove crap machine. As people see that Hillary is part and parcel of this same crap machine, they necessarily lose all respect for her.

[jus200008]

"Obama is trying to unseat the staid party leadership with a grassroots insurgency. He seeks to remake and rebuild the Democratic Party from the ground up after years of being hollowed out by corporate money. That possibility scares corporate media types -- the great unwashed masses might actually have a say this time in a national election."

Excellent point.

[thedirtman]

As an educated small town American I will no longer retreat and read my books quietly in the closet. I love my education. Equally, I love and honor those that share every bit of wisdom of any sort with me. I accept no favor for any intellectual superiority that someone might imagine that I possess. Further, as a professional scientist I have been a sport about censorship should the results of scientific research might embarrass someone.

I take exception to bitter yellow journalists who portray small town people as those who would abandon God and the Bill of Rights in times of frustration. I support the rights of everyone to worship God in their personal way. I support the rights of everyone who chooses secularism. Because I believe in America, because I believe in education, and because I believe in freedom of religious expression I choose Barack Obama as my selection for President of the United States. Barack's carefully selected words have brought about a profound inspiration. We are fortunate to live in such a moment when minds are being unshackled. This is a time to remember... a time to be positive... a time to be joyful. I hope everyone will have their share of joy today.

[ann1]

YES WE CAN!

[BubbaC33]

Obama's message was clear. White people living in rual and smalltown America are not smart enough to understand the complicated world that is too big for them. Those of us living in Arkansas or NW Florida or Alabama, or MOntana, or Utah are unable to understand the big world Obama inhabits, at elast according to Obama. The problem is, Obama doesn;t understand us. I teach, my wife is an accountant, our daughter is a talented and gifted program student. I served in the IDF. But we are unable, according to Obama, to understand the world around us.
If the MSM, particularly MSNBC, checked Obama in the manner utilized by WaPO and MSNBC a huge hole in his story would be readily apparent. Obama said the folks in PA suffered during the Clinton administration. A quick look at the facts proves this to be wrong. From 1992-2000 employment in PA rose by over 500,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%. Obama was wrong about samlltown and rural America. He was wrong about PA during the Clinton years.

[Fabienne]

So the fact that Senator Obama has bothered to campaign and win in states outside of the coasts, states which the Clintons dismissed as unimportant, feeds into your theory about his elitism how?

[jthornton21]

I understand if you feel that way, but I think you might want to read the whole of his statement, and then decide. He said nothing of understanding the world around you, nothing of it being too complicated, and he did not even mention any of the states you bring to the table. He merely sought to, in my opinion, raise the point that people in those areas are tired of being ignored, but that often times they vote against their financial interests by voting for candidates who agree with them on other issues, such as guns, religion. Please, before you decide to feel that these were his intentions, and you are entitled to feel that way, give it another read, and then decide. If you still feel the same, oh well.

[Charmed]

He never said anything about "white" people in small towns.....unless you are saying "only" white people stay in small towns.

[ajax2]

Read a book chap. Middle America has been in decline since Reagan. Historians Frank, Phillips, and Greider have argued that middle America has voted against their own economic interests for some time. They are not telling you how to vote, but what your vote has brought upon you, like GW Bush.

[StoutHouse]

By so aggressively missing Obama's point here (go back and read the senator's statement in full and in context), you've revealed yourself to be exactly the kind of small-minded, small-town person, not that Barack Obama said you are, but that Hillary Clinton told you Obama said you are. There's a difference you know.

[YellerDawg]

What's the matter, Palermo. Can't take the heat? Why censor me?

[Jazz42]

Mr Palermo.
Once again you are right on point.
I completely agree with you.