[From 4/12/08, about the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s “bitter” remarks]
Let me get this straight. Responding to a question about his relative lack of support among white, blue-collar workers, Barack Obama tries to explain the years of frustration people in these small towns feel instead of going for an easy, less-thought-provoking answer. He doesn’t give the usual, “good, hard-working people of Pennsylvania rolling up their sleeves” response.
And for this he gets hammered?
The notion that people are thinking, “Gosh, I just lost my job and my house is about to be foreclosed on, but at least we have each other” has no basis in reality.
As Obama said, in small towns throughout this country, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. Americans are feeling the crunch from rising food prices and gas prices and they’re losing their homes.
Honestly, why shouldn’t people feel bitter about this? I do. Don’t you?
Obama is making a point about how people can lose hope when they try to play by the rules and still come up short. He dares to suggest that people might be hurting and might have complex reactions.
Obama is thoughtful and unafraid while defending a politically risky yet honest position. Contrast him with his critics, who are trying to gin up faux-outrage over his remarks, urging people to respond to his words as if they were children.
Listen, folks, you always say that you want a different kind of politician. One who doesn’t just recycle the same old talking points. One who delivers insightful comments about important issues that can’t easily be reduced to 10-second soundbites. One who can tell the truth in a nuanced way.
Well, you’ve got one in Barack Obama. If you want politics-as-usual, you know who to vote for.
