Obama's blunder

Don't know if you all heard what Obama said last week...

Well, people are pretty up in arms about that one and the Hillary/McCain ticket is really hitting him hard on this one. Well, I don't think it was very eloquently put... but let's get into the way-back machine and see if we can't shed some light on this issue...

Ah! Here's an appearance that Barack Obama made on Charlie Rose back in 2004 in which he more elegantly explains his point... let's listen in:

So Hillary & McCain are hitting Obama on being elitist about this; they're saying that it points to his Harvard-law-school elitism, etc. etc. etc. Well it's that kind of branding of intelligent progressives as 'liberal elite' that has driven so many people from the Democratic party over that past 25 years. Ultimately this could be very damaging to the party as a whole when Obama (who is the inevitable nominee) is in the general election this November (the RNC should send Hillary some flowers or a fruit basket or something). But let's take another step back for a moment and consider this question: what is so bad about being elite? Bill Maher had an interesting take on that last year:

Ultimately, I think Obama can bounce back from this blunder - he's turning into the new teflon candidate. However this points to a bigger issue - one that Obama may want to think about addressing directly (a la the race issue) - and that is the silent class war that is ensuing right now in the U.S. Maher's rhetoric is the other end of the 'liberal elite' spectrum. Obama needs to lift up the Democratic party as the party that supports rural voters and their values; the party that will give them the best chance for success and a good life and put the values of the individual over the values of the corporation. It is that kind of populism that will draw people into the party and push that agenda over the top in November. Dean had his Nascar dads... Obama's got his bitter PA hunters... it's time for someone (hopefully Barack) to catch the tiger by the tail on this issue of liberal elitism and what it has to offer to all of the bitter people out there in rural (and urban, for that matter) America.