An Elite Gaffe May Be Too Great To Be Masked By Humor
Obama seems like he may be loosing Pennsylvania after making a remark that did not sit well with the state’s large population of blue-collar workers, who may now be viewing Obama as a little too highbrow for their liking. The media, along with his opponents have taken hold of the comment Senator Obama made on April 6th at a private fundraiser in San Francisco, and are using it to typify Obama as being an “out of touch elitist.”
An article online at Timesnow.tv quotes: “The Illinois Senator said, “People don’t vote on economic issues because they don’t expect anybody is going to help them. So, people end up voting on issues like guns.” He was trying to explain his difficulty connecting with working-class voters when he misspoke in San Francisco and said, “the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them…and it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion.” The Timesnow article suggests this gaffe may just be the crack to expose an “Obama weakness—the image that the Harvard-trained lawyer is arrogant and aloof.”
Chief political correspondent for Politico.com, Mike Allen agrees that this crack will cost Obama when he predicts in a CBS Evening News Report: “This helps out both of his opponents. It lets Senator Clinton off the mat, and basically gives her a club to hit him with, and it helps senator McCain because it makes it easy for him to cast this as a race against a snob.”
In class, we have talked about the importance of a candidate’s image and how voters put heavy contemplation on personality when selecting a candidate. Obama knows this and so he has public regretted, but not apologized for his poor choice in words. He addresses the associated press convention in Washington D.C. and opens with a joke, apologizing for keeping the press busy over the weekend with the comments he made. He says “some of you may even be a little but bitter about that,” and tries to use a bit of humor, which does merit a good response from the crowd. Obama uses humor as a soft segue into an apologia for his gaffe. He says, “contrary to what my poor word choice may have implied, I’ve never believed that people’s traditions or faith has anything to do with how much money they have.” But where the kick-off humor helps most is when Obama refuses to back down from his comment: “I will never walk away from the larger point I was trying to make…for the last several decades people in small towns and cities and rural areas all across this country have seen globalization change the rules of the game on them.”
Hillary of course has used Obama’s gaffe to her advantage because it gives her justified cause to attack him as an “elitist” and an “out of touch” snob. She has been advocating that she is a supporter of the second amendment and further cuts down Obama in the CBS Evening News Report and says, “The people of faith I know don’t cling to religion because they are bitter…people embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich.”—Another subtle jab on Obama’s poor sensitivity to the class / money issue.
Obama cannot sit back and just watch his gaffe explode his chances at winning Pennsylvania and Indiana, so he has made some counter attacks of his own, on top of his attempted apologia, in efforts to lessen the damage. In a youtube clip I found, Obama uses humor yet again as a method for repair. Working the crowd like he is some kind of Chris Rock-esque comedian, Obama says, "I expected this out of McCain, but I must say I’m a little disappointed when I hear the exact same talking point coming out of my democratic colleague, Hillary Clinton. She knows better. (Pause) She knows better. Shame on her. (Pause) Shame on her. She knows better."
At the pauses, it seems like a laugh track is playing. Obama is pacing the stage. He is working the crowd like a pro. Next, he says Hillary is talking like she is “Annie Oakley” and that he would like to see her “out in a duck blind packing a six-shooter.” He says “come on!” in disbelief with a big grin across his face as the clip ends.
Humor seems to be a tool Obama has been using for his image repair. But the question is can a few chuckles fool the working class into believing that he is “on their side” and that he respects their “way of life,” which is supported on lower income levels? Or will his gaffe expose his brightly polished silver spoon?
An article online at Timesnow.tv quotes: “The Illinois Senator said, “People don’t vote on economic issues because they don’t expect anybody is going to help them. So, people end up voting on issues like guns.” He was trying to explain his difficulty connecting with working-class voters when he misspoke in San Francisco and said, “the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them…and it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion.” The Timesnow article suggests this gaffe may just be the crack to expose an “Obama weakness—the image that the Harvard-trained lawyer is arrogant and aloof.”
Chief political correspondent for Politico.com, Mike Allen agrees that this crack will cost Obama when he predicts in a CBS Evening News Report: “This helps out both of his opponents. It lets Senator Clinton off the mat, and basically gives her a club to hit him with, and it helps senator McCain because it makes it easy for him to cast this as a race against a snob.”
In class, we have talked about the importance of a candidate’s image and how voters put heavy contemplation on personality when selecting a candidate. Obama knows this and so he has public regretted, but not apologized for his poor choice in words. He addresses the associated press convention in Washington D.C. and opens with a joke, apologizing for keeping the press busy over the weekend with the comments he made. He says “some of you may even be a little but bitter about that,” and tries to use a bit of humor, which does merit a good response from the crowd. Obama uses humor as a soft segue into an apologia for his gaffe. He says, “contrary to what my poor word choice may have implied, I’ve never believed that people’s traditions or faith has anything to do with how much money they have.” But where the kick-off humor helps most is when Obama refuses to back down from his comment: “I will never walk away from the larger point I was trying to make…for the last several decades people in small towns and cities and rural areas all across this country have seen globalization change the rules of the game on them.”
Hillary of course has used Obama’s gaffe to her advantage because it gives her justified cause to attack him as an “elitist” and an “out of touch” snob. She has been advocating that she is a supporter of the second amendment and further cuts down Obama in the CBS Evening News Report and says, “The people of faith I know don’t cling to religion because they are bitter…people embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich.”—Another subtle jab on Obama’s poor sensitivity to the class / money issue.
Obama cannot sit back and just watch his gaffe explode his chances at winning Pennsylvania and Indiana, so he has made some counter attacks of his own, on top of his attempted apologia, in efforts to lessen the damage. In a youtube clip I found, Obama uses humor yet again as a method for repair. Working the crowd like he is some kind of Chris Rock-esque comedian, Obama says, "I expected this out of McCain, but I must say I’m a little disappointed when I hear the exact same talking point coming out of my democratic colleague, Hillary Clinton. She knows better. (Pause) She knows better. Shame on her. (Pause) Shame on her. She knows better."
At the pauses, it seems like a laugh track is playing. Obama is pacing the stage. He is working the crowd like a pro. Next, he says Hillary is talking like she is “Annie Oakley” and that he would like to see her “out in a duck blind packing a six-shooter.” He says “come on!” in disbelief with a big grin across his face as the clip ends.
Humor seems to be a tool Obama has been using for his image repair. But the question is can a few chuckles fool the working class into believing that he is “on their side” and that he respects their “way of life,” which is supported on lower income levels? Or will his gaffe expose his brightly polished silver spoon?
posted by Kristen Edelen | 10:31 AM
8 Comments:
I think Obama still has his foot in his mouth with the small town voters. With reference that he still isn't apologizing for his remark, he is reinforcing what he said by repeating it. I think he makes himself look childish rather than Hillary by his "shame on her, she knows better" remarks. I realize Obama is trying to mock Hillary for being on the same side as McCain but it does nothing for his campaign and doesn't help his struggling issue at hand in my opinion.
Of course it hurt Obama when making that remark against small town voters. Even without an apology he sounds ridiculous and mocking Hillary only makes him seem worse. An apology is in order but who knows if it will do him any good at this point.
I don't think that Obama's comment will influence his campaign too tremendously. Most political candidates have been caught with their feet in their mouths from time to time. I feel that the media jumps upon any error in speech or message that Obama makes since he is usually so smooth. He will have to work hard to create support in small towns since he does seem so refined, but I think that it is definitely doable - especially against McCain.
I think Obama has not been apologizing for much of his gaffes, or poor word choice. Does anyone think that he feels like he doesn't need to? I think he knows that HRC is bashed by the media, and maybe thinks he is immune to apologizing to the American people. I also feel like in the last few weeks he has taken the "woe is me" and sore loser view. However, that will be in my post tonight, so look out!!!
I think Obama's small town comments really did hurt him. From my experience, growing up in a small town, for the most part, people really do cling to their guns and religion. A lot of folks in my town are not really up to date on political issues but when they hear something like Obama's comments, which offends them...that could be the deciding factor. Unfortunately that could be the only thing a lot of small town folks remember. With that said...I'm not bashing all small town people. I do know quite a few who are politically well informed. I just hope they can inform the rest of the folks in my town about ALL of the issues.
Both Clinton and Obama need to keep their mouths shut. But especially Obama. He keeps showing his true colors everyday, even when he trots out his multi-million dollar tax return. Of course he's elitist. he even admitted that his daughters shouldn't get special treatment, such as affirmative action, because of their family's wealth. He went to private schools his whole life, got into the top colleges, yet expects to connect with everyday, Middle-Class and Working-Class folks who don't have those luxuries?
Is he elitist? Well, let's just say he's not going to be saying "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition" anytime soon.
I agree with Emily taht he shoudl have apologized for the remark, and stepped back because restating the claim tah he made doesnt make it more true or any clearer for the people, but it does exactly the opposite.
I agree that Obama's verbal misstep is a bit too large to be fixed with humor. American politics frowns upon elitism and hypocrisy and as long as Obama does not make a sincere and specific attempt to repair the damages made by these remarks, the population will continue to shut him out as someone they cannot connect to.
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