Why the “bitterness” scandal will fade quickly
April 14th, 2008 at 12:38pm Pat Cunningham
At first, I thought the fuss over Barack Obama’s poorly stated analysis of the economic frustrations in America’s small towns had the potential to do him significant political harm, but I doubted that it would outright derail his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Now, a few days later, I expect that the dust-up will blow away in fairly short order. My reasoning in this regard is articulated well by Ezra Klein in THIS PIECE.
For starters, there’s no video of Obama’s offending remarks, and the only available audio is of poor quality. For seconds, there are videos of Obama’s fairly smooth efforts to turn the controversy to his own advantage. And for thirds, something else is bound to come along to divert the public’s attention before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
If this thing had happened two months ago, it could have been a disaster for Obama. But now, he’s far enough ahead of Hillary Clinton that it’s almost impossible for her to deny him the nomination.
UPDATE: The latest Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, released within the past hour, SHOWS Obama leading Clinton by 10 percentage points nationally. So, the “scandal” seems not to have hurt him thus far. Granted, there’s a new ARG POLL that shows Clinton leading by 20 percentage points in Pennsylvania, but it may be an outlier (that is, an errant survey unsupported by other polls).
UPDATE II: Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, a man of considerable influence in Western Pennsylvania, released this letter today endorsing Obama:
Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,
Based on the experiences that I have had in my seventy-five years and my assessment of what I think our nation needs to make real the change that is so needed, I am proud and now feel compelled to endorse Senator Barack Obama.
This is not something that I do regularly but as I listen to the candidates in this race, I am struck that we continue to hear about the problems and the same challenges that we have been talking about for decades. Protecting jobs here in Pennsylvania, breaking our dangerous and costly addiction to foreign oil, making health care accessible and affordable - these are neither new issues nor new ideas. And yet we have failed to make real progress.
As a grandfather and a citizen of this community I think Barack Obama’s, thoughtful, strategic approach is important for America. When I hear how excited young people seem to be when they talk about this man, I believe he will do what is best for them which is to inspire them to be great Americans.
This time, we can’t afford to wait. Our country needs a new direction and a new kind of leadership - the kind of leadership, judgment and experience that Senator Obama has demonstrated in more than 20 years of public service, and in a particularly impressive way in this campaign. Senator Obama has rejected the say-and-do anything tactics that puts winning elections ahead of governing the country. And he has rejected the back-room politics in favor of opening government up to the people. Barack Obama is the one candidate in this race who can finally put an end to business as usual in Washington and bring about real change for Pittsburgh and the country as a whole. He has inspired me and so many other people around our country with new ideas and fresh perspectives.
True sports fans know that you support your team even when they are the underdogs. Barack Obama is the underdog here but it is with great pride that I join his team.
When I think of Barack Obama’s America I have great hope. I support his candidacy and look forward to his Presidency
Sincerely,
Daniel M. Rooney, Owner and Chairman, Pittsburgh Steelers
Entry Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
15 Comments Add your own
1. Mike Carroll | April 14th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I think you are dead on Pat. I for one did not spend the weekend thinking about this so called scandal as I was thoroughly engrossed in bible memorizing, trashing immigrants and polishing my handguns.
2. Pat Cunningham | April 14th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Mike: Did you notice that the Bible is about baseball. Yeah, it starts out: “In the big inning.” Hey, I’m here all week, folks. Try the veal.
3. Kaus | April 14th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I thought the quality of the audio on the Hugh Hewitt show was quite spectacular. I’m definitely not voting for Obama now! Ooops…I was definitely not voting for him before. I think the small midwestern towns sans Rockford weren’t going to vote for him regardless.
4. Pat Cunningham | April 14th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Kaus: Unless they find him pleasuring barnyard animals, Obama is going to win Illinois. Oh, and I’m not surprised that you listen to Hugh Hewitt. That can cause brain damage, you know.
5. Mike Carroll | April 15th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Seriously Pat, I think you are whistling past the graveyard here. Those comments and the Reverend Wright episode are very damaging and his opponents, whether Clinton or McCain, will make certain that the issues remain front and center. The general election is still 6 months away so who knows what else will come out of the woodwork.
I don’t think he said what he said with any malice (he certainly is no Clinton and that’s a compliment in my mind) but he made the mistake of saying what he believes. I don’t think for a moment that he chose his words poorly. His words portray an East Coast liberal Ivy League education mindset that permeates the controlling powers in your party.
6. Pat Cunningham | April 15th, 2008 at 7:56 am
And what’s wrong with an Ivy League education? Are the anti-intellectual, anti-science right-wingers in our society so far gone that they think we should disdain an Ivy League education? Of course they are. In an Ivy League school, one might discover that creationism is nonsense and that global warming is for real. As for Obama, you might be right that this latest flap will be his undoing, but I doubt it, as I noted above. Prior to this controversy, he had come through the Rev. Wright affair fairly unscathed — as he deserved to.
7. Dr. z | April 15th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Pat, the Bible has more baseball stuff gthan the Big Inning…remember, didnt Rebecca take a pitcher to the well?
8. Mike Carroll | April 15th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Pat-an Ivy League undergraduate education has always been over rated and it is worse today than when you and I were lads.
I disagree that Obama came through Wright unscathed. I think your readings on this are in a closed loop but we shall see.
9. Mike Carroll | April 15th, 2008 at 10:04 am
FYI
“Everyone knows that Barack Obama got caught on tape accusing Pennsylvania primary voters of being people who “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them.” What isn’t well known is that his campaign tried to prevent Mayhill Fowler, the HuffingtonPost.com blogger who broke the story, from getting into the San Francisco mansion where the candidate made the remarks.
Unlike three other events Mr. Obama attended in the Bay Area on April 6 that were priced at the legal contribution limit of $2,300, the soiree at the home of developer Alex Mehran was priced at only $1,000 because it was pitched to donors who had already given to Team Obama. Ms. Fowler somehow snagged an invitation even though the well-known blogger had been turned away from a previous Obama fundraising event a couple of months earlier.
“There’s a very basic [fundraiser] rule — you don’t let press in, and anyone with an interest in reporting shouldn’t get in,” an Obama source told the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper reports that “Obama campaign higher-ups were said to be livid, with fingers pointing at a local fundraising consultant for the slip-up.”
They shouldn’t be angry. In an age of citizen journalism — when literally anyone can carry an MP3 recorder and cell phone video camera into an event — nothing any longer is completely private. And it’s not as if Ms. Fowler qualified as an Obama enemy. A previous donor to the Obama campaign, she paid her $1,000 to attend the San Francisco event. Last Friday, she candidly admitted to CNN: “I was not initially going to write about Senator Obama’s remarks about Pennsylvanians, because, frankly, I didn’t want to bring down the campaign. I gave it more thought and I decided that the remarks bothered me enough that I wanted to write them up.”
That admission is a signal that Mr. Obama’s remarks really do represent a problem for him since they disturbed even an ardent supporter enough for her to report them.”
– John Fund
10. Kaus | April 15th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Pat…I know longer disdain Ivy Leaguers…Hugh Hewitt is an Ivy Leaguer and Graduated with honors….
11. Pat Cunningham | April 15th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
George W. Bush also is an Ivy Leaguer. Sometimes the intellectually unworthy can get through those schools. I once knew a Harvard grad who was as dumb as a box of rocks. He couldn’t spell “cat” if you gave him the “c” and the “a.”
12. Mike Carroll | April 15th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
As were John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Bradley, Jack Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy etc. Not all of those are intellectually unworthy but if W is, at least two of those are.
13. Pat Cunningham | April 15th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
The thing is, lots of prominent liberals and conservatives alike over the past 40 or 50 years have been Ivy League graduates. Justices Roberts and Thomas are just two of today’s right-wingers. I was always amused at the anti-Ivy League whining among certain cultural conservatives during the Nixon and Reagan eras and onward. These folks seemed not to know that the aides to most of their conservative heroes (if not the heroes themselves) were Ivy Leaguers. That wouldn’t fit with their silly resentment of anything Northeastern or patrician. This attitude had its West Coast version in the form of right-wing stereotypes about San Francisco. Notice that much has been made in recent days of the fact that Obama’s gaffe occurred in San Francisco (as if to say: Well…you know, it was SAN FRANCISCO, of course). Right-wingers are funny people — just never on purpose.
14. Kaus | April 15th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Pat, get enough North Easterners s in the room, and the elite stereotype will prove out every time. In fact I have some a lovely couple right across the street. from me…every time I have a beer with them, they bring up global warming and how great Jimmy Carter is. The husband even looks like you.
15. Pat Cunningham | April 16th, 2008 at 6:53 am
So, he’s a good-lookin’ guy, right? Seems to be smarter than you, too. This is good, Kaus. I’m glad to see you socializing with your betters. You need that.
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