Category: 2008 Election

From Cam Edwards.  Go read it.

I think Wretchard of The Belmont Club hits it out of the park on this one:

Now after Obama built up a big delegate lead on Hillary, the Democratic Party was essentially committed to carrying Obama whether or not Hillary found some way to overtake the lead. Remember, Obama once in the lead, is always in the lead. Otherwise it’s a lynching. I think Wright is essentially running up the Jolly Roger knowing full well that the Democratic Party will have sail under those colors or lose the black vote. He’s going to force the Democrats to take Obama on his terms. This is the revolutionary act. Wright believes he has an historic opportunity and he’s going to take it.

I think part of the messianic air about Obama was that somewhere in the national consciousness people saw him as absolution for America’s original sin.  In a sense, he literally was a messiah, come to forgive America for the sin of slavery and racism.  Someone who could lead us into the promised land of post-racial politics.  Reverend Wright, a man who built a ministry on racial politics, will apparently have none of that.  Obama is now a false messiah.

This is a very interesting twist to the whole Wright fiasco.  It would seem that it was a backer of Hillary Clinton that arranged the media conference with Wright.  I have to hand it to them, nobody is as good at playing dirty as the Clintons.  Pretty clearly they knew if they could get the good Reverend in front of the cameras, he would have plenty of rope with which to hang himself, and by association Barack Obama.

Looks like the GOP in North Carolina ran an ad attacking Barack Obama, and by association the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for North Carolina, based on his association with Reverend Wright.  I’m not going to agree with some in the media that the ad was in poor taste.  I think the Wright issue is legitimate, as well as other folks Obama has close associations with.  I don’t agree that this has anything to do with race, and I don’t get why other people want to wave that flag.

But nor am I going to join Rush Limbaugh in condemning McCain for distancing himself from the ad.  From the McCain campaign’s point of view, it makes no sense to attack Barack Obama right now.  If McCain or the GOP attacks him, you’re lending credibility to the notion of him being the nominee, and we don’t want that to start becoming a settled issue.  With Hillary wailing away on Obama, and Obama outspending her six times over to not only lose, but to lose big, let the infighting continue.  McCain and the GOP stand to gain nothing by attacking Barack Obama now, especially not on Rev. Wright.  Let Hillary get dirty with him.

Let’s also not forget that the Republican have a lot of problems with the race issue, in terms of having certain people in the party who enjoy opening their mouths and inserting their feet.  Not that the Democrats deserve a pass on this, by any means, but it matters little whether the the Wright ad was racist or not.  There’s a public perception of the GOP as not being as good on racial issues as Democrats, and the media is only happy to foster that.  The media meme was that the ad was racist, so McCain had everything to gain and nothing to lose by distancing himself from it.  It allowed McCain too take the high road, while leaving Hillary to continue weakening Obama, and herself in the process.  Either way this turns out, McCain gains.  I would have imagined that people who follow politics as closely as Rush Limbaugh would realize that, but I have to wonder if they are too clouded by a seething hatred of McCain by this point to realize it.

It’s important to remember that Barack Obama was closing the gap on Hillary rather aggressively when he stepped on a land mind in the culture war and blew up his campaign.  While “Bittergate” may have cost Obama the Pennsylvania primary, I think the cost to the Democrats in general is probably greater.  The Democrats can’t be the party of large urban centers and still win national elections, and their attitudes toward, not just rural, but ordinary people and their lifestyles have been a big part of what’s holding them back.

Bittergate wasn’t broken by conservative digging.  It wasn’t some intrepid reporter who uncovered it.  It was a lefty blogger, who had little idea of the significance of what she was revealing.  But how could she have?  She was part of the same intelligentsia that Obama was trying to appeal to in the first place.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the urban left, it’s that many are very insulated from lifestyles and opinions of those outside their parochial social circles.  This is a trait most commonly attached to rural people, but mass media and the internet have largely ended that.  Rural people are learning what life long urban dwellers like Barack Obama think of them, and they don’t like it.

I believe Wretchard of The Belmont Club summed up the issue best:

Americans in contrast, opted to leave that responsibility with individuals. The phrase “In God We Trust” is often attached by wags to the words, “all others must pay cash”. It’s a restatement of the belief that there are no special people, no natural overlords, no entitled class upon the earth. Bureaucrats are just people doing a job in uniform clothes. At the end of the day the world consisted of you and your Maker.

God and guns are a talismanic connection to the idea that the individual is supreme.

And that is what Democrats have been failing to understand for quite some time now.  Democrats of the past often had lofty goals in terms of progressive reform, but respect for the people they thought they were helping was generally there.  The more the Democrats look like they are a bunch of wealthy, educated, city dwellers trying to feel better about themselves by helping those poor ignorant indigents run their sad, pathetic lives, the more they are going to lose.  Barack Obama just learned that lesson the hard way.

*ring* *ring* *ring*

Bob: Hello, this is Bob Ricker of American Hunters and Shooters.

Obama: Hey man, you told me if you guys endorsed me, all those crackers outside of Philadelphia would cast their vote for me.  What the hell?

Bob: Look Barry, we’ll help you out in Indiana, for sure.  My buddy Paul tells me we’re sure to deliver Fort Wayne.  And there’s Gary Barry, don’t forget about Gary!

Obama: Indiana?  Are you crazy?  Those guys are even more bitter than Pennsylvanians.

Bob: We’re confident we can deliver the rich Perazzi shotgun vote.  Those guys love us.

Obama: How many of those guys are in Indiana?  Can you really deliver?

Bob: Can we deliver?  Can we deliver?  Is your name Barack Hussein Obama?

Obama: YOU SAID THE MIDDLE NAME!  NEVER SAY THE MIDDLE NAME!

Bob: Sorry Barry.  Look, it’s not our fault that Pennsylvania has so many whacko gun owners.  We think we can get you to within at least 5 points of Hillary in Indiana.  At least.  Trust us on this.

Obama: I’m starting to think you guys are full of crap Bob.

Bob: A group called Hunters and Shooters endorsing you?  What gave it away?

Obama: You just better help me out in Indiana!

*click*