[thenightwriterblog] The Night Writer: Elitist, *moi* ?

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Posted by The Night Writer:
Elitist, *moi* ?
http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1208214057.shtml


   Both the blogs and the MSM have been featuring Obama's estimation of
   why just plain folks seem to not be warming to him in Pennsylvania:
   
     "So itâs not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to
     guns or religion or antipathy to people who arenât like them or
     anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to
     explain their frustrations."
     [Image HT to [1]Gino, via [2]The Lumberjack, who really knows how
     to get his whacks in.]
     
   While the blogs tend to feature the entire quote, the MSM (or the
   apologists offering commentary in the MSM) tend to focus on the
   "bitterness" part of the statement while ignoring the rest of Obama's
   ignorant statement. I say "ignorant" here not in terms of "stupid" but
   according to the "lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing
   specified" meaning of the word. Essentially, Obama's statement is an
   ill-informed assumption on his part, based on his experience or
   world-view. I say it's ignorant because I was reminded of a [3]Pew
   Research Center study that I [4]blogged about back in 2005 after
   reading about it on [5]Craig Westover's blog. My post read, in part:
   
     The study suggests that the old political party stereotypes of rich
     and poor, educated and less-educated no longer hold up as the two
     major parties now have similar demographics in terms of the
     distribution in these categories. The primary difference is now
     along the lines of attitude. From the Washington Post article:

     The most striking differences between lower-income Republicans and
     lower-income Democrats come in their perceptions of the power of
     the individual. Both Pro-Government Conservatives and Disadvantaged
     Democrats include a substantial number of people who consider
     themselves to be struggling financially. Overwhelming majorities in
     both groups say they often cannot make ends meet.
     But where they part company is in their overall sense of optimism,
     with the Republican group expressing much greater faith in personal
     empowerment. Three-fourths of the Pro-Government Conservatives
     agreed that people can get ahead by working hard, and four-fifths
     agreed that everyone has the power to succeed. Just 14 percent of
     Disadvantaged Democrats agreed with the first statement, and only
     44 percent agreed with the second.

     Meanwhile, this faith in one's ability to overcome may be rooted in
     a greater faith:

     For all their similarities on income and education, Enterprisers on
     the right and Liberals on the left diverge on religious habits and
     cultural attitudes. For example, almost half of Enterprisers attend
     religious services at least weekly, while just a fifth of Liberals
     go to religious services that often. A fifth of Liberals are
     classified in the Pew study as secular - defined as atheists,
     agnostics or those who say they have no religious affiliation -
     compared with about one in 20 of the Enterprisers.

     So, the way I put this together is that even though they are about
     the same in terms of income and education, the group with the more
     positive view of the future is the one that puts its faith in God
     and in themselves. The group with the most pessimistic outlook puts
     its faith in the government.

   Which group do you figure already knows who its Savior is, and which
   one is most likely to turn, in their bitterness and hopelessness, to
   the next one that happens to come along?
   Nevertheless, Obama has proven himself to be nothing if not resilient
   and adaptable. I expect that once he leaves the high-falutin' San
   Francisco fund-raising circuit and returns to campaign in Pennsylvania
   his next quote will be, "Git 'er done!"

References

   1. http://suchislifeblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-obama-views-typical-white-america.html
   2. http://arewelumberjacks.blogspot.com/2008/04/may-as-well-weigh-in.html
   3. http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/242.pdf
   4. http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1116991574.shtml
   5. http://craigwestover.blogspot.com/2005/05/is-this-really-liberal-american-dream.html