Obama Is No Elitist

Barack Obama is coming under fire, not by Bosnian snipers, but by those who misinterpret his recent comments as elitist. Could Obama be too smart to be electable, and what would this say about America? In examining his recent statement, I see little evidence of elitism. However, I do see the logical misstep his critics are making to claim elitism.

Here is Obama's statement:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them," he said. "And it’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," he added.

It is fairly clear to me that he is suggesting that years of dire economic conditions spawn bitterness among those who bear the brunt of these conditions. How is this controversial? Anyone with a high school education should have some familiarity with the correlation between dire economic conditions and conservatism. Again and again, we have seen that prolonged periods of economic instability open the door to rampant nationalism, anti-immigration sentiment, militarism, isolationism, and the like.

But what about the "guns or religion" which seems to be the core of this particular manufactured controversy? I believe Obama is associating political neglect and abysmal economic conditions with increased susceptibility to right-wing politics. Guns (both in opposition to sensible gun control and in the larger sense of national militarism), a particular brand of religion, anti-immigrant attitudes, and xenophobia are all components of contemporary Republicanism. have made people increasingly susceptible to Republican manipulation. What he is saying is that economic and political neglect allow the conservatives to persuade people to vote against their self-interest.

Obama's critics are twisting logic to make his statements sound elitist. Quite simply, they are asking us to believe that Obama thinks that people oppose gun control or are religious because they are economically disenfranchised or bitter. This is clearly not what he is saying. Obama would be the first to acknowledge that attitudes toward gun control and religion are shaped by many factors. Just because economic and political neglect can lead these attitudes does not mean that everyone with these attitudes must be unemployed, bitter, and the like.

H/T to Why Don't You Blog?

Tags: Barack Obama, politics, Obama, elitism, elitist, economics, conservatism, nationalism, immigration, militarism, isolationism, gun control, religion, Republicanism