Obama Too Elite Claims Wife of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild

The BBQ Pit
61

Agreed on the Palin part. Personally, I think that this VP selection made for great political tactics but betrayed a lack of true statesmanship, which may well prove crippling. The only question is whether it will prove crippling before the election, or (worst case) after.

The secret to politics I think is easy to articulate but hard to achieve - it is to position your candidate so that the attacks on him or her merely make them stronger, vote-wise. Conversely, one’s opponent should be so placed that speaking to his or her strengths weaken them with the public. The extreme form is “swiftboating”, but that implies dishonesty - these tactics can be achieved without overt lying.

Take Palin vs. Obama (and it is odd to even think of them as the opposites, but that is how the election is shaping). Palin has endured many in some cases quite justified attacks on her competence, knowledge, ethics, family choices and morality; all of which to an extent feed into her “I’m just like you, gosh darn it” pose. Her true weakness - the fact that her policies, to the extent that they are known, are such as to only appeal to a minority of the truly right wing “base” - get lost in a mass of irrelevance. The attacks, even though they are in many cases justified, seem to strengthen her, not weaken her. Compare her presence in the election to poor Biden - one may say, “Biden who”?

Similarly, Obama’s strengths are his personal qualities, charisma, intelligence. Portraying these as “elitism” is, as a tactic, a way of taking them head-on - turning a strength into a source of weakness.

Or at least such is the Republican narrative.

The difficulty for the Democrats is that, from what I’ve seen so far, they don’t seem to have a really good handle on how to counter that narrative. Going on about how dumb the majority of the public is a la Stevenson (or worse yet, jealous and vengeful) merely strengthens it.

I would guess you are 100% correct about the author’s motives for writing the article. That does not mean, however, that she does not make good points nonetheless. If the Democrats lose this election, it will I think be because they failed to solve the problem I have outlined.

62

Nah. She raised 100K+ for the Hillary campaign. If Obama wins, that investment is lost. If McCain wins, Hillary’s wing in the Democratic Party stands to rise in influence - and Hillary could conceivably try again in 2012.

Poor woman. She paid good money for a ticket to the inner circle and now some uppity Obama-come-lately has turned her Golden Ticket into so much toilet paper.

63

If Obama does lose, I think the elite thing is only part of the problem. Beyond the question of whether or not he’s a snob is the fact that he’s got a big message, which not every candidate offers, and the fact that he has been the target of constant media attention. Regardless of the quality of his message and the coverage itself, that’s going to turn off some voters, and McCain’s campaign has done a good job of reaching out to them with that whole “One” thing and the “Celebrity” thing. Obama’s got some options to deal with the snob issues, and I think the renewed focus on the economy will help him. The buzz on Palin is also finally calming down, and I think the public response is gettign less positive, which will also help him.

It’s never as simple as ‘the Democrats could lose because they couldn’t rebut charges that their guy is a snob.’ If they’d run someone who was the opposite, they’d be dealing just as much trouble.

64

LMAO! No wonder I love you so much! :smiley:

65

She was also a member of the platform committee.

Well, she’s also actively endorsing McCain/Palin.

66

No question, the renewed focus on the economy has to help Obama. And no doubt as you say a Democratic loss, should one occur, will be attributable to many factors. Also, as the buzz over Palin dies down, and debates happen, her actual positions will become clearer - which can’t help her cause.

My sole point was that the author of this piece - prejudiced and spiteful though she may be - makes a worthy point (albeit by no means an original one!).

67

You funny.

68

Lady Haden-Guest can hold her own in a fight.

69

The Lady de Rothschild is on CNN right now to defend her statements.

She simply won’t answer the questions directly. Asked why Obama was an elitist, the best she can do in answering the question is “You know it when you see it.”

Translation: “He’s an uppity nigger.”

70

I just got done watching it. She is totally hypocritical and disgusting. Amazing! What a phoney.

71

So, what language do the elite speak? I bet it’s poetic and lyrical.

72

Man, if Obama cannot hold on to the British baroness vote, all hope is lost! :frowning:

73

Anyone have a link to any kind of full statement from The Baroness? I’ll begrudgingly respect her decision to support McCain if she at least attempts to explain her reasoning sensibly. I’m not getting the feeling that I’ll be pleasantly surprised at her thoughtfulness so far. From the quotes I’ve read I get the impression she’s pretty much saying “Obama bad, McCain good,” and not much else.

Here’s how to defect properly, from Wick Allison, the owner of D Magazine (and former editor of National Review):

http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?nm=Core+Pages&type=gen&mod=Core+Pages&tier=3&gid=B33A5C6E2CF04C9596A3EF81822D9F8E

Now that’s a well written defection.

74

Jamie Lee Curtis, covered in Jello , pulling another woman’s panties off?

Well, I’m not getting any work done today…

75

I didn’t see that part.

I’m not prepared to smite her; she is, after all, stating an opinion widely held among the imbecilerati (yes, I just created that word, and isn’t it fabulous?) and the nobility have the same right to be stupid that the rest of us do.

76

Or standing for a while.