Obama, Man of The People

The WaPo delivers a laugher about Obama's attempt to recraft his Spock-like image:

Despite his roots, Obama struggles to show he's connected to middle class

"Despite"?  Which part of the "born in Hawaii to a white woman and a black African, then raised in Indonesia and Hawaii" is supposed to be the relatable part of his story?  Or maybe it was the Columbia-Harvard Law path? 

John Judis delves into this and includes a partial takedown of some WaPo factual errors, but neither he nor Ann Althouse are ready to belabor the obvious with my sort of redundancy; let me mock this from the WaPo:

But during his campaign for the presidency, Obama bungled some of his early attempts to connect with blue-collar workers, complaining about the price of arugula at Whole Foods and visiting a bowling alley only to roll an embarrassing score of 37.

Are the Wapo writers bitterly clinging to the notion that Obama's problems with the working class are limited to bowling and arugula?

Comments

[clarice]

There really is nothing much left of the WaPo. You should see how slender and contentless the paper edition is. We were laughing over the slim pickings this morning at breakfast..One whole page,i.e., was just links to UTube offerings. Even the sports pages are thin gruel--and for that I'm grateful because it means we are getting to the point where my husband will agree that it's time to cancel the subscription.

[Pete G]

OK, Clarice can be happy again. Raz has Barry back at -12 today.

LUN

[Paul Zrimsek]

You're now the second blogger to bury the lead, despite the Post helpfully putting it in the lead: "President Obama's 165th flight on Air Force One..." Holy crap! 165?

[Pete G]

Also, this from the Raz poll will force Krugman put out an article on how stupid the American Public is:

"New data released this morning shows that the American people overwhelmingly reject the basics of Keynesian economics. Only 11% believe more deficit spending is needed to spur the economy while 70% say deficit cutting is the answer. "

[Janet]

LUN Obama's Auntie Zeituni Stays, Rule of Law Hardest Hit

[narciso]

I noticed that Clarice, when I was internet bereft, in DC, and I only had a copy of the Post with me, and I was mentally marking down
huge swaths of the paper. The fact that they
have let Garance Ruth Franke and Ezra Klein,
as some kind of objective observers, makes it
even more laughable.

[BumperStickerist]

Obama's connecting with the middle class alright.

He's connecting a big ol' money-sucking vacuum cleaner to the middle class.

[Thomas Collins]

If Obama is middle class, Liberace was a coal miner.

[Janet]

Err um er...I'm telling you I am middle class. Do you see arugula on this plate?

[narciso]

Rahm is trying to triangulate, with everyone's
favorite Gitmo dupe gal, Jane Mayer, in the LUN. Man she'll believe anything

[I Won]

My roots are in Kansas and that is in large part where my value systems originated. Remember, Dick Cheney is my cousin.

[Jane]

"President Obama's 165th flight on Air Force One...

I can't tell you how much it bothers me that he is spending so much money on his own perks - Hawaiian vacations, jetting off everywhere and anywhere on a whim, $2.5m or so for a superbowl ad.

I can't be the only person who is totally offended by this.

[glasater]

Somewhere I read that the WH is averaging a 'party' every three days.
Those babies aren't cheap!

[jean]

When Obama said he would not mind being a 1 term President I think he was telling the truth.He enjoys the parties and airplane rides.As a 1 term Pres.he can do the Bill Clinton thing and jet around the world to parties.

[Janet]

Yeah, that whole Kansas thing bothered me. Biden spent his youth in Scranton, and he was from Scranton (God luv him). Obama spent his youth in Indonesia and he is from...Kansas?

[Jeff]

The WaPo article also recycles the myth about Obama's first job being community organizing. The old "He chose not to take a big money Wall Street job" nonsense.
His first job out of Columbia, for 2 years, was with a Wall Street newsletter publisher in NYC.
The fact is he didn't turn down a big money Wall Street job, the big money Wall Street jobs turned him down.

[Sue]

Janet,

She sure doesn't look like she needs public assistance, does she?

[DebinNC]

I can't be the only person who is totally offended by this.

It's puzzling, but heartening, that Team Obama has the most elaborate polling operation ever, yet continues to make boneheaded moves...imo. It's also heartening that Obama can neither change who he is, nor successfully fake being someone else.

[Danube of Thought]

A nation increasingly wonders: why the hell is this guy the President of the United States?

[Janet]

Yeah Sue...if I still used as much bad language as I once did, I would say those are some big-a#* sunglasses!
Well, let's remember what is important...hopefully Aunt Zeituni is eating healthy.

[bio mom]

I think a lot of people are beginning to question the reliability of the government jobs reports. When you drop unemployment from 10 to 9.7 but still lose 20,000 jobs along with all the revisions and enormous underestimate of the 2009 jobs losses just reported, credibility takes a hit. Even though all of that is just statistics measured in various ways and not manipulation, to the average voter it all starts to seem fishy.

[Thomas Collins]

Obama is rehabilitating the Bush brand. Jeb Bush is looking better and better for 2012 (although my preference is to have Jeb as Palin's Veep).

[Rob Crawford]

(although my preference is to have Jeb as Palin's Veep)

I'd support a Bush-Palin or Palin-Bush ticket just for the joy of watching lefties heads explode. Anyway we can get a Cheney involved?

[Sue]

We could just forego Palin and really make their heads explode with a Bush/Cheney ticket. Jeb Bush and Liz Cheney. ::grin:: We could recycle the old bumber stickers and claim we are going green.

[Thomas Collins]

Rob Crawford, I believe Liz Cheney already has State Department experience. She could be the Secretary of State in a Palin or Bush Administration.

Imagine Palin as Prez, another Bush as Vice Prez, and a Cheney as Secretary of State. I agree that there would be plenty of exploding heads.

[Soylent Red]

The fact is he didn't turn down a big money Wall Street job, the big money Wall Street jobs turned him down.

You'd think that even on an affirmative action level he'd have landed something. but alas, no.

The man has never held, or had success, in anything higher than what I would consider to be an entry- to low-level type of job. Never published an article at HLR. Never tried a case. Never got tenure. Never published. Never written a bill. Never done much of anything except drift through life on a C- effort and a D- intellect.

He's marginally qualified to be a night manager at Taco Bell. And yet here he is, Preznit. There surely must be some cosmological limit on how many times a person can rhetorically ask "WTF?" in four years. I suspect I will hit that limit sometime next week.

OT:
Alright...which one of you smart-alecs invited Al Gore to Virginia for the weekend?

[Janet]

Great idea!!!I'm in!I love Liz Cheney. Really great idea Bush/Cheney!

[Thomas Collins]

Janet, Jeb Bush/Liz Cheney as the ticket, with Palin as Energy Secretary or White House Special Advisory on Energy Policy, would be another trifecta that would cause the gliberals to flip out.

[Soylent Red]

Betray-us as SECDEF.

John Yoo as AG.

John Stossel as White House spokes-hole.

[centralcal]

Well, I can support the ticket if it is Cheney/Bush, and definitely think Palin would make a great Energy Secretary.

[bgates]

Palin/Cheney.

Jeb Bush, Education Secretary.

John Bolton, State.

Attorney General Fred Thompson.

Jeb would stay on only long enough to shut his department down entirely; no other cabinet positions besides those listed above would even be filled.

And then all the children of the world would join hands to sing in harmony and peace.

[Sue]

Bush has the executive experience, not Cheney. Just sayin'.

[royf]

OT I was just over at BigJournalism under the telepromter thread, which is discussing the "corpseman" stupidity from Capt Zero. Anyway one comment from Jerry said this about his head ping pong while giving a speech.

"The only thing missing is the old style bell found on typewriters that would 'ding' when you got to the end of the page and had to return to the beginning. Watching his head turn back and forth, I insert the ding myself".

I LOL being the old sucker that I am who remembers typewriters well I also thought it would make a great video. Anyway I thought I'd bring that comment over here I can see it in my mind DING!

[Thomas Collins]

This is fun. How about this: when Ginsburg and Stevens retire, Obama's nominees are rejected again and again. The new Prez picks Miguel Estrada and Janice Rogers Brown as the new SCOTUS nominees.

[centralcal]

Royf: that is hysterical. Now, whenever I am forced to watch Obama, I will be inserting that "DING!"

[Janet]

Yeah...lots of good ideas. Maybe Rumsfeld in charge of closing all the Departments that are done away with.

[bgates]

OK, I'll sign on to Soylent's ideas for AG and Defense.

If we're keeping somebody just to taunt the press, I say we bring back Rummy. (I like Stossel, but he doesn't ooze contempt for the jackals the way Rumsfeld did.)

[Janet]

Oh oh, and maybe subcontract out TSA duties to Israel

[narciso]

Ah Rumsfeld for all his faults, a much better
fellow than Gates. Even media seems to have agreed with William Devane and Jon Voight as
manques in recent airings

[clarice]

wasn't there an old song with that tyoewriter clacking and the pings at the end of each line? Maybe there's a great u tube idea --using that sound track behind a pic of Obama and Totus.

[Thomas Collins]

There will be lots of DINGS when Obama gives his farewell speech a few days before President Palin takes office. And Obama's head won't be going back and forth, it will be spinning as he listens to Palin's inauguration address.

[DrJ]

Clarice,

Leroy Anderson, "The Typewriter." It is on last.fm.

[JB]

"OK, Clarice can be happy again. Raz has Barry back at -12 today."

Part of that bounce was his appearance at the televised Duke-Georgetown game on Saturday.

Now if he'd just stick to basketball commentary...

[Thomas Collins]

George W. Bush as EPA head in a Palin or Jeb Bush Administration. His Crawford property is clearly a model of environmental and energy efficiency (unlike Gore's palace).

And on Inauguration Day, a TM post on Andrew Sullivan's blog post on the Inauguartion. :-))

[clarice]

Wow, Dr J..I'm going to send this to Hit to see if he can do something with it. C

[Janet]

LUN a Kabul Street Scene picture

There is hope...

[centralcal]

LOL, Janet.

Looks like little Bammy's statue is being moved prior to his visit:

Earlier today, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo authorized the removal of a recently erected statue of Barack Obama as a child, from its current spot in a park in the city’s classy old Menteng neighborhood to the nearby school that he attended.

(NRO/The Corner)

[Appalled]

Replacing Obama with a Cheney or Bush is not exactly change I can believe in. Can we please elect somebody who is not related by blood or marriage to a previous President or Vice President? American politics is getting more incestuous than the family tree of Queen Elizabeth II

Thank you for your consideration. One day, I'd like to not to be Appalled...

[concerned]

Well let see we have Romney the son of a governor and Presidential candidate, Huckabee
the favorite stalking horse of the
establishment Pawlenty, who's on Fox more than the regular contributor and somebody else whose name escapes me right now

[Thomas Collins]

So you're a Palin supporter, Appalled! As far as we know, she's not a relative of a former Prez or Vice Prez, and she has no inside connections. Welcome to the Palin For President Club, JOM Branch, Appalled! :-))

[Dave (in MA)]

People are always trying to paint Obama as an elitist, but he's just arugula guy. Thank you, I'll be here all week, try the kobe beef.

[Sir Toby Belch]

Obama should learn to sip his tea without the raised pinky. And wearing a pair of
Oshkosh-b'Goshs once in a while wouldn't
hurt either. How about a few "aw shucks"
slipped into a presser? A toothpick in the
teeth? The possibilities are endless.

[Dave (in MA)]

American politics is getting more incestuous than the family tree of Queen Elizabeth II

They have their inbred jugheads; we have our mysteriously-bred jughead.

[Appalled]

TC:

I think Sarah Palin makes a mighty good insurgent. As President, she'd scare me to death. (Though the complete meltdown of a famous Atlantic blogger would be fun to see.)

[Thomas Collins]

Yes, Appalled, I didn't think I'd slip that one by you. :-))

[bgates]

So I've been reading over the past day that the stimulus bill turns out to cost $862,000,000,000 instead of $787,000,000,000. How is that possible? Doesn't Congress specify how much money is going to be spent?

[bgates]

As President, she'd scare me to death.

Yeah, you, and Kim Jong Il, and Chavez....

[qrstuv]

"scares" you?

Why?

[peter]

Don't have time to read the thread, glad the Ras is back in double digits.

Three Obama threads in a row. These get the postings, Tom, not the weight lifting and science clippings.

[Boatbuilder]

Royf: That typewriter thing is priceless. And it does at least partially explain why every time I watch him speak I want to reach up with my right hand and slap. . .

[Appalled]

qrstuv:

She does not strike me as being particularly informed about a lot of matters (even after all this time), and her bailing on the Alaska governorship is something an elected official should never do, barring scandal or severe illness.

As a poitical phenomenon, she has to be respected, if for no other reason than she is the first person to use facebook as an effective political communication tool.

[bgates]

She does not strike me as being particularly informed about a lot of matters

Feel free to let us know something she got wrong.

[Sue]

I wonder if Obama has ever heard this http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Dear-Maria-Count-Me-In-lyrics-Anti-Flag/FEC1A88D0F156EDB48257119000F56B9>song? They pronounce it press corpse instead of press corps.

[Sue]

bailing on the Alaska governorship is something an elected official should never do

Unless, of course, they are running for president or being appointed to a cabinet position. Then it is perfectly acceptable to bail on your governorship. I guess. That seems to be the argument, anyway.

[Boatbuilder]

Yeah, the State of Alaska went right down the tubes when she left it in the hands of her well-qualified Lt. Gov.
Just like the US of A went right down the tubes when George Washington abandoned it.
One thing that any self-respecting conservative (I know that doesn't include you, Appalled--the conservative part, not the self-respecting) understands is that this country, its people, and its Constitution are the sources of its greatness, and we don't need to depend on any politician, no matter how great or inspiring, to take care of us. Did sarah Palin really "bail" on Alaska? Or did she just turn things over to a capable successor when her presence in the governor's office became a distraction detrimental to both the state and to herself. Try thinking outside the box.

[Appalled]

How to do a national TV interview with a hostile reporter.

[Boatbuilder]

Sue: You're thinking like an original again...

[Sue]

How to do a national TV interview with a hostile reporter.

She's only going to get better at those and then what? You would be better off sticking with the truth. She is too far to the right for your tastes. Nothing wrong with that. Man up.

[pagar]

"Doesn't Congress specify how much money is going to be spent?"

I find it had to imagine anyone who knows less about how much money is to be spent. What are the chances that one could find a Democrat who has read a single bill that they have vote on? 300 page amendment at 3am for a bill to be voted on that day; 2000 plus page bills that apparently has even be written, the list goes on and one; I submit that not a single senator can say he reads every thing he votes on.

[bgates]

Stuff Obama isn't particularly informed about:
-stock pricing
-how markets work
-languages of our European allies
-Spanish at a Sesame Street level
-our military at an "I watched M*A*S*H once" level
-the meanings of our national holidays
-why a DVD collection from a Wal-Mart remainder bin is an inappropriate gift for the head of government of a major ally
-bowling
-whether Bull Connor worked for the Cambridge Police Department last year
-the English pronunciation of foreign names
-whether Americans want or need a king

You would have a point about Palin leaving the governorship if she hadn't been driven from office by truly loathsome partisans from your side, and if your last two votes for President hadn't been cast for guys who wanted to ditch their own elected offices.

[bgates]

How to do a national TV interview with a hostile reporter.

That's something she's not particularly informed on, is it? Are you embarrassed your response is that weak, or are you not bright enough to see how stupid it is?

[Sue]

Boatbuilder,

::grin::

[Thomas Collins]

Appalled, I suspect you and I not going to come to an accord on Palin's capabilities. On the issue of being informed, however, it seems to me that the media critics of her level of knowledge never examined in detail how she actually operated as Governor of Alaska and what her decisions were on contracts with energy companies, the budget, taxes and the like. There have been articles here and there on these items, but never the type of searching examination that one would expect the media to conduct on a Veep candidate. Given the "leanings" (I'll be polite and won't call them biases) of mainstream media, I suspect that if MSM could have made the case that she hadn't performed as an executive, they would have made the case.

As far as "bailing out" goes, remember that during the Presidential campaign, Obama got flustered when reporters asked him too many questions. Palin was subject to a barrage of what appear to have been bogus ethics complaints. As far as we know, before her book royalties and advance, she didn't have a lot of money to combat these charges. I wonder how many of today's politicians could have stood up to that onslaught.

[bgates]

More stuff Obama's not well-informed on - how fucking creepy this is:

I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years. All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt.

Too bad that woman hadn't spent years working for an incredibly generous millionaire who wanted more than anything to make sure people like her got needed medical care.

[Sue]

wonder how many of today's politicians could have stood up to that onslaught.

And dealing with a teenage daughter that was pregnant and having given birth to a child with DS. Most men, no offense, would have buckled.

[clarice]

I know very well the people who negotiated that energy pipeline with her. They are liberal democrats and were uniformly impressed with her level of knowledge and skill in negotiating this tough project.

I know that can't compare with the "considered" opinion of our media elite apparently based on nothing more than her accent and where she lives but there it is.

[Thomas Collins]

One of the guilty pleasures I took during the 2008 campaign was, whenever I was at a gathering of Route 128 belt suburbanites, making the statement that, of the four Prez and Vice Prez candidates from the two major parties, Palin had the most executive experience. After helping folks clean up their spilt drinks, I calmly pointed to Palin's experiences as mayor and governor, and asked them if they thought Obama's work with the Annenberg Foundation education initiative, as community organizer and as HLR top honcho really measured up (it was easy to convince folks, in the case of McCain and Biden, that long term service in the Senate does not constitute executive experience). The most honest response in these exchanges came from a friend who said that I was right but she didn't care, that she just didn't like Palin. For some reason, Palin seems to annoy a lot of upper income white collar suburbanites.

[Captain Hate]

how fucking creepy this is?

I listened to that on Laura Ingraham this morning and thought "Who in their right mind approved using this as an argument for anything positive?" The idiots pulling Toonce's strings obviously don't test any of this garbage with a focus group but count on the MSM drones to let it pass while ordinary citizens are thinking WTF. Absolutely breathtaking in terms of being tone-deaf.

[centralcal]

I saw that story earlier, bgates. It doesn't surprise me that people do silly things in their idol worship, but it did surprise me that Obama would recount the story.

He is the one who ends up looking creepy. (And, in a John Edwards' way sort of creepy.)

[ROA]

I love all the people who voted for John Edwards telling me Sarah Palin is not qualified.

[Porchlight]

Most men, no offense, would have buckled.

Sue,

I think you're right, but I also think most people, period, would have buckled under 1/10 of what Palin has experienced in the last 18 months (2+ years if you count Trig's birth.)

Meanwhile FLOTUS, she who has a WH executive chef to cater to her every need (Palin got rid of the governor's private chef when she was elected), is out there complaining how hard it is to keep her kids from getting fat.

To Appalled: Obama voters no longer get to play the "X candidate scares me to death" card. ;)

[bgates]

the State of Alaska went right down the tubes when she left it in the hands of her well-qualified Lt. Gov.

The importance of having a fully prepared successor lined up is something we haven't heard Katie Couric talking about much this year for some reason. And if Katie doesn't talk about it, how are people like Appalled going to know it's important?

[Thomas Collins]

Thanks for that piece of info, clarice. Yes, you are correct: there is no comparison between your opinions and the opinions of the typical MSM type. Your opinions, whether or not I agree with them, are based on analysis of the facts. The opinions of a typical MSM type? Well, I haven't yet figured out what they are based on.

[Rob Crawford]

John Stossel as White House spokes-hole.

No -- as "regulation czar".

[Thomas Collins]

Clarice, is the weather prediction for DC really 20-30 inches, or is Drudge exhibiting some irrationally exuberant weather forecasting?

[narciso]

Anyone can use Facebook, but have an impact like a Fremen kris knife, there has to be
a point to it. And virtually every post has had effect. Now let's be honest is there any policy of hers that you disagree with, or
more properly any Obama policy that you agree with, and why

[Dave (in MA)]

whenever I was at a gathering of Route 128 belt suburbanites

We have meetings?

[Janet]

creepy is the correct word too...really, in the Nat'l Prayer breakfast video when he said, "but surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith (a long pause)or for that matter my citizenship." (another long pause and CREEPY smile).

To tell you the truth, I don't know what his faith is. None seems to be the best guess.

[I Won]

One mistake that my staff made was in not making sure that I realized exactly how bitterly Republicans cling to the same old Bush strategy of lobbyists, bankers, and Halliburton.

The eight years in which the previous administration tortured innocent young followers of a religion of peace in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo while the rich got richer and we lost our health care and our position in the world is, frankly, a preface to a sentence that I must fight to conclude. I inherited the verbiage along with trillion dollar deficits.

You all voted for change and I am going to pour it down your throat like I would a sick child who needs her medicine.

[centralcal]

"...a sick child who needs her medicine."

Sexist pig. /sarc

[Jane]

We have meetings?

Move them to the pike and I will attend. Local radio is all over Patches today, as was I, at You Too. Howie Carr is referring to him as "the runt of the litter".

He's next - and when he is gone we are done with the Kennedy's.

[Ignatz]

--I got a note today......from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer.--

This dude is seeing dead people everywhere.

[pagar]

One thing to keep in mind, Obama has apparently never done a National TV interview with a hostile reporter. He couldn't even do well on a street in Ohio interview with an ordinary Joe the Plumber citizen.

[Boatbuilder]

And make no mistake, I Won, you will personally see to it that the person on your staff who made that mistake will be temporarily reassigned, with an increase in pay, to the same position with a slightly different name.

[Rob Crawford]

One thing to keep in mind, Obama has apparently never done a an National TV interview with a hostile reporter.

FTFY

[Thomas Collins]

I'll go all the way from Rein's Deli off 84 in Vernon, CT to CJ Sparks in Bedford , NH for a Southern New England JOM meeting.

[clarice]

Jane, I blogged Carr's article and the comments in support are rolling in.

[Jane]

Where is the piece Clarice?

[Appalled]

bgates:

And if Katie doesn't talk about it, how are people like Appalled going to know it's important?

Katie Couric is far too right wing for me. I get my marching orders from Olbermann and Matthews.

[Jane]

I keep hearing that Olbermann is on the way out.