Senator Obama’s temerity to speak on various social wedge issues and their effects on rural Pennsylvanians’ voting habits is of reasonable origins; the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, the orchestrated "indignation" from some Democratic quarters are not. There is nothing that Barack Obama said that has not been said publicly or privately during elections.
"They're gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they've been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade. When their economic policies fail, when the country's coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? They find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them. "—Bill Clinton, 1991- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/13/bill-clinton-flashback-al_n_96433.html
"The natural base of the Democratic Party, working-class folks, looked at both parties and saw they weren't going to get any more help on economic issues. The one place they thought they could make a difference was on these divisive social issues, so that's how they've been voting." - Jim Webb, 2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/42726/?page=entire
"Those who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals in the back ought to be voting with us." – Howard Dean, 2003, who earned his own ire on his statements http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070212/moser/4
"It's very simple. I am much, much more a rural advocate than I am a Democrat. And I'm plum fed up with the way rural America—56 million of us—have been screwed. What deregulation and these trade treaties, what corporate pirates have done to us is unconscionable.”—David Mudcat Saunders, 2007 http://www.mensvogue.com/business/politics/interviews/articles/2007/06/david_mudcat_saunders "I
thought that we were getting screwed in the southern Appalachians, with our loss of textiles and furniture jobs. You know, with these ridiculous trade treaties. But as I look at rural Iowa, I've never seen people screwed like these people have been screwed out here.....Think of a guy whose farm has just been foreclosed on and he's lost his health insurance and his wife's lost her job. He's sick, and both his kids have left home because they couldn't find a job. Now you ask him if he's living in poverty, and he'll say 'hell, no, you know, I'm having some rough times, but I'm not living in poverty.' But you ask him if he's getting screwed, he's gonna say, 'hell, yeah.' Basically what we're gonna tell them is the truth. Those people that've been screwing you, we're gonna screw them."--David "Mudcat" Saunders, 2007 http://smokyhollow.blogspot.com/2007/08/mudcat-saunders-john-edwards-is-plum.html
"Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked." – 1 Timothy 1:19 - The Bible
However, there have been some outrageous statements made during this campaign that we hadn’t heard from members of the Democratic Party since the ancient Dixiecrats roamed the earth:
"The Hispanic voter - and I want to say this very carefully - has not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates."--Clinton campaign Pollster, Sergio Bendixen, 2008 http://www.digg.com/2008_us_elections/Clinton_at_Root_of_Racist_Stereotyping_Hispanics_vs_Blacks
“He was making a historical statement”– Hillary Clinton (speaking of Bendixen’s statement) ,, one week later http://www.digg.com/2008_us_elections/Clinton_at_Root_of_Racist_Stereotyping_Hispanics_vs_Blacks
Fact Source discounting Mr. Bendixen’s nonsensical statement http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=713782
"You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate"-- Ed Rendell, Gov. of Pennsylvania & Sen. Clinton SD http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08043/856727-153.stm
Mr. Rendell unilaterally declared Pennsylvania to be Alabama circa 1963. Source commenting on the fact that Sen. Obama won Alabama in the primaries http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08043/856727-153.stm
“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position, and if he was a woman he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept," –Geraldine Ferraro, Former Vice Presidential Candidate and Hillary Clinton Groupie http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSN1216129120080312
“Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist, and they are out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know — not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York. (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
You know, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it¹s a matter of Constitutional rights. Americans who believe in God believe it is a matter of personal faith. Americans who believe in protecting good American jobs believe it is a matter of the American Dream.
