In a comment on Pat Crowley’s blog, Bill Adkins makes the perfect argument for why it’s effing ridiculous for Jerry Lundergan and Greg Stumbo to attack Barack Obama over telling the truth about rural America.
Sadly, Greg Stumbo seems to be forgetting that he’s a product of rural America and has abandoned his usual solid position on Appalachian/rural issues in order to push the tired candidacy of Hillary Clinton. We like Greg, don’t get me wrong, but this is just embarrassing and out-of-touch.
Like Bill Adkins says, Americans need to figure out if they want someone who will speak the truth or someone who’ll blow smoke up their ass.
Take a look at Obama’s remarks and see if you disagree, Kentuckians:
“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,” Mr. Obama responded, according to a transcript of the fund-raiser published on Friday on The Huffington Post. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not…”
Obama also 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.”
To echo Bill, please tell us where/how Obama is incorrect. We’re borne of the mountains of eastern Kentucky and think it would be difficult to find anyone from rural America who would disagree with Obama’s remarks.
The reality is that rural America has been forgotten, cast aside and crapped on.
Read the rest of this rant after the jump…
The reality is that most rural Kentuckians feel disenfranchised and believe they aren’t represented beyond the local level in politics and have nothing to cling to but the basics like guns, their families and what keeps their small communities glued together. The reality is rural American communities are suffering and many have no real feeling of hope as they watch their chief industries die out. That’s been the norm in eastern Kentucky with coal for decades and it’s only getting worse. To ignore these realities is to ignore the very people our crooked political system is supposed to represent.
Again, someone explain to us how Obama is incorrect. And tell us why Greg Stumbo and Jerry Lundergan– of all people– think it’s Kosher to pull some crap like this.
We’re stealing Bill’s remarks to help make our point:
“Dead on - see how easy it is to sell the right wing on the right’s interpretation of religion applied to politics? Obama hit every one of them - guns, religion, anti-immigrant, and how many anti-NAFTA types are there? I don’t believe this was a slam on God, Guns (I’m a gunowner and anti-gun control), or anything else - and I’m here to say that people like the Minutemen are nothing more than a hate group (if our Congress wanted to stop illegal immigration we wouldn’t be using the tools like the Minuteracists. The FBI would be running through those employers who hire them). As for trade, it’s a small world, globalization is about as unstoppable as gravity. This is unfair criticism of Obama.”
We’ve tried to stay out of the presidential race to a great extent. But it’s just getting ridiculous when Jerry Lundergan and Greg Stumbo turn on the realities of our rural Commonwealth. It’s disappointing.
Couple this with the fact that Clinton is allied with a superdelegate with FDIC issues, Steve Henry and his former Miss America wife who is under major investigation and all the other shady horse crap shenanigans and it’s clear there’s only one anti-corrupt option for the Democratic presidential nod and it’s not Hillary Clinton.
43 responses so far ↓
1 CW // Apr 12, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Very Good! Sometimes you get it right!
Hillary Clinton insults rural states every time she claims an Obama win in the south does not matter, then has the nerve to attack him over his poor choice of words!
2 3CardNana // Apr 12, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I have to disagree with you on this Jake. What I heard in Obama’s words was a contempt for traditional values and rights. When he says they cling to religion, guns, etc. it sounds like Obama thinks people make choices out of fear and bitterness instead of choosing based on a moral guidepost. It sounds like he is looking down at these folks, as if they are powerless to make principled choices.
I think I have made it pretty clear that I am a Republican so I don’t really have a dog in this race. If anything, I think Obama is the easier candidate to beat so this opinion spits in the face of my perceived best interests but I have to say it like I see it.
3 Jake // Apr 12, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Contempt for “traditional values and rights” - hahahaha - what? Riiight.
I just re-listened to Obama’s remarks three times in a row HERE.
I think you’d have to be full or it or absolutely ignorant to hear contempt in his voice for anything. Ignorant if you believe what he said was intimating people are powerless to make sound decisions.
Also think you’d have to be absolutely disconnected from reality to believe people in rural America (or anywhere) make all of their political decisions based on morals. It’s the Republican Party that has been most successful at using fear tactics and shitty wedge issues to scare the living hell out of people into voting for the right. That’s pretty much established fact. So I think you need a better argument.
What Obama said, which I’ll reiterate, is that rural Americans have no reason to give a flip about what’s going on because they don’t feel like anyone stands up for them (no one does). So they vote for the few things they care about. As a boy who is a product of the mountains, I think I can safely say there’s nothing moralistic about it. Never has been. Never will be. Politics are too dirty for morals to get in the way in the mountains.
Besides, how do you think Greg Stubo came to power? Did people vote for him for moral reasons? HAHAHAHA. Oh man.
Okay, I’m out. ZZzzzzz. Everyone laugh it up. A mid-20-something going to sleep on a Saturday night before 11:00 P.M. Snap.
4 kilowat // Apr 12, 2008 at 11:12 pm
why didn’t you use the full picture??
http://tinyurl.com/5gjp7o
5 anonymous // Apr 12, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Obama talking about people criticizing trade deals is like the pot calling the kettle black (can I say that about a black candidate?)
he’s been ripping NAFTA out on the campaign trail for months
6 3CardNana // Apr 12, 2008 at 11:29 pm
What is more wedge issued than dividing our country up by racial lines or classist lines like the Democratic Party has for years? (Like how I used the ic? Consider it an olive branch!)
I understand that Obama wasn’t vitriolic in his presentation but his words speak of an elitism that you seem to hold onto yourself. If people don’t arrive to an opinion based on some sort of litmus test, then how do they get there? Are people across this state fed their beliefs? Considering the Democratic love for social programs, maybe this idea makes sense to you.
By the way, Stumbo won because Jack Wood was the other choice. Simple as that.
7 Terri // Apr 12, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Newsflash: People who are unafraid don’t cling to guns. People who aren’t afraid don’t give a shit who marries whom. People who aren’t afraid don’t care what goes on in strangers’ uteri. People who aren’t afraid don’t build walls. That’s not to say that all fear is irrational, but to pretend that fear isn’t at the root of many of the right-wing’s pet causes is complete bullshit.
8 Steve Bittenbender // Apr 13, 2008 at 12:21 am
That was a pretty wide net Obama cast over a large group of people.
Saying rural America is bitter and clings to guns is a lot like saying African-Americans do not have the capacity to serve as coaches or general managers for professional sports teams. I wonder what happened to the guy who said that?
It also doesn’t help that he said this — not to a group of rural Americans — but to liberal elitists at a San Francisco fundraiser.
It just came off as elitist and condescending, and not the way to court voters he’ll need come November.
9 Cyberhillbilly // Apr 13, 2008 at 7:11 am
Jake:
Looks like you should have taken me up on that offer to come down and check out E. KY. Obviously you’re losing sight of things from your perch in the ‘ville.
For the past four years I’ve worked in economic development in E. KY in places like Breathitt County, Magoffin County, Wolfe County, Owsley County, etc. These are among some of the most impoverished areas in the United States. I will tell you that these folks aren’t in the least bitter. They’re inventive, they’re creative, they’re hopeful. They keep trying to make their economies better.
I won’t say they always adopt the best strategies. They tend to be a little too hopeful that the old economy is coming back and too reliant on government to start their enterprises, but I never detect bitterness or anger.
What’s more, we mountain folks have loved our guns well before the economy made its transition. Religion is not some sort of new phenemenon here. And its hard to argue that we’re a bunch of anti immigration zealots given the (relatively speaking) large numbers of foreign doctors and growing number of hispanic migrants.
Obama’s comments were more than just elitist. They’re just plain wrong and show he’s fundamentally out of touch with rural America.
10 What’s Required: Progress in the Commonwealth // Apr 13, 2008 at 9:50 am
[…] The one from the RNC/Clinton Campaign/People Caught Up In Self-Interest, and the one from Jake: tell me why he’s […]
11 Bill Adkins // Apr 13, 2008 at 10:57 am
Thanks for the attention!! I won’t clog up your section with a long comment, but what do Americans want in their leaders? Someone who’ll tell them the truth, as has Obama, or a continuation of status quo, someone to blow smoke and sunshine up their asses? People are searching for solutions, they are hopeful solutions will be found, but that does not mean they do not recognize their circumstance - wages are flat, prices are rising, asset values are falling and the economic indicators are clear and there for all to see. It’s a roller coaster ride and no one can get off of it.
To characterize Obama’s statements as “elitist and condescending” — is to work off the Clinton campaign’s talking points, along wih Greg Stumbo (who does not speak for all E. Kentuckians). Obama was dead on accurate in his assessment - his words were not a slam on God, Guns or anything else — his words were a sensitive and, again, accurate insight into people who are fearful of the future.
http://www.peasantville.com/the_peasantville_blog/2008/04/barack-obama-is.html
12 Bill Adkins // Apr 13, 2008 at 11:22 am
Cyber - the curse and the beauty of E. Ky has long been ‘the more things change the more they stay the same.’ E. Ky is like a cocoon - when things are bad elsewhere, E. Ky seems better off - no change. When things are good elsewhere, E. Ky seems worse off - no change. Sounds like you’re experiencing the former. E. Ky is tops on my list, and I hope the shrinking world won’t change it too reflect all those negatives seen elsewhere.
13 Mortonsville // Apr 13, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Hank Williams Jr. sang “ Country Folk Can Survive”, and we probably will do much better than big city folks in the upcoming economic disaster. But we are not going to do as well as we could, if we let these Washington windbags continue to push our hot buttons, and distract us from the real issues.
Cynical politicians take issues like religion, race, guns and immigration and exploit them to divide us for their own political gain. They prefer to talk about “scandals” rather than issues - like the war, economy & jobs, oil & gas prices, poverty, healthcare & insurance, worldwide food shortages, environmental destruction & polluted water supply, climate change, first-rate education for our children, etc.
They make a mountain out of a molehill to distract us. We are not going to be fooled by their phony outrage.
14 Bill Adkins // Apr 13, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I think those who criticize Obama for this underestimate the rural voter - I believe that voter is certainly intelligent and perceptive enough to accurately discern exactly what Obama intended. I also think that voter has come to recognize just how easily the Republicans have manipulated them over the years. It took George W. Bush’s broken crayon methods to drive it home.
15 Anon // Apr 13, 2008 at 1:16 pm
What these two have done is simply shortsighted becuase it’s going to end up hurting KY Dems up and down the ballot this fall.
Their idiotic use of right-wing frames against Obama will only make it harder for our candidates when the GOP just beats that drum over his comments in order to distance our local Dem candidates from our eventual presidential nominee. This line of attack won’t resonate in the ‘ville but in the rural parts of the state it’s gonna make it that much harder for our Senate and House candidates.
How are Stumbo and Lundergan going to respond when asked in the fall if they stand by their comments and stand with our Presidential nominee Barack Obama?
Jackasses (no pun intended).
16 Shack // Apr 13, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Jake, you are not an intellectual authority on how Rural Kentucky should think or how they should realize they have been wrong for 300 years about their love for God, Guns and Liberty. It is almost like a father who hasn’t seen their child in 16 years calling them up and saying “your grounded, go to your room”. The last time I checked you live in Louisville.
I invite you to tour this region and tell “Your People” how they are just wrong for believing in the strength of God or in true meaning of the second amendment, especially when times are tough. People here are somewhat bitter of change, but to attack their fundamental beliefs makes me want to puke. Obama should have said something like “clinging to their fear of change”.
17 Jake // Apr 13, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I love how everyone gets their goddamned panties in a wad when someone who lives in SCARY LOUISVILLE suggests that Hillary Clinton doesn’t have a fucking clue what she’s talking about when it comes to rural America.
I grew up in the thick of redneck, rural appalachia and I loved every minute of it. I also grew to understand that the fear of God, Guns and Gays is REAL. It’s legit. The fact is people cling to that shit because there’s nothing else to cling to. And it doesn’t help that use that shit to scare people into voting and holding positions.
It’s sorta like Dubya and Eye-rack.
I also love that a few reactionaries can’t fucking understand that you cannot: determine tone of voice via text, take a couple paragraphs as someone’s entire philosophy, assume living in Louisville taints someone’s perspective, assume what Barack Obama meant without talking to him and asking him what he meant.
That’s complete horse shit.
Buuut…. I did get like 500 of you fired up and commenting on the weekend. Woops, suckers.
18 Shack // Apr 13, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Screw you Jake, you are the one getting fired up because we ain’t kissing your royal political ass. I love that God and Guns are shit. You damn skippy people fear the removal of God from society and the deletion of the second amendment. And you are the sucker for propagating the myth that people’s belief’s not in-line with the dirty liberal agenda is fodder for ridicule. SUCKER. But if you actually believe that shit, you are not a sucker, just plain WRONG.
19 Jake // Apr 13, 2008 at 3:27 pm
ha!
I’m getting “fired up” for the 6800 page views these comments have generated. That’s what.
20 Shack // Apr 13, 2008 at 3:33 pm
K - if thats what makes you happy, oh power blog oz.
21 Shack // Apr 13, 2008 at 3:33 pm
powerful, xcuse me
22 Bill Adkins // Apr 13, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Obama said nothing to “attack their fundamental beliefs ,” shack. That’s certainly how some would prefer you interpret it. What Obama said was that people, not just those in rural areas, are holding on to those factors that stabilize them or give them security in times of trouble and, particularly in terms of religion, the right wing has exploited their fears.
23 CollegeDem // Apr 13, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Jake-
Obama must have been to my hometown in southern KY, because what he said rings true for the area.
He chose his words poorly, but at the same time, wasn’t wrong is in meaning.
This is becoming a big deal in mainstream media, because mainstream America is not willing to recognize that those in small towns do get left behind once election day is over.
24 KYJurisDoctor // Apr 13, 2008 at 6:09 pm
When speaking what the two BILLARY Hacks spewed out, you MUST consider the sources. By the way: Obama is opening a regional office in Bowling Green on Tuseday:
http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/04/barack-obama-will-open-regional.html#links
25 nothng but the truth // Apr 13, 2008 at 6:14 pm
You have got to be kidding me? Right? Obama speaking the truth? What would explain his clinging to the Reverend Jeremey “I hate whitey” Wright? What would explain his anti-NAFTA stance? Is Barak bitter as well? Is he another of the down trodden negroes who has been oppressed by uncle cracker with his Harvard degree and Chicago mansion?
Obama’s comments are simply pandering to his liberal base at best and another inside revelation of who he is at worst.
At worst, Obama is a race baiting hate mongerer. The contempt that he and his wife feel for white America is palpable. The San Franscico remarks highlight that hate and contempt.
Obama no more spoke the truth than The Brothers Grimm did when they wrote their fairy tales. I agree with the one commenter. Obama, if he is the Democratic nominee, will be soundly beaten in the fall.
26 Bill Adkins // Apr 13, 2008 at 6:40 pm
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/
For purposes of truth in advertising you need a name change. You couldn’t be further from the truth. Explain why you haven’t seen the information in the CNN link on the FAUX News/RNC Propaganda Ministry ‘news’ channel? It’s not like they wouldn’t have a clip on it - it happened on their goddam network!
“One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News. That’s what he told the congregation.”
Honesty and integrity - neither is a Republican value.
27 3CardNana // Apr 13, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Oh quiet with the pigeon holing Republicans as against honesty and integrity. If your ideas are better and your opinions better thought out, then you don’t have to resort to that brand of subtle hate speech.
The most offensive part of Jeremiah Wright’s remarks are something to the effect of believing that the government created HIV to kill black people. After that, there is really nothing Wright can say that makes it better short of a complete 180 on his ideaology. Not that I suspect he cares what I think…
What it comes down to with Barack is this - are you okay with a President that has a spiritual advisor/father figure (that he chose by the way) for 20 years like Rev. Wright? Are you okay with a President that was married by Wright and had his children baptized by Wright? I’m not. And don’t go Falwell or Robertson on me, those guys have never been the spiritual advisor for 20 years of any President. Not even 1 year.
And now with this condescending comment, at least in my eyes, about how people don’t go to God and guns unless they are in dire straits, that they only hate immigrants (which isn’t the truth anyways) out of despair just adds to the lack of character I never thought was there 2 months ago.
28 3CardNana // Apr 13, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Just to clear up that last sentence, I really felt that Barack was potentially a man of great character until all of these cracks in the armor started showing up.
29 nothng but the truth // Apr 13, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Obama is simply wrong in his thesis. Even putting aside the offensive nature of his remarks.
Small town America is not “clinging” to guns, nor religion nor anti-trade nor anti-immigration. In fact, small town America is not “clinging” to anything. The word “clinging” denotes desperation. Small town America is not desperate.
Small town America “holds” its values in high esteem. The values that Obama denegrates with stunning arrogance, are in fact part and parcel of the great heritage of America. Those values are what has made America great. Not, desperate.
As well, Obama’s sweeping generalization was intellectually lazy. One would expect more from a Harvard grad, if Harvard was any where near as good as it is cracked up to be.
In addition, to assert that if one opposes illegal aliens, then one opposes immigration is of no intellectual value. All countries of the world have immigration policies. America’s are among the most liberal. But, they are still laws that should be followed if we are a nation of laws rather than of men.
Finally, the only party that promotes anti-trade rhetoric is the Democratic party. Obama unwittingly condemned his own party and his own campaign rhetoric. Again, hardly the stuff of a “Harvard” level intellect.
Obama simply spoke the untruth in an attempt to solidify his liberal, left wing base. In truth, Obama was arrogant and condescending. Now, America is more cognizant of his true nature.
30 Cyberhillbilly // Apr 13, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Jake:
You write: “I also grew to understand that the fear of God, Guns and Gays is REAL. It’s legit. The fact is people cling to that shit because there’s nothing else to cling to. And it doesn’t help that use that shit to scare people into voting and holding positions.”
I’m sorry, but that’s not the Appalachia I know. Are folks stances on lifestyles traditional, yes. But I don’t see hatred towards anyone. I know haven’t walked in your shoes and haven’t seen what you’ve seen, but I’ve been around quite a bit and I just honestly don’t see that.
As for God, people love and respect their religion. Making that out to be a bad thing hardly makes the case that Obama’s comments were respectful of traditional rural values.
Finally, guns are just a part of our tradition. We buy them, sell them, collect them and shoot them. We are smart enough to realize that many want to put restrictions on that and we bridle at such. Again, putting these attitudes down hardly helps Obama.
31 Bill Adkins // Apr 13, 2008 at 11:06 pm
There you go again, cyber — Obama did not put down guns, he did not put down religion and he certainly did not male religion out to be a ‘bad thing’– he explained very clearly that guns and religion are security for those who ‘ve suddenly become insecure, they comfort those who need comfort. I challenge you to point out any of his words that ‘put down those attitudes.’ You can’t.
I think those who criticize Obama for this underestimate the rural voter, including you, cyber, and I believe that voter is certainly intelligent and perceptive enough to accurately discern exactly what Obama intended. I also think that voter has come to recognize just how easily the Republicans have manipulated them over the years. It took George W. Bush’s broken crayon methods to drive it home.
32 Cyberhillbilly // Apr 13, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Bill:
I was replying to Jake’s comment above. I never said Obama put gun ownership down. I think rural voters may be willing to put this behind them and forgive Obama. But making like he said nothing wrong won’t work.
33 Jake // Apr 14, 2008 at 7:24 am
Johnathan/Cyber: Unfortunately, it exists whether you’ve seen it or not. That’s not to say there’s profound love and acceptance in Appalachia, either. But there *is* more prejudice, racism, homophobia, intolerance of varied religious belief, sexism, et al back in the hills. More prevalent than in the city.
34 James R // Apr 14, 2008 at 9:25 am
Does anyone out there remember the 1970s and 1980s democratic nominees?
If anyone thinks that this “bitter” comment will not sink Obama in the fall IF he is the nominee they are politically innocent.
This is incredibly offensive to faith loving people. It proves that Obama has no clue about the rural culture of America. Never tell a father he is bitter because he wants to take his son to go hunting, just like his grandfather took him when he was a boy. Never tell a church goer they go to church because they hate immigrants and gays, they go to church because they love God.
The Democratic Party has lost election after election because the nominee feared mentioning God and faith. When the democratic nominee for governor of Virginia-Kaine- spoke about faith he was elected. The last 2 successful democratic nominees who won spoke about faith won, Clinton and Carter. The ones who fear mentioning faith lose, because Americans are a people of faith. You do not have to be their faith, but they want to know that you believe in God.
If people get out of the cities and go to rural Kentucky and America they will see that religion is very important to people.
This whole bitter comment brings back the Wright controversy as well. His attack on Clinton for calling him an elitist was amazing. Why did he not go to rural Penn and tell them they were bitter? Why tell a bunch of liberal in San Francisco?
I want a democratic president not simply another 1970s and 1980s democratic nominee. Obama just had his Kerry moment…..Its over for him. John McCain is smiling today. Do not blam Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama said these hateful words about a huge portion of our country.
35 Bill Adkins // Apr 14, 2008 at 10:56 am
It’s obvious I disagree, James R. Obama didn’t claim Americans suffer ‘malaise,’ if anything it’s the right claiming that malaise exists in that those Americans now on food stamps and other benefits ‘don’t have any pride’ or ’self reliance’ anymore (in essence quotes from Leland Conway in Lexington. I know the spin the right and Hillary want to place on Obama’s comments, but they’re wrong. Obama’s comments were not ‘hateful,’ they were not ‘condescending and elitist.’ They were accurate.
What is not accurate is your assertion that Obama claimed “a father he is bitter because he wants to take his son to go hunting, just like his grandfather took him when he was a boy. Never tell a church goer they go to church because they hate immigrants and gays, they go to church because they love God.” That’s just more spin. Who’re you working for, Hillary or McCain?
36 Cyberhillbilly // Apr 14, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Jake:
In the city you get to cherry pick your surroundings. In the mountains, you take the good w/ the bad, the pretty w/ the ugly.
It appears that the only Obama folks who aren’t clarifying what he really meant are the bitter ones like ol’ Bill Adkins. Hillarious.
37 jake // Apr 14, 2008 at 12:32 pm
You can cherry pick your surroundings anywhere. We certainly did in Appalachia by making the decision to live deep in a valley away from everyone else.
What’s hilarious is that people get so up in arms parsing Obama’s words, coming up with their own meaning.
38 Cyberhillbilly // Apr 14, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I agree on that one. The Obama people are saying he just meant folks were frustrated. The hard core left that dominates the blogs if not elections say “no, he meant what he said.”
39 Bill Adkins // Apr 14, 2008 at 2:37 pm
“It appears that the only Obama folks who aren’t clarifying what he really meant are the bitter ones like ol’ Bill Adkins. Hillarious.”
As opposed to what, cyber, you telling us what he really meant per Hillary? Hilariouser.
40 James R // Apr 14, 2008 at 3:31 pm
The fact of the matter is religion matters to most Americans. To have a presidential candidate tell Americans that they cling to church because they are insecure or dislike others is simply asinine. People go to church because God is important to them. Like it or lump it, but thats the truth.
1970s and 1980s democratic nominees never spoke about faith and the republicans always claimed that the democrats did not have faith. This is why democrats have lost the rural vote year in and year out. Democrats like Kaine of Va have won when they do not back down from their faith.
Obama will be hurt by this big time if he is the nominee. That is simply a fact. McCain must be happy today.
I never said Obama mentioned malaise. Obama did insult religious going Americans though. Most Americans go to church on Sat or Sunday, not just when the going gets tough as suggested.
Ever home I have ever been in in Eastern Ky has a cross on the wall, and if Jake is really from Eastern Ky he knows that, he also knows that he did not cherry pick his surroundings of where he lived, everyone lives in the valleys as he calls them. That is where the people live in Eastern Ky. People in cities have more choices
Obamas comments may not hurt him in the cities with liberals, but it will hurt him in a general election if he is the nominee. This was his Kerry moment. Wait and watch.
If you do not agree with me that is fine. History has proven that the general population does not support candidates who they percieve as believing they are superior to the voters.
41 Forks of Elkhorn // Apr 14, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Its weird. Obama got his first national attention in 2004 by putting God into the story - quoting in his speech the song An Awesome God. Everyone can tell you what church he belongs to - Trinity United Church of Christ - because he has worn his religion on his sleeve unlike most politicians, Democrat or Republican. Most everyone can tell you his former preacher’s name - Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the United States Marine turned preacher. It has already been mentioned in this thread. How many people can tell you what church congregation Hillary Clinton or John McCain belong to, or if their preacher is a former United States Marine or not? I doubt anyone on this blog has any idea what the name of the church is that Clinton or McCain regularly attend (if they attend one at all) like we know about Obama, Wright, and the UCC. It seems to be, being a country Episcopal that Obama is the most personally religious of the three. If religion is what you cling to, Obama is your man. He is the one clinging to religion and talking about it in real terms.
42 Forks of Elkhorn // Apr 14, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Typos above — The 3rd to last line should read –
-
It seems to me, being the country Episcopal I am, that Obama is the most personally religious of the three.
43 Brian // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Frankly, I fail to see where this comment is anything but Stumbo being honest:
“I found Senator Barack Obama’s comments incredibly unfortunate. After representing eastern Kentucky for 25 years, I can tell you what we don’t need are stereotypes that discount our faith and our values. We need a President with a real plan that produces real results.”
Is he, too, not entitled to his opinion? Maybe he didn’t care for what Obama said, and that is his right. Being from Eastern Ky, maybe the comment from Obama struck him as stereotypical and short-sighted. I tend to agree.
I think you can easily look at his record and see that over his political life, he has certainly been an advocate for the less fortunate and those who don’t have a voice.
For the record, just because Stumbo’s beliefs are not the same as yours, I hardly think it merits a headline such as “Stumbo hates rural America”. I think he has more than proven otherwise.
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