Crackerquiddick, Volume II
posted at 5:34 pm on April 25, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Did anyone really think that Barack Obama’s comments in San Francisco really amounted to a gaffe, a misconstructed statement that didn’t reveal a bigotry against small-town Americans and generally anyone between the two coasts? If so, the chief Obama campaign strategist David Plouffe has ripped the lid off of the hatred and condescension found on the hard Left towards, well, almost everyone else. In an interview with National Journal, Plouffe tells Linda Douglass that McCain attracts the racist vote:
Q: Well, one of the things to which some Democrats point — the Clinton campaign has not said this publicly at least, but one certainly hears it in talking to supporters in more of a background way. Look at the racial polarization in the last several contests — Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi — is that going to be a problem? Is race going to be a problem for Barack Obama in the general election?
Plouffe: We really don’t think so. I mean the vast, vast majority of voters who would not vote for Barack Obama in November based on race are probably firmly in John McCain’s camp already. And I think if you look at the Democratic voters who are voting for Senator Clinton in some of these states, when you sort of look beneath it and you project how this is going to happen, Barack Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee. He is going to be articulating policies and ideas that they believe in. They won’t agree with John McCain on issues like the economy and health care. And so I think that we are going to get the vast, vast majority of Democratic voters.
Because, you know, that voters in the Midwest and rural and exurban areas are nothing but embittered xenophobes who cling to guns, religion, and an antipathy to people who don’t look like themselves. He just seconded Obama’s comments to the Billionaires Row crowd in San Francisco. It wasn’t a slip or a gaffe; it’s what the Obama campaign really believes.
And here’s the big issue with that statement. Obama hasn’t failed to garner these votes in a general election. He has failed to attract Democrats in these areas in the primary. Apparently, according to Plouffe, at least some of that has to come out of a racist motivation.
Plouffe wants to cast the general election in racial terms in a way that he can’t in the primary. Obama can’t win a Democratic primary by insinuating that the suburban, exurban, and rural whites that overwhelmingly chose Hillary Clinton did so from a racial animus. He has no such limitation in the general election. The message? Don’t act like all of those racists voting for John McCain. And the sad part is that will probably work with some centrists and independents, and even sadder yet is that Plouffe — and Obama — apparently believe it. (via Ben Smith at Politico)
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It’s too bad the election is months away. Plenty of time for more revelations such as this to brighten our day. Liberals would not be so angry and bitter themselves if they would show more honesty in admitting what they really think. I bet Plouffe feels much better now that he’s gotten that off his chest.
Wheeeee!
Weebork on April 25, 2008 at 5:39 PM
Insulting the electorate is a puzzling campaign strategy.
obladioblada on April 25, 2008 at 5:42 PM
It is the DemocratIC party that is chock full of racists. That Bradley Effect seems to be occurring when the pool of eligible voters is limited only to Democrats.
rw on April 25, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Hillary is overjoyed
William Amos on April 25, 2008 at 5:45 PM
All we racists are with McCain. I knew that was coming.
Hening on April 25, 2008 at 5:46 PM
we’ve seen this coming for a long, long time. the general election against obama is going to be all about race. and now that his shallowness has been exposed, it’s to his advantage to keep the race baiting fresh.
pecan pie on April 25, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Uh-oh. Obama’s campaign just insulted racists.
Nonfactor on April 25, 2008 at 5:47 PM
C’mon, it was just a botched joke! Teeheehee! I meant to say “based on the space race“… you know how Obama wants to slow down NASA’s Space Shuttle follow-on program. Darn, I screw up the punchlines all the time!
drunyan8315 on April 25, 2008 at 5:48 PM
oooo oooo oooo Sticks and stones..
Bring it on, you seditious Left wing bastards!
TexasJew on April 25, 2008 at 5:48 PM
no hidden message there.
this is really really gonna get nasty(er) before its over…
trailortrash on April 25, 2008 at 5:49 PM
trailortrash, lol it won’t get nasty on the republican saide cause Mccain won’t let it.
AMartinez on April 25, 2008 at 5:50 PM
Personally, I would vote for a conservative candidate if he/she were purple. Seems like the dems are the only ones focusing on skin color/gender.
Les in NC on April 25, 2008 at 5:51 PM
What he literally said was that all the voters who would vote for Barack Obama based on race are not in John McCain’s camp. Sounds to me like he is saying Republicans are less racist that Democrats.
pedestrian on April 25, 2008 at 5:51 PM
Ok, so ,say there were a block of imaginary voters who did not know of these three, and you wrote down their best and worst quotes form this campaign for them to read. If barry gets less votes, which in a sane world he would, what then moonbat boy?
Again, that someone would vote for this little commie just because he IS black, that is pure racism right there.
bbz123 on April 25, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Keeper, so I can refer to it at the beginning of Nov. 2008.
Some, but not many. Obama won’t be the next president. Fluff is getting fluffier by the minutes now, not by the days.
Hillary will be the nominee.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Figures you’d land on that side.
No, the Obama campaign just insulted McCain supporters by calling them racists.
Esthier on April 25, 2008 at 5:54 PM
Probably, smear-merchant? Not good enough. Prove it. I want to see studies and verifiable numbers.
RushBaby on April 25, 2008 at 5:54 PM
All you racists are belong to us…
Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated…
Wyznowski on April 25, 2008 at 5:55 PM
Err, his point is that a truly racist person wouldn’t vote for a (modern) Democrat anyway, which is true. And considering McCain’s comment today about Obama being the Hamas candidate, this seems like small potatoes to me.
Typhonsentra on April 25, 2008 at 5:55 PM
What he means is, we’re going to project our racism on you and thats OK because we’re better than you or at least holier than thou.
Apologists on aisle two, apologists on two please.
Race baiters to the checkouts, all baiters to the front please.
Speakup on April 25, 2008 at 5:57 PM
I had to read that three times, but you made a really good point! Kind of like Hillary’s “suspension of disbelief” that taken literally, had the opposite meaning.
RushBaby on April 25, 2008 at 5:57 PM
You’re making too much of this… this comment is hardly “seconding” the “bitter” comments. It’s just standard leftist fare, trying to associate bigotry with Republicans.
Esthier on April 25, 2008 at 5:54 PM
Um, no… she didn’t call McCain supporters racists.
“Poodles are dogs”. I did not just call dogs poodles.
DaveS on April 25, 2008 at 5:59 PM
Obama is an eltist. Enough said. BTW, The picture of him bowling reminded me that he bowled a 37 a few weeks ago. My 3 year old was able to match him last week
ConservativePartyNow on April 25, 2008 at 6:01 PM
And created their glorious narrative of the US of KKK A to give Barry an out if/when he loses the general election in a landslide because so many Hillary supporters voted for McCain.
Or, got the threat out there that if Hillary supporters really do vote for McCain over Obama they will be excommunicated from the dem party with cries of RACIST rained on their fleeing backs.
The latter is what the Obama folks are trying to do, and have been trying to do for at least 6 months. They had great success early on against the Clintons. Thus McCain’s willingness to bend over backwards to get the Wright ads stopped.
funky chicken on April 25, 2008 at 6:01 PM
Team McCain should somehow work this little phrase into the media lexicon.
ninjapirate on April 25, 2008 at 6:01 PM
The Hamas bigwigs endorsed Obama, which makes Obama Hamas’s candidate of choice.
What’s wrong with stating the facts?
funky chicken on April 25, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Typhonsentra on April 25, 2008 at 5:55 PM
No. All the Dems who vote for Hillary hate black people. Why can’t you understand that?
VolMagic on April 25, 2008 at 6:03 PM
On his radio show today, Hannity played a radio spot from the Democrat Party of Missouri which ran in 1998. It said:
“When you don’t vote, you let another church explode. When you don?t vote, you allow another cross to burn.”
Buy Danish on April 25, 2008 at 6:04 PM
Of course it’s true, because thus spake
ZarathustraTyphonsentra.Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:06 PM
So a four paragraph post is too much of a response; I guess we should just sit here idly by and HOPE the poo doesn’t stick.
RushBaby on April 25, 2008 at 6:06 PM
I guess the logic is he feels most white racists vote Republican. I’d be interested to see any evidence for that.
mikeyboss on April 25, 2008 at 6:07 PM
You’re right. Hillary will be the nominee.
Unfortunately she is also the most electable democrat.
At least we can rest easier knowing that Barack Hussein Obama is not going to be president of the United Islamic Caliphate of America.
The only thing that will beat the inevitable Hillary/Wes Clark combo is Mccain/Huckabee!
Fortunately, that is already in the works.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9091M4O0&show_article=1
SaintOlaf on April 25, 2008 at 6:09 PM
Is that racist in some way? Hamas endorsed Obama. McCain brought up that Hamas endorsed Obama. It doesn’t mean that Obama’s in his hotel room jumping up and down with joy.
But it is pretty telling that a terrorist organization likes Obama. At least to me it is.
mjk on April 25, 2008 at 6:12 PM
You’re going to get me in trouble, Ed.
baldilocks on April 25, 2008 at 6:13 PM
I will refrain from comment until I know who Robert Byrd(K) is endorsing.
Hollowpoint on April 25, 2008 at 6:17 PM
The explanation of the explanations, of the “bitterness” statement will all amount to little. This train has left the station.
Act I (Peggy Noonan, you get the credit for a good analogy)
Emperor looks good and speaks of Audacity, Hope, Unity and Change. Media, with its princeling Chris Matthews wet themselves, with a sticky substance. Michelle appears, speaks, hates America, unless emperor gets elected. Emperor’s friends are revealed. Emperor speaks the truth about how he feels about the unwashed – scene of sub-act is billionaires’ row in San Francisco. Curtain closes.
Curtain opens. ABC asks reasonable questions. Emperor gets defensive and can’t speak without notes. Emperor’s halo pops, his magic disappears, and his clothes begin to loosen.
Curtain opens again. Pennsylvania. Hillary wins. Emperor mumbles in a droning speech, saying absolutely nothing. Change, Hope, Audacity and Unity are hard to put back into the bottle. The Emperor is found to be nakid.
Curtain opens again. The nekid Emperor refuses to debate the threatening queen, thus exposing the fact that his nuts are full of hot air. The magic is gone…and the real Judases, his friends in the media, smell blood. They love a winner, and they are rats. They jump ship.
Act II – sorry, folks, there is no act II.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Made me laugh. McCain won’t give Huckabee the code to the football.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Again, I’m not saying all or even most conservatives are racists, these people do vote in elections too and who do you think they’d side with? There are certain undesirables on the fringes on the right, same as there are for the left.
Typhonsentra on April 25, 2008 at 6:21 PM
But, SaintOlaf, Rush will think about what he’s organized with Operation Chaos, though I think it would have happened without him just as well, maybe not as forcefully.
I disagree that Hillary is not beatable, since we are sick of the Clintons and the Bushes, but she’s not as dangerous as Obama. All three are no good, but in this order: McCain, Hillary, then Obama, as far as security, the economy and Marxism are concerned.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Typhonsentra on April 25, 2008 at 6:21 PM
You mark my words, the conservatives will elect a woman and a Black as president, for their qualifications and idealogy, not for their gender or race. Take this to the bank.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:24 PM
You mean like my slum lord (in every nasty sense of the word) sister who is a Democrat?
Limerick on April 25, 2008 at 6:24 PM
In point of fact, there is a legacy of ‘anti-black’ sentiment in America that cannot be gainsaid, especially among older voters. It is sad, really, that we may have to rely on those folk to counter the ‘white guilt’ liberals who will vote for Obambi because he is ‘black’.
When of course the real reason to keep Obambi out of the White House is his neo-Marxist, ‘Black Liberation’ ideology, as evidenced by his comfortable, even enthusiastic association with the likes of Wright, Ayers, etc.
MrLynn on April 25, 2008 at 6:27 PM
Maybe I am reading it wrong but I am not seeing that he called McCain supporters racist..what i am getting from it is simply that he is saying that there are people in this country that will not vote for Obama simply based on his race.. which is a true fact but he needs to finish that thought there are people in this country who will vote for Obama simply because of race it is a fact that for some voters race will be the only issue. Personally issues and policy will decide my votes but that doesn’t hold true for every voter. I agree that it is an elitist comment to single out those who won’t vote for Obama based on race when there are so many other legetiment reasons to question his qualifications.
JKotthoff on April 25, 2008 at 6:31 PM
heh. Myself, I wait with bated breath for the endorsement of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. OH, the suspense is killing me.
mjk on April 25, 2008 at 6:31 PM
I wonder if the Plouffester gets inspiration from this; I’m quite sure that Barry does:
This was written in 1965 by someone who was a great inspiration to Barry, the same person who first came up with the phrase “the chickens are coming home to roost” upon J.F.K.’s death.
Buy Danish on April 25, 2008 at 6:31 PM
‘We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.
On one side, you have a lawyer who is married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a lawyer.
On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a blonde with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.
Is there a contest here?’
Floating around the blogs…
AZCON on April 25, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Float on back often.
Limerick on April 25, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Sure, but are they all McCain supporters? Do you honestly think that there are no racist (as in anti-black) Democrats?
Buy Danish on April 25, 2008 at 6:40 PM
The only thing that will beat the inevitable Hillary/Wes Clark combo is Mccain/Huckabee!
Fortunately, that is already in the works.
SaintOlaf on April 25, 2008 at 6:09 PM
Dude…Stop huffing airplane glue.
Django on April 25, 2008 at 6:41 PM
Were this not so stupid, it could be almost funny –
“We have an empty candidate, devoid of experience, and ideas on how to move the country forward for all its citizens, one who’s also a Marxist, and who’s wife is an anarchist, their elitism and being owed something aside; thus, let’s scare the voters with racism to ‘encourage’ them to vote for us”.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:44 PM
I was the state chairman for Colin Powell online back a fair number of years ago. I guess I contracted my racsim since then; I better tell my Ugandan daughter and Asian wife.
The strongest racial voting tendencies is NOT in the Causcasian bloc, but the African-American one. But, for some reason, that support doesn’t amount to racism.
michaelo on April 25, 2008 at 6:46 PM
Posed by HA commenter landlines, in another thread.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:49 PM
Posted, that is…words have meaning, and they can hurt.
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:50 PM
Obama could have white hair and red eyes and I’d still call him an extremist.
In that case they would say that i have something against albino’s
Chakra Hammer on April 25, 2008 at 6:57 PM
Or scare them that they will be called racists by their friends if they don’t vote Obama in a general election. Sadly, it will work on a fair number of voters, I’d guess.
funky chicken on April 25, 2008 at 6:57 PM
Help is on the way. Dean speaks to the FT. June’s the magic date. He knows. He’s the kingmaker everyone listens to, heh.
Now, there’s potency!
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 6:58 PM
The Dems need a bumper sticker.
Obama- you’re probably a racist if you’re not for him!
profitsbeard on April 25, 2008 at 7:03 PM
RushBaby on April 25, 2008 at 6:06 PM
I don’t think I said anything about whether or not a response was justified, let alone anything at all about how long the response should be.
My point was about the awkward attempt to link this comment to the “bitter” comments. This sort of thing makes it look like we will irrationally try to tie any number of unrelated things to the “bitter” comments, simply for political gain. It dilutes the potency of the “bitter” comments, by lumping them in with others that aren’t as elitist and offensive.
DaveS on April 25, 2008 at 7:03 PM
If a person that abhors incompetence, inexperience, deficient character and a complete lack of good sense is a “racist”, then I guess there are a lot of us around. Fortunately that is not the proper name for us and we won’t be intimidated by race baiting liberals.
rplat on April 25, 2008 at 7:06 PM
From their own, Mr. Krugman
Entelechy on April 25, 2008 at 7:09 PM
How is this surprising? McCain’s already basically accused the NC RNC of racism for playing the Obama/Wright ad.
spmat on April 25, 2008 at 7:17 PM
Let’s see… Blacks are going for Obama 98% to 2% and Whites are going for Clinton 54% to 46%…
So, obviously, 52% of the White Democrat voters are racist, which is the reason that Obama did not get 98% of the vote overall!
gridlock2 on April 25, 2008 at 7:24 PM
WOAH. Thanks for that!
Buy Danish on April 25, 2008 at 7:36 PM
Ha.
I read that in a Mr. Spok voice.
BowHuntingTexas on April 25, 2008 at 7:46 PM
It has to be this way…I recall bunches of little black kids just beaming because OJ was acquitted, like 2nd graders, who could not have remotely understood the facts of the case. Pure racist attitude, though they didn’t understand that either. He was black, he was in trouble, and he got out…celebration!
You know damned well if Obama runs and loses, there will be a sizeable group of blacks, whites and other races who will ascribe it to the “bigots” in the USA, proving what Wright, Ayers et. al. have worked so hard to educate them as to the “reality” of the USA.
The question in my mind is whether or how far things go toward “Rodney King Redux”. If Obama gets hosed it will be harder to stir up “action”. A situation like Bush and Gore could be explosive. People like Ayers love chaos.
Harry Schell on April 25, 2008 at 8:09 PM
What color is the sky in your world?
EJDolbow on April 25, 2008 at 8:15 PM
combined with:
Problem is, most of us xenophobic, rural, gun-nut, bible thumping hicks don’t like McCain either.
I realize that you didn’t mean that those two things were part of a continuum, Cap’n Ed, but I was just kind of struck by the way they were juxtaposed.
LegendHasIt on April 25, 2008 at 8:34 PM
She asked him a pointed question about race, so you can’t really blame him for giving a race-based answer. Esentially she asked “Is America too racist to vote for a black guy?” And he answered: “In a race between a black guy and a white guy, people who will not vote for the black guy because he’s black will vote for the white guy.” There’s nothing really incendiary about this exchange unless you’re offended by stupidity.
Spolitics on April 25, 2008 at 8:35 PM
This has been a strategy of the Obama campaign from day one… you can’t not vote for him or support him because he’s an empty suit, or his positions are wrong for the country; you can only oppose him because you’re a racist.
This guy is such a waste… and his acolytes are a boil on the ass of this country.
D2Boston on April 25, 2008 at 8:57 PM
All your boils are belong to us
Rosmerta on April 25, 2008 at 9:38 PM
All your
boilsracists are belong to usoops, fixed that
Rosmerta on April 25, 2008 at 9:39 PM
A crr6-like comment. You’re better than that…I think.
Jaibones on April 26, 2008 at 1:06 AM
I don’t and never will support McCain, so I guess I’m not a racist. That’s nice to know.
Isn’t it funny that 92% of blacks in PA voted for O’Bambi, but liberals wouldn’t dream of calling them racists.
infidel65 on April 26, 2008 at 3:34 AM
It’s a very strange strategy to insult and condescend to the majority of the country.
One wonders if he will ever realise that the vast majority doesn’t buy into identity politics. Throwing his race around willy-nilly isn’t going to win this empty suit a bag of peanuts let alone an election. The vast majority of Americans a fair, open-minded and decent and judge things as they see them – they also don’t take kindly to being insulted pace John Kerry.
What a fool…
Ares on April 26, 2008 at 4:34 AM
It is because the left can not accept the notion that people reject them exactly due to their ideas. Their utopia was so wonderful, nobody could NOT like it, so it is always something els.
It is with Kerry, you know, because Swiftboat Vets smearing; Clinton, VRWC; and Obama, race.
Just like the left hasn’t accepted communism as a failed -ism yet, only the wrong people were in charge.
Sir Napsalot on April 26, 2008 at 9:05 AM
There’s a photo on Drudge of Obumble playing b-ball wearing a USMC T shirt.
False flag?
He never served anything but himself.
Waffles.
If an R candidate who was never in the military tried this they’d be lambasted as a fraud for a week in every venue from Obly to the 5 a.m. Farm Report.
profitsbeard on April 26, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Only if you let them, Mrs E, only if you let them.
OldEnglish on April 26, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Boy, Ed, you are just going off the deep end more and more.
What’s so offensive about this? Obama is assuming he’ll win the nomination and where else would someone go if (s)he won’t vote for a black person?
He didn’t say that all McCain voters are racist.
jim m on April 26, 2008 at 11:01 AM
No, he didn’t. What he did say is that all the racists will vote for McCain. By extension, racists reside within the GOP only.
OldEnglish on April 26, 2008 at 11:27 AM
“I’m not voting for Obama because he is black.”
Now replace the word “black” with the words “an idiot” and you there have my position.
Capitana on April 26, 2008 at 7:27 PM
Question: Are the 90% of the blacks who vote FOR B. Hussein Obama racists?
Why is that question never asked?
Mojave Mark on April 27, 2008 at 11:12 AM
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