"Snobama"

So I saw this recently. It was in a facebook ad recruiting Republican volunteers for campaign picketing.


...And I'm a bit confused. Ok, so, whoever made it thinks he's an elitist. I saw an another site with the graphic complaining that he was an intellectual snob. But, frankly, whether or not this is the case, why does this matter? Bush is a huge fucking snob. Cheney is an even bigger fucking snob. Remember a while ago when a reporter asked him what he thought about opinion polls showing the majority of Americans don't think the war in Iraq is worth it, and he replied "So?"-- Here's a Tom Toles cartoon to jog your memory:




Our current Republican vice-president is the biggest elitist imaginable. Not the kind that "doesn't care about conservative working Americans," but the kind that doesn't give a fuck what people, in general, think.

Still, the "common man" appeal doesn't make sense. No one wants a president who can take a shot of whiskey like a man (or woman); we want a president who is fit for the job--who can make good judgments, who can get our economy back on track, who can address healthcare reform and improve our educational policies. Not someone who can don a hard hat or some work clothes for a press photo shoot.





Dumb.

...


The president's job is chiefly an intellectual one, and to deride a candidate for this quality is absolutely ridiculous. To criticize a candidate because he or she does not appreciate the ideas and opinions of the "common man" is another story, however. If Obama was an elitist because he believes that white middle class working Americans had stupid and fanciful views on government and he doesn't respect their opinions, that would be something. But he doesn't. He denounced xenophobia, gun-toting, and racism in his controversial comment, not positive beliefs of theirs:

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Now, this isn't a favorable comment. And I can see it as being condescending and oversimplifying--but I don't see what's so awful here. Tell me that there isn't racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, etc. in many small, midwestern towns (I'm living in one with these things right now). They're there. But it's not everyone there, and it's not entirely due to their economic situation, so it's a oversimplification--but he's still not saying anything inappropriate. (And don't even try to argue that he's an elitist because he doesn't respect the racist and xenophobic ideas of some of these people...)


The point that I'm trying to make is that I, personally, don't give a fuck about what potential candidates do to sympathize with the average middle-class white person. I want our next president to have good ideas, good judgment, and I want him to do his job well. And if Republicans find themselves needing to indict Obama on "snobbish," "elitist" charges rather than on actual issues, we're in bad shape. Who cares whether Obama likes wine more than beer or eats arugula? Get over it. How about we look at healthcare proposals, getting over our Middle Eastern oil addiction, stabilizing the situation in Iraq, strengthening the value of the dollar, and shit that matters if he actually gets elected.