Am I a blue-collar white guy?
March 2, 2008 | 2008 campaign,Barack Obama,Hillary Clinton,John McCain
I read White Men Hold Key for Democrats recently in the Wall Street Journal. I take the idea of pigeonholing people into powerful voting groups with a grain of salt (soccer moms, security moms, angry white males, anyone?), but this stuck with me:
It seems like someone else should be there. It’s like there’s someone missing.— Dan Leihgeber, a smelter in a steel plant in Youngstown, Ohio;Â he supports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
That’s how I feel. Does that make me a blue-collar white guy?
I understand the whole we’re-making-history aspect of having Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., run for president. I feel as if I should be more excited about it than I am. I really, really, really want to get the shivers from “Yes We Can“Â or “We Are The Ones” and believe that Obama (or anyone) will wear a big S and a cape and fly in to save the day.
I just can’t, though.
Why? W-A-R. (That’s w.a.r. to you, will.i.am.)
Obama says he’s been against the war since before it started. He said, “I don’t oppose all wars … What I am opposed to is a dumb war,” in his Oct. 2, 2002, speech at an antiwar rally in Chicago. While he joined the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Paul Rutgers and former Illinois state Sen. Jesus Garcia in urging the federal government to avoid a military strike against Iraq, Obama was not in a position to vote for or against the war as a state senator in Illinois. When he was a U.S. senator and was in the position to vote on war issues, he voted for funding the war — until he started running for president. That’s when he started saying, “So I make a solemn pledge to you, as president, we will be out of Iraq.”
That’s also when Clinton, who voted for the war and voted for funding the war, started saying, “When I am president, I will end the war.”
Right. Because they did such a bang-up job after the campaign promises of 2006 and the “direct mandate from the American people to end the war.” Instead of ending the war, though, Clinton and Obama changed tack and started saying they would end it … in 2009. Then they backpedaled even harder in a debate in September 2007, when neither would commit to having all U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2013. That’s another five years.
What do they mean when they say they will end the war when they’re president, and how is that any different from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., saying U.S. troops should be in Iraq for 100 years?
I’ll tell you how it’s different. At least I know where McCain stands. He says he won’t end the war, and I believe him 100 percent.
What’s the big deal about war anyway? Hasn’t it been tossed aside in favor of the bright, shiny object of the day — the economy? As if the war has nothing to do with the economy.
Well, it doesn’t … if you ask President George W. Bush.
(Hat tip: Kemp and Whitehouser.)
But the American people — the ones who issued a mandate to end the war — aren’t that stupid. They’ve said that the way to fix the economy is to get out of Iraq. Gee, ya think?
Even though the economy is now our “No. 1 concern,” McCain apparently “doesn’t really understand economics.” Maybe he thinks leprechauns will replenish the pots of gold while he sleeps?
Clinton and Obama prattle on about how they will set up their respective health-care plans. With what resources? Who will replenish their pots o’ gold? Steven Spielberg? Barbra Streisand? Robert De Niro? Or, wait. Oprah!
Oprah can set up a health-care system for Americans with 200-thread-count sheets on every hospital bed, yoga classes and manicures between doctor appointments and fireplaces in every ER waiting room. Oprah’s plan would simply require 1) All Oprah All Day Satellite Network (including Dr. Phil and The Color Purple) running on every television set and 2) patient-consent forms that say, “This procedure / examination / surgery / discussion between you and your doctor may be monitored for security and money-making purposes. If you choose not to sign this consent form, see ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya and don’t let the door hit you on your way out, you greedy, lazy American fool” and 3) camera crews, makeup and a few “favorite things” thrown in for good measure and the promise of your malignant tumor showing up on prime-time television.
OK, so I joke. But Clinton and Obama’s ideas for health care have just about as much chance of succeeding as the Oprah Plan does. Why? Because they need to get rid of the elephant in the room first. (No, I’m not talking about race or gender or who’s wearing a turban … or whatever else they’ll come up with over the next several months.) And I just don’t see that happening. They haven’t done the jobs they promised to do as senators. What makes a blue-collar white guy like me think they’ll do what they promise as president?
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 am
If you want to see funny animated skits with Oprah And Obama Go to http://youtube.com/watch?v=W5Kboa7kSjU
March 4th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Good post, for a blue collar white guy. Seriously, though, I have to believe that at least one of these three can make a difference.
March 5th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Ron Paul has not changed horses in the middle of the stream – EVER. He is a strong supporter of the U.S. Constitution. Out of all of the candidates for president, he has the most to offer our country. Take a good look at what he does and what he says.
If you are tired of seeing all the money we are spending on war just so politicians and a few folks can get rich, and if you are concerned about our soldiers dying so those folks can profit from the wars – then stand up and protest long and hard.
By their actions and voting records, McCain, Obama, and H. Clinton are neither concerned about ending the drain on the U.S. in terms of money nor are they concerned about the loss of our soldiers’ lives. Think, people. Let’s get America straightened out. We all need to work for that end. This election is not about gender or ethnic background or who sounds best. It is a chance to tell our government how we want this country to be run.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Ron Paul is a crackpot.
As for what the senators in particular, and congress in general have failed to re; ending the war…. we have to understand, as I know you do, Becky, that with the razor thin majority that the Democrats hold, they can do precious little. I suspect that if Obama runs strong in the general election, he will have wide enough coattails to bring a real working majority into the Senate, where the real work will be done, without the inluence of an obstructionist President.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
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