05-01-2008, 09:00 PM
Is this just an attempt by Obama to give himself some street cred? From what I've heard Obama was raised in a loving home by his Grandparents.
It illustrates the sort of no-win defensive position he was coming from. He was responding to an unfair charge, being called by his rivals an "elitist". In trying to make a case that the particular disadvantages he had growing up hardly classify him as a pampered, privileged candidate compared to his rivals, it came out wrong, I think.
A bad case to try to make. Voters with any inclination to look at things from a class perspective might still see him as a gifted, charming, handsome, pedigreed Yale graduate, member of skull and bones, etc., not as a survivor of (what, the tough streets of Hawaii?) poor beginnings, struggling to overcome a deprived background. Even if the background comparison to his rivals was accurate or truthful, it wasn't helpful.
I've seen Hillary do the same thing (on the O'Rielly Show Hillary said her dad "worked his hat off" (?) or else I heard her wrong) sounding like a tough girl from an average middle class family trying to make ends meet. It's like they're all competing to see who can look the most "working class". Three rich people pointing the finger at each other, competing for who is the most humble and representative of "regular folks", is screwy anyway. None of 'em are like regular folks. And they shouldn't have to pretend to be.