Starting Gate: The Angry Campaign
Speaking to a group of high-end donors at a private fundraiser in San Francisco last week (when will candidates learn that nothing is "private?"), Obama sought to explain the economic frustrations of voters in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania by explaining they had been promised things by administration after administration with nothing to show for it. "It's not surprising, then, they get bitter," Obama explained. "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."
Hillary Clinton and various Republicans were quick to jump on the comments, shouting "elitism" and calling Obama out of touch with average Americans. (Check out CBS News' From the Road blog for a superb recap of all the blow-by-blow action from the weekend on the campaign trail). And with upcoming primaries in states like Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and even North Carolina, you can expect to hear a lot more about it.
But the anger ascribed to small-town Americans by Obama was not a new element for the campaign. Such feelings have been an undertone to it almost since the primary season began. When Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial statements hit the Internet and airwaves, it was largely about anger. Obama's much-heralded speech on race in the aftermath of that flap included the direct acknowledgment of the anger that remains in both black and white communities.
Black leaders demonstrated part of that when Clinton campaign surrogates were seen as playing the race card with comments made around the South Carolina primary. It's not just race and economic anger either. Geraldine Ferraro's controversial comments have demonstrated the frustrations at least some women have felt though the campaign about the treatment of Clinton's candidacy.
When the campaign began over a year ago, Democratic activists were angry as well, but theirs was directed toward a president and administration and the unpopular war in Iraq. Historic candidacies from Obama and Clinton – surrounded by a cast of well-liked characters in the field – were supposed to be the antidote to all of that. But the longer the campaign has gone on, the more the divisions within the party itself have come to the foreground. That's what politics does.
That's Small Town's Good Enough For Me: Trying to move past the "bitter" debate, or perhaps fight back against the perceptions it may be creating, Obama has a new ad out featuring Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey. The Casey name carries weight among many of those voters who may "cling" to their guns or religion and his endorsement, alone among the state's big names, has been seen as a boon to Obama's campaign. Here's the script, featuring Casey on camera: "In towns like yours and mine, families are struggling with bills they can't afford and jobs moving away. It has to change – but it won't until we change Washington. That's why I believe in Barack Obama. I've worked with him. I've seen him stand up to the lobbyists and special interests. And like us, he's tired of the political games and division that stops anything from getting done. Barack Obama knows Pennsylvania's hurting. He can unite America and bring real change." Watch the ad here.
When Does Life Begin? Appearing at a forum in Pennsylvania to discuss faith and religion, neither Democratic candidate had a firm answer to the question about when life begins. "I believe the potential for life begins at conception," Clinton said. "For me, it is also not only about a potential life. It is about the other lives involved. ... I have concluded, after great, you know, concern and searching my own mind and heart over many years... that individuals must be entrusted to make this profound decision, because the alternative would be such an intrusion of government authority that it would be very difficult to sustain in our kind of open society." For his part, Obama said he wasn't sure when life begins. "This is something that I have not, I think, come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins," he said. "Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? ... What I know, as I've said before, is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates."
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