Legal Commentary

The "Creative Class," Elitism and Obama's Gaffe

By Big Tent Democrat

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Do you think the "creative class" blogosphere just started watching politics today? Or are they playing ignorant? Ezra Klein writes:

I'm not really sure what the big deal over Obama's comments in SF is supposed to be . . . As far as I can tell, few actually find the argument underlying Obama's statement controversial. It's a pretty standard thesis, and has been delivered, in various forms, by everyone from John McCain to Bill Clinton.

I would be curious to see what statements of Bill Clinton and John McCain Ezra Klein is talking about. Personally, I have never seen a pol say what Obama said. Political scientists, bloggers, intellectuals, ME, yes. But pols? Never. See, pols have a different job - get votes. Obama already has trouble getting white working class votes. This statement certainly does not help him. But I think he will ride it out - precisely because of his "Creative class"/Media Darling status. More...

This post from AmericaBlog is typically overwrought and filled with bile for Hillary Clinton, but it links to an example of how being a Media Darling will help Obama ride this out:

Until the Hillary Clinton campaign gets into a overt fight with "creative class"/Media, like the type we see in that clip, she can not easily label Obama "elitist." Why they have been so hesitant to do this is impossible for me to understand.

The most interesting part of this story will be how John McCain and the Republicans play it and what effect it will have. Barack Obama's Media Darling status has completely neutralized the Media advantage Republicans and conservatives have long had on these kinds of stories. Can the GOP get traction on this one? We will see. It is worth noting that Obama fanboy Andrew Sullivan actually understands the problem here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 12, 2008 (boomark / email).