tdraicer brought this post by Andrew O’Hehir at Salon to my attention. Poor Andrew is just so disillusioned that Obama turned out to perpetuate George Bush’s policies. It’s especially painful because the primary reason O’Hehir and his buddies voted for Obama was his position on the Iraq War. Actually, did we even know what Obama’s position on the war was? I mean, he said he was agin’ it but we don’t have him on the record voting for anything. And from my recollection, there were plenty of Democrats willing to overlook John Edwards Iraq War vote but not Hillary’s. Hmmmm, curiouser and curiouser. Well, anyway, let’s just say that I don’t believe that the vote on the Iraq War was the only reason they spat upon Hillary and hitched their wagons to Obama’s star.
Putting aside the latent sexism lurking in the Democratic party, I suspect one of the most influential factors in the primary campaign of 2008 was the degree to which the Obama campaign was willing to fluff the egos of people like Andrew O’Hehir. Remember how they were called the “creative class”? They shopped at Whole Foods? They drank PBR? They were smarter, more attractive, funnier, moraler and just better people? I used to call them the “swimsuit models with PhDs in architecture” while we were “the stupid, uneducated, menopausal, working class, sino-peruvian lesbians”.
Well, we might have been the losers but at least we knew the devil when we looked in his eyes.
Filed under: General | Tagged: Andrew O'Hehir, Barack Obama, buyer's remorse, Iraq War, John Edwards |
The Confluence 
O’Hehir is Salon’s movie critic but the also does political pieces (Andy, stick to your day job) and he and Thomas Frank are die hard Clinton haters.
Wouldn’t it be great if, just once, one of these special snowflakes apologized and admitted that he’d been wrong about Obama from the start?
Nah gonna’ happen-they’re all too busy chasing after Elizabeth Warren.
I think Clinton Derangement Syndrome, sexism, and being flattered was all part of it, but I think the real foundation of the Obama campaign was “Elect the guy with an African father and undo America’s original sin!” As if Obama’s symbolism was actual substance.
I largely agree with TDR on this.
*jump cut to Hell*
😈 So THAT’S why I’m freezing my @$$ off here! 😈
I partway agree also. The part played by the Obama campaign’s weaponized misogynism should be studied in detail, especially by people looking for the right people (operatives) to get even with and keep getting even with on into the future. But a lot of Obama’s support came from “vote for America’s first Black President ever” because “I have a dream”.
Not to say that certain people didn’t warn us that Obama was not really black, he just played black on TV. But Digby didn’t blogroll Black Agenda Report any more than she blogrolled The Confluence.
So I didn’t find out about either one till far too late.
I’ll never forget all the sanctimonious Obots who indignantly wanted Hillary to apologize for her Iraq vote. Nothing would satisfy them except Hillary prostrating herself and begging them for forgiveness.It was creepy and weird and still makes my skin crawl today.
imo the foundation of the Obama / Left love fest was
a : A black penis
b : The media adored him
As my Democrat for 80+ years turned Obot Aunt said
” It’s nice to be on the winning side for once ”
That is being on the side where Chris Mathews gives his man love
That’s kind of an edgy comment. I might have separated point a into two parts. I think we have already acknowledged how maniacally important “penis years” were in 2008. It doesn’t matter what color or condition that penis is in.
The African American trope is well known. The boomers that predate me by about 10 years fell for it. You’d think they’d be more selective given their role models. In terms of civil rights, Obama can’t hold a candle to Martin Luther king jr, Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm or Barbara Jordan. I guess those precedents just set my bar higher. Go figure.
It doesn’t matter what color or condition that penis is in.
I think it was certainly an added feature and made him harder to resist . As to Obots being selective, every Obot I met had happily and gleefully, shut down their brain . That was kind of the point And if one asked them to think for a minute , they screamed.