Barack Obama, appearing on Nightline last night, said the following:
"But they also, surprisingly enough, even in rural Iowa, recognize the opportunity to send a signal to the world that, you know, we are not as ingrown, as parochial as you may perceive. ... .." - Barack ObamaIs "ingrown" code for "inbred"? Is this what Obama thinks of rural Americans? His campaign was quick to ask for an expanded transcript to be released, and here is what's posted by Taylor Marsh:
UPDATE II: For those of you not visiting the comments, I’m offering a fuller section, though I don’t think the context and reference helps at all. "Even in rural Iowa" speaks for itself, regardless of the words around it. It also doesn’t remove the reality of what would have happened had Clinton said something like this. Look what Matthews and others are making of Clinton’s CBS interview with Katie Couric. She doesn’t think about losing, so she’s automatically saying she’s inevitable? However, Obama’s campaign asked me to put it in an update on the post itself, which I’m happy to do. In the end, no matter what I say you’ll decide, which is how it should be.
MORAN: Do you think Americans are challenged by voting potentially for a presidential candidate who didn’t have an American boyhood?
OBAMA: Oh, well, I think that it is both a challenge and an opportunity. I think there’s no doubt that the fact that my name is Barack Obama and that my father was from Kenya and that I grew up in Hawaii that there’s that whole exotic aspect to me that people, I think, have to get past. But they also, surprisingly enough, even in rural Iowa, recognize the opportunity to send a signal to the world that, you know, we are not as ingrown, as parochial as you may perceive or as the Bush administration seems to have communicated, that we are, in fact, embracing the world, we are listening, we are concerned, we want to be engaged.
We want to be safe. We want to be treated fairly. We want to make sure that, whether it’s on trade relations or dealing with terrorism, that our national interests are dealt with. But we also recognize that we’re part of the world community. And I think it was interesting, just here in Dunlap, you notice that some of the biggest applause was when I talked about wanting America to be respected again in the world. People understand this in a very significant way.
UPDATE: He’s on a roll. This out of New Hampshire, via email, where Mr. Obama was talking foreign policy today:
"One of the great pleasures of running for president is to go to some tiny town in Iowa and you’ve got some guy in overalls and a seahat to say what do you think about the situation in Burma, and you’re thinking that he’s going to ask you about corn, and he asks you about Burma." - Barack Obama
5 comments:
Bigotry, alive and well and coming from surprising places. At least Obama didn't express awe when he learned that indoor plumbing and electricity have reached the hinterlands.
This gets me going on so many levels.
I am not one to turn back the hands of time, but imagine we are facing the 1860 election and Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas are going to debate. They eat get, I think, 60 or 75 minutes to speak, EACH. Then back and forth, questions and a lot of speaking.
We get 30 seconds and a lot of bullshit that can be said in such a short blip.
Ugh.
Signed,
Crankypants I am today
I don't know why he is even in the running.
Really the "even in rural Iowa" comment is the worst part of it. If I'm reading the transcript properly I think the 'ingrown' part referred to the United States as a whole. But of course it won't come across that way, and OOPS is right. I think he probably just, as Bush would say, "misspoke himself." But of course it could be as fatal as Dean's scream. Of course, the corn-Burma thing isn't too great either. I am disappointed in his judgment in saying these things; and it may be he really is elitist, which will not play well in middle America.
Nan - you make a good point!
Fran - we might have to move to France.
Wyldth1ng - your guess is as good as mine. Thanks for stopping by!
Mauigirl - I agree that I don't think he meant for some of his comments to sound the way that they do ... but as you say, it's poor judgment from a man who represents a "middle America" state.
BAC
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