The Middle Class Elected Obama
Rob Long ·
Jan 25 at 10:22am
Karl Rove is a smart guy. And he's certainly doing his part to frame the big issues of 2012. From his organization, American Crossroads:
The middle class put Obama into office. And they're the ones that are going to kick him out.
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Dec '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Obama also benefited from armies of starry-eyed Progressives and youths volunteering for his cause. He won't have them this time, because the have the new cause of OWS... and because many of them have convinced themselves that Ron Paul somehow fits their values better than Obama does. Most of them will end up voting for Obama, but they won't mobilize and agitate for him as they did in 2008.
Sep '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Odd. That commercial mentioned "Food Stamps".
Aug '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Groups that organize in large-ish number, but who do not vote in large numbers.
Aug '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Wow, I just watched a few more of America Crossroads' videos. They make really good videos.
The one where Karl Rove lays out the tactical realities of the 2012 campaign season is really interesting.
Edited on Jan 25 at 10:52amApr '11
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
He does it in an ad that goes out of its way not to contain any racial implication, though. It emphasizes throughout that it's talking about the middle class and those who have fallen out of it in the last three years. The images it uses for these are almost exclusively white, with the sole black face being a dignified woman at 1:10, for a second. There's nothing here to link it to welfare queen rhetoric, and reiterating the word "middle class" a dozen times while showing photos of white people up to that point is unlikely to conjure up an image of blacks for most Americans. It's a model of how to address the issue without giving ammunition to race-baiters.
I say this as someone who would much rather that Rove's role in American politics was much smaller than it is, and who believes that he is dramatically overrated in terms of his help to Bush. This ad was very good.
Mar '11
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.
Dear Candidates: Please explain to the average American, who is getting screwed most of all by this, that the Obama administration is pursuing the exact opposite of this promise. They have solidified and promoted exactly the policies that engendered this crisis.
Insider deals, bail outs for politically connected corporate execs, "too big to fail", funding utopian energy policies for political donors while crushing those that create jobs, creating a huge unaccountable federal bureaucracy that makes administering a small business almost impossible, generating massive regulatory burdens that undermine the idea that eveyone plays by the same rules because not everyone can hire the best corporate law firm to slip through the (intended?) regulatory cracks, imposing vast new entitlement mandates that are bankrupting every developed economy in the world, enabling the revolving door from Wall Street to K Street to Pennsylvania Avenue and back again, and all the while arguing that your taxes aren't high enough.
The middle class is in the middle of Obama's crosshairs.
Dec '11
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
"One thing I’ve come to realize is that any positive action for radical social change will have to be focused on the white middle class, for the simple reason that this is where the real power lies." Saul Alinsky
Alinsky taught that radicals could build a base by organizing among the poor, but that the real prize was the middle class. And the best way to mobilize the middle class was to undermine their economic security.
Everything Obama and the Democrats have done over the past three years is straight out of Rules for Radicals.
Sep '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
There's nothing here to link it to welfare queen rhetoric, and reiterating the word "middle class" a dozen times while showing photos of white people up to that point is unlikely to conjure up an image of blacks for most Americans.
If my memory serves me correctly, Newt is channeling the Jack Kemp wing of the Republican party that food stamps hurt blacks the most, but that's a completely separate discussion. Just wanted to try and remember my history.
Dec '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Misthiocracy
Groups that organize in large-ish number, but who do not vote in large numbers. · 53 minutes ago
That's the thing: in 2008, they voted in large numbers. In 2012, they will revert to type because Obama is no longer an inspirational, transformational figure in their eyes -- he's just another Democrat.
Dec '11
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
By the way, my only problem with this ad is the choice of the voice-over. It sounds like a trailer for Saw VI.
Dec '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
I initially read the headline on this post, "The Media Class Elected Obama." I guess they're both accurate.
Apr '11
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Pseudodionysius: There's nothing here to link it to welfare queen rhetoric, and reiterating the word "middle class" a dozen times while showing photos of white people up to that point is unlikely to conjure up an image of blacks for most Americans.
If my memory serves me correctly, Newt is channeling the Jack Kemp wing of the Republican party that food stamps hurt blacks the most, but that's a completely separate discussion. Just wanted to try and remember my history. ·
With luck, we'll have President Rick, Newt, or Mitt in power for the 2014 elections, and that mid-term, or the 2016 Presidential election following it, would be an excellent time to make that case.
To put it another way, there are a lot of conservatives who believe that no-fault divorces are terrible for society; they should wait for an election when Newt isn't an incumbent and isn't running if they want to push for reforms, rather than have it seem as if their aim is to discredit Newt. Breakaway Mormon sects cause all kinds of problems, but if you want to target them, now would not be the most persuasive moment.
Apr '11
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Crow's Nest: But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.
Dear Candidates: Please explain to the average American, who is getting screwed most of all by this, that the Obama administration is pursuing the exact opposite of this promise. They have solidified and promoted exactly the policies that engendered this crisis.
Insider deals, bail outs for politically connected corporate execs, "too big to fail", funding utopian energy policies for political donors while crushing those that create jobs....
That's my favorite takeaway from the SOTU.
1: The auto-bailout was a huge moral, fiscal, and humanitarian success.
2: It transformed Detroit into a big success, and all America could be like Detroit, particularly Cleveland (subtle insult or proffered bribe there to Ohio, not sure which).
3: But.... We promise to never again deliver that kind of wonderful success. Suck it, Cleveland!
Dec '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
You all underestimate the brilliance of Obama.
Only he could create the amazing strategy, "To compete with Third World countries, America must become a Third World country."
Aug '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Love you Rob, but I'm quite sick of hearing from "smart guys" (and gals).
Dec '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Neither am I a big Karl Rove fan, but that bit is resonant.
Aug '10
Re: The Middle Class Elected Obama
Yeah, I agree. I'm just suffering a bit from pundit overload syndrome these days I suppose.