April 15, 2008
Besides Barack Obama and Mayhill Fowler, Who Is Responsible for His Elitist-Remark Leak?
You know how political fetishists are losing their minds this week over Barack Obama's kind of awesome but kind of classist statement at the Getty manse? You know, this:
And it's not surprising then they get bitter, 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.
The fundraising event on Billionaires Row, as most of you already know, was off limits to both plebeians and press . Fortunately, a "roach under a sofa," the incredible Mayhill Fowler, managed to slip in with an MP3 player to capture the speech. But just who will have their ass handed to them on a platter for letting Fowler in? Matier and Ross either don't know, or are being cagey. But SF Citizen has an idea. He published the invite list, with a few x's thrown in to protect the possibly guilty party. Follow the jump for the invite that you didn't get.
Host Committee
Ann & Gordon Getty and Carolyn Davis & Alex Mehran Berit Ashla • Joe Beninato • Jeff Bleich • Justin Buell • Marisa Chun • Chuck Collins • Charles Couric Carolyn Davis & Alex Mehran • Becky Draper • Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe • Abe Friedman
Geoffrey Taylor Gibbs • Lauren Hall & David Hearth • Jim Halligan • Jonathan Joseph
Sandra & Shep Maher • Monique & Charles Moore • Bill Orrick • Bryan Parker
Jonathan Perdue • Lorna Ho Randlett & Wade Randlett • Janine & Alan Reid
Susie & John Roos • Nan & Norm Rosenblatt • Nan Santiago & Grande Lum
Helen & Dick Spalding • Dorine & Jon Streeter • Ayelet Waldman & Michael Chabon
Wendy Wanderman & Mark Gorenberg • Dana Welch & Scott Adams • Douglas Weil
Tony West • Steve Westly
*Committee in formation*
Cordially invite you to join them in honoring
Senator Barack Obama
at a reception benefiting
Obama For America
Sunday, April 6, 2008
5:00pm - Reception at the home of Gordon and Ann Getty
$2,300 per person
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/April6Gettyhome
6:15pm - Reception at the home of Carolyn Davis & Alex Mehran
$1,000 per person
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/April10DavisMehran
San Francisco, California
Addresses given upon rsvp
RSVP REQUIRED
R.S.V.P. information attached. For more information please contact
Brooke Joseph at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or xxx@xxx.com
[If you have already contributed the maximum amount allowed to the campaign, please contact Brooke to
find out how to participate in this event]
At this time we are accepting money for the primary election cycle only
Obama for America does not accept contributions from currently registered federal lobbyists, registered foreign agents,
political action committees, or minors under the age of 16.
Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible.
Federal law prohibits the acceptance of corporate contributions.
Paid for by Obama for America.
***Please include this page with your contribution***
?Yes, I would like to contribute $2,300 and attend the reception.
?Yes, I would like to contribute $1,000 and attend the reception.
?I would like more information about joining the Host committee. Please contact me.
?I’m not able to attend but would like to show my support for Sen. Obama by contributing
$_______.
Please make checks payable to:
Obama for America
-or-
go to https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/
or fax your credit card information to: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Please bill my personal credit card: ? Visa ? MasterCard ? AMEX ? Discover
Amount: $_______________
Maximum contribution $4,600 per person*
Card Number: _______________________________________Exp: ___________________
Name as it appears on the card: _________________________________________________
Second Name on Card, if Joint Account*: ___________________________________________
*Contributions will be evenly attributed between names.
Signature: __________________________________________________________________
Second Signature for Joint Account: ______________________________________________
By signing above, you authorize us to charge your card in the amount indicated. You also affirm that your contribution is made from personal funds and
not from funds otherwise prohibited by law.
Obama for America does not accept contributions from currently registered federal lobbyists, registered foreign agents,
political action committees, or minors under the age of 16.
Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer of individuals
whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle.
First & Last Name: __________________________________________________________________
Referred By: _______________________________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip: _____________________________________________________________________
Employer: _____________________________ Occupation: _________________________________
Work Phone: ____________________________ Work Fax: _________________________________
Home Phone: ___________________________ Email: _____________________________________
*An individual may contribute a maximum of $2,300 per election (the primary and general are separate elections). By submitting your contribution,
you agree that the first $2,300 is designated for the primary, and any additional amount up to $2,300 is designated for the general election.
Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible. Federal law prohibits the acceptance of corporate contributions.
Paid for by Obama for America.
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DUDE!!! That photo is my Flickr icon! Also, I build a statue of that boy every year at Burning Man. "Deliverance" is my all-time favorite movie.
You have "good" taste, Brock.
Let's all put down our Hillary '08 signs and try to read a little deeper here. I think he could have gone a few steps further and included clinging to abortion and gay rights too. Kind of like the Republicans did to re-elect Bush in 2004. The disenfranchised focus on the tiny issues of the day while Rome burns.
Clinton and McCain have figured out that Obama is capable of opening his mouth and speaking the truth, something they are both absolutely afraid of doing. They never attack his position or record, they attack his words. And that is weak.
Moreover his essential point, that republicans have failed them by promising them abortion, prayer in schools etc.. and always returning the same solution, less taxes for rich people is true, and only elitist in the most bassawkward sense of the upside world we live in whereby the right wing is the party of the average man...
I don't really have an issue with his words outside of the specific use of "bitter" and where he said it. Like someone on Slate wrote, you don't often use the word "bitter" to describe somone you like, and it's much different to use it in San Francisco than Allentown.
Why has everyone missed the fact that the list of sponsors is heavily loaded (no pun intended) by major Republican donors and activists? I spot former Republican Party officials, donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and all the rest. Seems to me that's part of the story of Obama's San Francisco foray.
if nessie getty throws a party, you show up regardless of you political affiliation.
Yeah, except for the fact that the people Obama was referring to actually are bitter, and they know it. Allentown is royally pissed, and it's not a secret.
Not a whole lot of people (outside the media) are finding what Obama said all that scandalous.
The polls are unanimous: Gallup, SurveyUSA, Mediacurves">http://www.mediacurves.com/press_releases/PressRelease.cfm?PressReleaseID=136">Mediacurves. All taken post-Bittergate. Obama hasn't taken any significant hit at all from this.
No one disagrees with him. It's just like stating a fact, you know? Healthcare sucks. The war sucks. The ecomony sucks. Hunting is fun and church is comforting. End of story.
I'd wager they're happy he's at least addressing the situation. Unlike McCain.
and just because i shouldn't be alone with this earworm:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=allentown&search_type=
Without a doubt one of the gayest videos in the history of VH1.
The homosexual undertones turn to overtones at about the 3:05 mark.
Thanks, Brock.
If I was a Republican I would be pretty - uh "bitter" too. They keep lying to their constituency every 4 years. Abortion? Gay rights? Whoa, the Pope just landed, gotta go hide my sons!
What is this, hard-hitting political journalism on SFist?
Allentown is royally pissed, and it's not a secret.
Bu that isn't the issue that people have, though...of course, they're pissed, and they have right to be. It's what he exactly said and where he said it. Why did he say it, in those exact words (not "hunting is fun and church is comforting"), in front of a bunch of wealthy SF/Marin donors in what he thought was a private event, and not at a rally in a high-school gym full of laid-off millworkers in Erie?
The problem is that in a lot of ways, SF's elitist reputation is too-often well-earned...what he said spoke to a lot of SF/Marin residents' concept that white suburban and rural America are in general a bunch of ignorant gun-wielding racist idiots (which may well be true at times, but hardly to the extent people here act), and it wasn't particularly unifying on Obama's part, which is something he prides himself on. Add to that the fact that he said it at a private event for wealthy donors here (it may as well have been NYC or in the Hollywood Hills, too) and not in one of those "small towns in the Midwest" that wealthier urban coastal liberals tend to sniff at, and it makes him seem less than forthright.
I honestly believe he just misspoke here, however, but he hasn't been all that great with damage-control on this one, I don't think. The guy seems made of teflon, however, and HRC has run such a terrible, terrible campaign that I don't think this is really gonna visit him until September and October.
bitter is also a masterpiece album by meshell n'degeocello - maybe obama meant to say that many unemplouyed blue collar workers are listening to her
@ miumiu
"bitter" was also a masterpiece by sportscaster Marv Albert.
BAM!!!
Personally, I appreciate the unvarnished language from Senator Obama. "Bitter" was a faulty word choice, but I agree with the sentiment. Politicians/Priests/Pastors/Snake oil sales folks/German Dictators who are not on the up and up will often use the cheap and easy way to unify folks by focusing attention on a particular group. Global warming is caused by the Gays!, for example. Whatever .... how can the media call this guy elitist compared to Hillary Clinton? Come on.
Of course we all agree with him - we are the elite, after all.
The problem isn't what he said so much as where he said it. You don't go to Billionaire's Row in what is arguably one of the most reviled cities in the countries (by the bitter, anyway), and say working class people cling to guns and god because they're bitter. Even if it's true.
You could think of it this way--can you imagine if Obama was going to rural areas of PA, IN and NC and telling American Legion meetings in small roadside cabins that people in SF, LA and NYC often can't help but be condescending and out-of-touch with rural family values since they put too much emphasis on paper wealth and academic learning and getting the right table at the right restaurant for brunch on Sundays instead of going to church and working on their spirit? (I'm not saying I agree with this, but the perception and judgments go both ways, obviously)
You guys are missing the point.
Your thesis rests on the idea that there's any political fallout. There has been none. At best the comments have slowed his cut into Hillary's lead.
So we're left with the fact that there is no problem absent you saying it's a problem. The polls have remained unchanged. The red-staters don't give a shit 1) who he said it to, 2) where he said it or 3) in what context.
They're bitter.
He said so.
They agree.
This has so much more to do with the fear of seeming condescending and out-of-touch than actually being condescending and out-of-touch. It's just blogospheric/media/blue-state handwringing.
Read the polls. They're not infallible, but they're a far more accurate guide to what voters think of Obama's remarks than your interpretation of what they're thinking.
As urban coastal liberals you may truly be out of touch, but the numbers reflect that Obama is not. Stop conflating the two.
PA, IN and NC vs. SF, LA and NYC is not the what the electoral map looks like any longer.
Get out of your defensive crouch.
Generic, thanks for making my point before I had to do all that typing.
So much gnashing of teeth, y'all! Jeez.