Obama plays the age card

[Herman Munster]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,309297,00.html

"There's no doubt that we represent the kind of change Senator Clinton can't deliver on. And part of it's generational," Obama told FOX News." Senator Clinton and others have been fighting some of the same fights since the '60s. It makes it very difficult for them to bring the country together to get things done. And I think that's what people hunger for."

[pnwmom]

1. True. So he did.

And that's okay. I'm not going to condemn him for it.

All the candidates bring different contributions to the race, and I wouldn't criticize any of them for highlighting their positives. But I wish he and Edwards and their followers would lay off HRC and the "gender card."

[DURHAM D]

2. I will condemn him for it.

This generational divide he is promoting truly pisses me off. Telling early boomers and pre-boomers to turn a page and get over themselves is not how you bring a country together.

He doesn't know how he got to where he is standing.

[Skip Intro]

4. Doesn't sound like the big-tent, bringing people together guy, does he?

[DURHAM D]

8. No.

He is arrogant and ignorant about this issue. There has been a right side and a wrong side on issues of human and civil rights from day one. He is now dismissing those older and prior generations who picked the right side on these issues and spent their life in advocacy to go to the back of the bus. What a little prick.

[pnwmom]

6. Yeah, I was just reading another thread that addressed your point.

And I hadn't thought about it that way -- in terms of his . . . smugness.

I'll admit that on a personal level, baby boomer that I am, I didn't appreciate the slight on my whole generation. And I agreed with a poster who said that it was too bad more people didn't listen to the baby boomers about the parallels between Iraq and Vietnam.

[cuke]

14. It's like SC Justice Thomas complaining about Affirmative Action

w/o those boomers who fought for civil rights, Obama wouldn't have a shot at dog catcher, nevermind President

[DURHAM D]

20. This is not new -

He has been doing it from day one.

When African Americans were saying he wasn't "black" enough I didn't get it. Then I started reading what he had to say about the older generations and my response is that he is not "American" enough.

[CyberPieHole]

3. With age comes experience...something Obama lacks...

it's probably why he fails to vote on important amendments...then he has the temerity to squawk at those who took the time to vote.

[James Delinis]

5. Obama's Problem

Is that if elected, he doesn't have the knowledge of how to move a bureaucracy to get his policies implemented. That also comes with experience. Clinton, for all of her faults, would have no such problem.

[pnwmom]

7. Wow! A first post! Welcome to DU, James!

[bigwillq]

10. Hello!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[James Delinis]

11. :)

Thanks guys. You are far too kind.

[cuke]

17. No we're not, but you're new

So Welcome!!!!

(psst - just kidding about not being nice. Lotsa good people here)

[Lucinda]

13. I agree..he can't control his campaign, so I don't like the idea

of handing over the keys to the WH to him.

Welcome to DU! :)

[polichick]

9. Why does he talk about being in another generation??

Both Obama and Clinton are baby boomers (those born 1945-64, and he was born in 61).

[DURHAM D]

12. He wants the youth vote - thus he needs to trash the early boomers.

[polichick]

16. Well, as someone pointed out on another thread...

His group didn't do nearly as much to create change as those early boomers. Perhaps he doesn't realize that the youth vote is comprised of kids who are huge fans of 60s music ~ the first generation ever to listen to the same music as their parents.

[CyberPieHole]

15. He's trying to appeal to Gen-Y'ers

maybe he's shaved off a few years and says he is close to their age?:shrug:

[polichick]

19. See my comment above about music...

I think he's making a mistake.

[hedgehog]

22. There are boomers and there are boomers.

The first batch had a lot of good times, and they left those of us in the second batch to pick up the pieces in too many ways.

[DURHAM D]

23. Really -

got any hard information or is this a personal problem?

[hedgehog]

54. I f you graduated in the 70's in the Rust Belt - you saw all your

friends move away to get jobs while your parents and their friends were laid off at 55. It wasn't a good time for us at all.

[polichick]

25. If Hillary's in the first batch, I must be in the second batch...

...and Obama just behind me. Sure, I was too young to go to Woodstock ~ but I don't begrudge that group. I think the first ones opened a lot of doors, people like Gloria Steinem and many others who changed things for me. Maybe Obama should choose a Hendrix song for the campaign ~ he'd get both boomers and their kids.

[pnwmom]

43. Reminds me of when my sister, who is five years younger than my husband,

claimed that he was in an older generation. (They're both solidly baby-boomers, too.)

Of course my sister has never been any good at math. Hope Obama is better than she is.

[Odin2005]

52. Folks born in the early 60s are part of the Demographic baby boom but...

are Generation X in mindset. Hell, the term "Generation X" it was coined by writers born in the early 60s to distinguish themselves from Boomers.

[Bitwit1234]

18. OK so now old people don't count with Obama...gee whiz

discrimination rears it's head, gay, old people...who's next.

[DURHAM D]

21. Remember - he did not appear at the AARP debate

or convention. This has been his long term strategy. It is a real fuck you. I hope it fails.

[CyberPieHole]

42. It's a good thing Quenting Crisp is dead...

I wonder how he would have fit into Obama's Big Tent?:eyes:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

24. Those "same fights since the '60s" have to be fucking WON before you can move past them

Which of the fights of the 60s does Obama feel are no longer relevant? Civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, environmentalism, expressive rights, the peace movement...

I'm sorry it seems so quaint to youngsters, but how can this man not understand that those same struggles never ended, and that any change that doesn't resolve those fights is a rotten sham that predicates further division?

[polichick]

29. Really, as a woman who gained greatly from the boomers before me...

I find this tack by Obama very distasteful ~ for crying out loud, as a black he had a helluva lot to gain from those times too!

[DURHAM D]

37. And the advocates from the 60s are the direct political descendants

of those who fought for suffrage, the abolition of slavery and independence from England.

And today's advocates against the war and global warming are further descendants of all of the above.

Turn a page - stop fighting. Fuck that.

[polichick]

38. So glad you spelled this out. nt

[DURHAM D]

40. This is very personal for me.

As an adolescent in an all white town in an all white state I read my Weekly Reader and Junior Scholastic and became concerned about the plight of negroes. I was told to forget it - I was sent to my room - I was lied to by parents and teachers and told "It didn't affect me and I needed to stop talking/worrying about it".

Naturally I became separated from my family/my tribe because I was "different". That emotional separation lasted for more than 50 years as I continued to advocate other human right's issues.

Recently, the emotional gulf has diminished as I work with my siblings to care for our parents, both with Alzheimer's. The change is not in me - it is with my siblings. They finally get it. Turn a page - no thanks. Get over myself - no thanks.

[polichick]

44. Thanks for telling your story...

This issue is personal for me too. When I was seven years old my heart broke every time I saw the black smoke that poured out of smokestacks and the vile pollutions that flowed into streams ~ and I too was told that I shouldn't worry so much. But, listening to the men in my family discussing politics, I came to understand that society's problems could be fixed through the collective will of the people by way of politics ~ and I was told that girls shouldn't talk about politics. I fought them on both points.

In short, the earliest boomers made it possible for me to get involved with the environmental movement at a young age, and to study and discuss all the things that fascinated me. I've been an activist for decades and I sure as hell ain't stopping now. (Just don't know if the Dems are up to it anymore.)


p.s. The ones who didn't get it when I was a kid have changed too ~ my mom is now as much of an activist as I am, and my dad and I talk politics all the time. I'm glad you've had a reunion!

[DURHAM D]

48. And the beat goes on. . .

Thanks for your post.

The Dems must do it - we have no other viable choice.

[polichick]

49. Yep, the Dems are it - for now...

Don't miss the p.s. I added to the last post. :)

[DURHAM D]

55. Good for your family for coming to where you are.

Life is so much better when you have a tribe.
Peace.

[illinoisprogressive]

26. he has been saying this since before he announced his run.

[BlueStater]

27. So what? Didn't Bill Clinton do the same thing in 1992?

Didn't he stress on his youth a lot and how his opponent, the last president old enough to serve in WWII, had lost touch with the public?

Interestingly enough, JFK, who was a member of the generation that preceded Clinton's, also did this in 1960.

My point is that every generation does this. It's nothing new.

[cuke]

28. No, not even close

Clinton never dissed an entire generation or their efforts on behalf of civil rights, or ending the VN War

[polichick]

30. And Obama is dissing the generation that he's actually a part of...

:wtf:

[DURHAM D]

31. You have completely missed the point.

That had to be hard work.

[BlueStater]

34. Was it hard work making that smart ass comment? n/t

[bigwillq]

32. I'm impressed

less and less every day by Sen. Obama.

[ruggerson]

35. that makes two of us

well three if you count the dog lying at my feet who is also less impressed.

[bigwillq]

39. I have yet to see his appeal

I wanted to be 'moved' by him. I thought his speech at the 2004 DEM convention was nearly perfection but he has since gone downhill, big time, for me. I want to like him but he has done nothing (yet) to persuade me.

And then of course the McClurkin mess doesn't help his cause one bit.
I'm not trying to hate on him but I just don't really like him.

[BeyondGeography]

33. Meantime, here's the actual headline of the story

"Barack Obama Sees Opening to Overtake Clinton in Iowa, 'Statistically Tied' in New Poll"

Keep reaching, Mr. Munster. No one outside of panicky Hillary supporters and knee-jerk Obama opponents sees an age card being played here.

[gateley]

36. Yeah - I didn't like that "generational" thing at all. Oops -

Welcome to Club Biden, Barack. I feel for ya.

[ClarkUSA]

41. He wasn't saying anything critical about the baby boom generation.

He was talking about being the most capable of: a) transcending the vicious two-sided political partisanship that has poisoned
the well of governmental politics since the 60's and b) uniting all Americans of all political persuasions into working together
to make this country work towards a brighter future, which is not a surprising point given his demonstrated strong crossover
appeal and strength among independents and moderate Republicans, something Clinton lacks in spades -- a factor we cannot
ignore in the general election, especially with moderate Blue Dog down-ticket candidates in the Heartland, South, and West.
Long coattails are a must if we want strong majorities in Congress.

His career bio, especially in the Illinois State Legislature, is illustrative of his ability to get Republicans to come over to our side
in order to get progressive legislation passed. Beneath that velvet exterior lies a steel spine and the soul of the ghetto community
organizer he once was and to some extent, still is.

[gateley]

45. I'm sure he wasn't. Just like Biden didn't mean anything by some of his

remarks that he's been crucified for. Obama will get grief for this regardless of his intent. I know the feeling.

[ClarkUSA]

47. Being a Clark supporter during the 2004 primaries, I know the feeling, too.

I'm sure the Clinton campaign will try to turn this into a wedge issue to distract from her continuing
debate performance fallout. I'm not sure the MSM will fall for it, though. But then again, they might,
especially if the Clinton campaign plants a story with Drudge again. Never underestimate the herd
mentality of the MSM or Congressional Democrats.

[gateley]

53. Refresh my memory

of the Clinton/Drudge thing, would you?

I really hope nothing comes of the Obama remark - it's such a waste of time and it's just silly.

[AtomicKitten]

46. Obama promises real change.

I just watched "Sicko" for the first time. I thought the footage of Hillary in the White House years was charming and would help her, but then he got to the part about her now being the #1 recipient of healthcare industry and big Pharma lobbyist $$$.

I'm more worried about those connections than any generational 'thang.'

[CyberPieHole]

51. Obama promises real change...then CHANGES his promise...

NObama...wrong on McClurkin and now he's age-ist too.

[ecstatic]

50. I interpret his comment to mean that it's time for Phase 2

Phase 1 is certainly not over with, but maybe we can begin the slow transition anyway.

[Dawgs]

56. Good. This is exactly why I'm supporting him.

I'm tired of the same Republicans and Democrats (55+ years old) running the government the same way it's been run for the past 30+ years.

I'm ready for something new and better.

[tammywammy]

57. Me too

And I'm a youngin' at 27. It's time for change.

[rinsd]

58. Way to annoy some 40% of primary voters!

[CyberPieHole]

59. "...Senator Clinton can't deliver on. And part of it's generational..."

It seems as if the Tent keeps getting smaller.:eyes:

[incapsulated]

60. Meh. He is trying to make his percieved youth an advantage rather...

Than a detriment. He isn't that young. But people think he is and think he may not have enough experience. There isn't much he can do to counter that so he is going to try to invoke the whole Kennedy-like "passing the torch" thing, instead.