Did Obama insult rural Iowans? YOU decide.

[Adelante]

Obama is asked a question about Americans. Obama uses Iowans as examples of Americans who want their country to be respected in the world again, welcomed as part of the world community again, and who want that message received by the rest of the world. He goes on to accord to rural Iowans a sophisticated point of view he believes Americans have arrived at in foreign affairs.

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.

You can watch the interview:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/Cx7b

Decide for yourself if you think Obama is insulting Iowans or complimenting them.

[IndianaJones]

1. no insults. nt.

[Clovis Sangrail]

2. no

[Zywiec]

3. Nope n/t

[Kolesar]

4. Who better to turn back the image of Euro-American colonialism around the world than Barack Obama?

[Skip Intro]

5. "even in rural Iowa" = "you people" - ???

I can see how it'd be taken that way. Whether or not it is an insight into what Obama really thinks about rural Iowans/Americans - not sure. But I can see how it could be offensive.

[Kolesar]

8. He's supposed to say " y'uns "

...which is a contraction of " you-uns "

[yardwork]

20. Where does Obama say "you people?" I don't read that in the above.

[cali]

6. no. he's simply acknowledging that

rural voters often don't have the greatest exposure to those with different backgrounds. I'm a rural voter and I'm not offended.

[1corona4u]

7. It doesn't matter what any of us think...

it matters what Iowan's think of it. I think I was more offended by the other comment-the one about them showing up in overalls.

[geek tragedy]

9. Faux outrage manufactured by Hillary's DC operatives. n/t

[H2O Man]

10. Come on. n/t

[faithfulcitizen]

11. no, he said "ingrown", where "homegrown" might have sounded better. nt

[zbdent]

12. How was that an insult? He was saying that the Iowans can try to

erase the image that they're country hicks ... of course, if they vote for a Repuke again, it won't do anything to erase that image ...

[yardwork]

21. I don't read it that way. I read it as he's saying that rural Iowans understand how important

it is to restore the U.S. image abroad, as opposed to the idiots in Washington. I definitely do NOT see anything there about rural hicks or anything like that.

[youthere]

13. I AM a rural Iowan and I was not insulted.

[HuskerDU]

14. Native Iowan here.

Not insulted. We are rural people but we pay attention to the rest of the country and the world at large. That's what I took from it anyway.

[K Gardner]

15. I'd rather let the Iowans decide. They're the ones who are talking to the

candidates up close and personal. They're the ones who are caucusing. I'll trust them to interpret, caucus and vote as they see fit. They've been at this a long time :-)

[rufus dog]

16. I am a suburban Californian

Never lived in a rural area, so I can not comment only to say that unless you live in a rural area you likely have no better perspective than I.

[Cameron27]

17. I don't think it was insulting.

[yardwork]

18. It sounds complimentary, not insulting, to me.

It sounds like Obama is making a distinction between the thoughtful folks in rural Iowa and the morans in D.C.

[suston96]

19. "...even in rural Iowa..."

At first read I saw no insult. But that "...even in rural Iowa..." you can finish that with almost anything insulting.

Is "rural" a code word for - country hicks? "Ingrown" country hicks?

[yardwork]

22. No. I grew up in rural Ohio and I've worked in rural health.

The word "rural" is not an insult, nor is it considered an insult by anyone I know. It's the opposite of "urban." It's a descriptor, that's all.

[sandnsea]

23. I live in rural America

That isn't an insult. Is this how desperate Hillary's campaign is?

[IA_Seth]

24. As an Iowan..

Here is my take (posted in another thread as well)

"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"

I probably won't caucus for Obama, and I have my share of hickish-types in my Iowa family, but I really don't think Obama is saying anything insulting toward us as Iowans. He is saying that even in rural Iowa, which is fairly close-knit as you can probably atest too, even there in our close-knit communities we recognize that we all (all Americans) are not as ingrown or as parochial as Bush has portrayed us to the rest of the world. He is saying that even in rural Iowa the people acknowledge that we are players on a world stage, and not a self-contained entity.

At least that's my take!

[Adelante]

25. OK. Post #25

I was waiting a while to see how people reacted to the full quote before saying what I thought. Obama was not insulting you Iowans is what I say, too.

[Vickers]

26. I don't think so, but those dumbass Iowans might think so.

Just kidding, Iowans. :P