McCain: Obama's gun position 'elitist'.

McCain: Obama's gun position 'elitist'



Direct hit.

I knew that statement would eventually come back to haunt Obama, especially with the Supreme Court ruling set to make it a national issue, at least for a short time, and here it comes. McCain is wasting no time using it against him and its potentially devastating for Obama in a huge section of the country; the south, midwest, plains states and Rocky Mountain states.

reply to post by vor78

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well

you can choose to believe a biased article (from a biased mccain) if you want to

or you can go see what obama really said for yourself

also - this issue has already been debunked.
key points already discussed here

I know what he said. The problem is simply this: it comes across as condescending to many people, implying to some degree both that they're simpletons and that their support for gun rights aren't particularly valid. You cannot 'debunk' that for one simple reason: its a perception. Its not a fact, its not a statistic. Its an opinion and an emotion that each individual voter must decide for himself or herself as to what he really meant by it.

The question is, which candidate will be better at establishing that public perception of Obama's statement on the issue? McCain is clearly showing that he's going to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the national media coverage to remind gun rights supporters of Obama's statement. Will it have any effect? I suspect it will if McCain continues this line of attack, but we'll see.



[edit on 26-6-2008 by vor78]

okay, but saying obama has an 'elitist' view on gun control is a political statement

in what way is his views 'eliteist'???

He never said they SHOULD ban guns in DC. he said its up to DC rather or not to ban guns

DC made a ruling

Obama, by his own accord, supports that ruling

unless...i missed something?

[edit on 26-6-2008 by Andrew E. Wiggin]

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin

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His statement rings as elitist for the reason I mention. It can easily be viewed as quite condescending and dismissive of the small town voters and their views on religion and firearm ownership. The 'elitist' label is basically a way of labeling him as out of touch with rural values.

As far as the ban itself is concerned, Obama may have some problems on that as well:

news.yahoo.com...

blogs.abcnews.com...

These are two separate incidents, the first a response from Obama during a debate, the second from a campaign aide. Certainly, the Obama supporters will rally to his side, claiming that his explanations are the end of the issue. But is it?

Again, perception is everything in politics. The question is whether or not the McCain camp can capitalize on these statements and successfully foster the perception that Obama did in fact believe the ban was constitutional at one time and has now switched positions for political expediency. He certainly isn't helped by his own party, either, which isn't particularly popular among gun rights advocates, to say the least. His constant mention of 'common sense' gun laws won't help him, either. Gun owners, paranoid bunch that they've become thanks to the gun-grabbers, will hear GUN LAWS and that's it.

[edit on 26-6-2008 by vor78]

reply to post by vor78

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Yep. Obama put his foot right in his mouth on that one. He will have quite a few people "mad" at him about it and it's probably not the last time McCain uses it against him. I think what Obama said is true, but this is politics and poor McCain has to use the ammo he has. And re-use it if necessary.

Elitist? Not sure why that's such a big word this election, but I LOVED Obama's comeback to Hillary about Annie Oakley! Hilarious.

Elitist is what good old boys like McCain call well-schooled, articulate people like Obama... Oh, well.

I was thrilled with the decision today. They did good!!

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

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The truth of it can be argued, no doubt. That said, we live in a politically correct age where saying what may have a grain of truth can easily get you into a heap of trouble. There's no doubt about that, either.


You can bet that McCain is going to expend every ounce of ammo (no pun intended) that he has on the gun rights issue over the next few days while he's still guaranteed some easy national media coverage on the issue. Can he make any of it stick? We'll see, but as paranoid as gun owners are and as forgotten as many rural voters feel, I think that a good portion of it very well may.

elitist
adjective snobbish, exclusive, superior, arrogant, selective, pretentious, stuck-up (informal) patronizing, condescending, snooty (informal)

Obama telling liberal supporters in SF why white middle-class voters in PA won't vote for him because they cling to guns and religion and don't like people who are different from them is all of the above.

[edit on 26-6-2008 by jamie83]

So you think an elitist is someone who thinks gun carrying bible thumpers in PA are afraid of black people? I guess I must be an elitist then.

No, you're a typical race-baiting Obama supporter. That's worse than an elitist. That's a racist elitist who can't accept that people dislike Obama based on his policies and character, not the color of his skin.

reply to post by jamie83

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I would rather see Obama win it rather than McCain but I am not going to bother voting for either one. I am just glad Hillary is out of the picture and hopefully will stay out. *snip*

Mod Edit: removed inappropriate comment.



[edit on 27-6-2008 by TheBandit795]

Thank you for providing another example of why so many people believe the American public gets the government it deserves. *snip*

Mod Edit: Removed inappropriate comment.

Courtesy Is Mandatory

[edit on 27-6-2008 by TheBandit795]