By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Josh Marshall, not surprisingly, misses the point:

So, with the obligatory, yes, he could have worded it better, do I think it was offensive and condescending? No. I don't. Do I think it can be spun into something offensive and condescending? Sure. . . . [S]peaking for myself I've spent too much time over, what, 15 years now? ... defending both Clintons from similarly ginned up nonsense [not much time spent in the last 15 weeks though. Seems Marshall has become the ginnee] to have much energy left to help out as they pull the same puffed up outrage act against another Democrat. I guess I'm just not feeling it.

(Emphasis supplied.) I actually have criticized Clinton for her charges of "elitism" against Obama. But the point here is not whether Josh Marshall is offended or whether he will "help out" the Clintons (like anyone is expecting that). The point is did Obama do his job as a politician? The answer is of course not. He committed a gaffe. Hopefully not an "I voted for it before I voted against it" gaffe, but a gaffe nonetheless. He has expressed regret. Let's hope this story goes away (Marshall skepticism about whether this story "really" hurts Obama notwithstanding.) Attacking Clinton on it, as TPM has done, does NOT help Obama. It really does not.

A new Rasmussen national poll finds 56% of Americans disagree with Obama's remarks calling small town Pennsylvanians bitter and clinging to G-d and their guns. Only 25% approve.

45% said Obama is out of touch with small-town Americans and his words show an elitist view of them. (Questions asked and results are here.)

But it may make more difference in the general election than the primary. Democrats are less offended by the remarks, and liberal democrats, even less so:

Democrats are fairly evenly divided—34% agree with Obama and 43% disagree. Generally, Obama supporters agree with him while Hillary Clinton’s supporters disagree.

A plurality of politically liberal voters—46%--agree with Obama’s statement while 33% disagree. Moderate voters take the opposite view and disagree by a 51% to 27% margin. Seventy-four percent (74%) of conservatives disagree with Obama’s statement, only 12% agree.

Republicans and Independents on the other hand: [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Noam Schieber writes:

I'm . . . arguing that [Obama]'s almost certainly going to be the nominee, that that's not going to change even if Hillary spends the next several weeks unloading on him, that the only thing this course is going to affect are his chances in the general election, and that, even if Hillary did some how pummel him hard enough to wrest away the nomination, it would be close to worthless since she'd have generated so much ill-will toward her among Democrats.

(Emphasis supplied.) I have been completely amazed how little concern the "Creative Class" has shown towards the possibility of alienating Clinton supporters. Is anyone worried about how upset Clinton supporters will be if Clinton is viewed as having been pushed out of the race? If Florida and Michigan are not counted? If Obama and his supporters continually denigrate Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Legacy? Clearly Noam Scheiber does not give it a second thought.

I agree that Obama will be the nominee. And it is about time Obama AND his supporters start worrying about unifying the Party. The contempt for Clinton, for Bill Clinton and for her supporters is palpable from the "Creative Class" and the Obama campaign. Pretty soon, unless Obama and his supporters shape up, the question may be "is the nomination worthless to Barack Obama?"

By Big Tent Democrat

In a poll conducted entirely before BitterGate (the poll was conducted from April 6-10), the Susquehanna Univ. PA poll shows a close race with a very high number of undecideds - Clinton 40, Obama 37, Undecided 23. This is a large drop for Clinton from a poll from a month earlier when she led by 14. That said, even without taking into account BitterGate, this poll seems incredibly suspect to me. I'll explain on the flip:

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Hillary Clinton should suffer with Democratic voters for her attacks on Barack Obama regarding BitterGate. To speak of him as "elitist" is just the type of character attack that Dems should not use against fellow Dems.

By the same token, Barack Obama should suffer for his continuing use of this Right Wing talking point, one he has used since October 2007:

Sen. Obama accused Sen. Clinton of playing politics, and his campaign said she would say or do anything to get elected.

I condemn both Clinton and Obama for using right wing character attacks against fellow Democrats. Anyone think the "Creative Class" blogs will do the same? Me neither.

Update (TL): Comments now closed.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

In my view, along with Zogby, ARG is the worst pollster I know of. So this poll finding is not to be taken seriously. The reason I post it is because it shows a 20 point jump for Clinton. ARG last week had it tied at 45. Now it has Clinton 57 - Obama 37.

We'll watch for more reputable pollsters for PA polling. More . . .

By Big Tent Democrat

At TAPPED, the "Creative Class" defense of Obama's gaffe continues (psst, citing Harvard intellectual Robert Reich is not the answer either):

[A] salient quote from Bill Clinton's My Life:

If [Republicans] could cut funding for Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment, middle-class Americans would see fewer benefits from their tax dollars, feel more resentful paying taxes, and become even more receptive to their appeals for tax cuts and their strategy of waging campaigns on divisive social and cultural issues like abortion, gay rights, and guns.

The "Creative Class" reaction? "I do think Obama's words were poorly chosen, but I don't think they merit "Bittergate" as we're seeing it play out." Um, what part of Obama's Gaffe is left out? This:

So it's not surprising then that they [rural voters] 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.

(Emphasis supplied.) Time for the "Creative Class" to give this up. It was a gaffe. Obama has expressed regret. Time to try and move on.

Earlier I wrote about Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio's latest shaming punishment for women inmates. Now I see the Sheriff has much bigger problems. The Mayor of Phoenix is asking the FBI to investigate his crackdowns on the undocumented.

In an April 4 letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, Mayor Phil Gordon asked the agency and the Justice Department’s civil rights division to examine what he called discriminatory harassment and improper stops, searches and arrests by sheriff’s deputies in Maricopa County, which encompasses the metropolitan area.

“Over the past few weeks, Sheriff Arpaio’s actions have infringed on the civil rights of our residents,” Mr. Gordon wrote. “They have put our residents’ well-being, and the well-being of law enforcement officers, at risk.”

Arpaio zings back: [More...]

Leave it to Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to come up with yet another shaming punishment. Forcing male inmates to wear pink underwear, and putting teens on chain gangs to bury the dead wasn't enough. Now there's this:

Women inmates in Maricopa County have been on chain gangs since 1996.

Now, 15 of them will wear T-shirts that say "I was a drug addict" as they clean trash from a Phoenix street on Monday.

What's wrong with shaming punishments? Everything. Here's Jonathan Turley in a terrific op-ed on the subject.

As I wrote here,

There are other alternative sentencing solutions out there that should be tried, and if they are lacking, then judges should spend their creative energy coming up with better ones that don't demean and further alienate the offender.

The comments keep coming on tonight's Faith Forum. Here's the final thread -- it's also an open thread if you want to discuss other things.

Also, if you prefer Dusty Springfield singing it, here she is.

California chose 241 delegates to the DNC today, in accordance with the Feb. 5 primary results.

Hillary: 134 delegates
Obama: 105

There are also superdelegates and others:

The delegates at stake in caucuses Sunday represent only a portion of those who will attend the convention from California. Others will include 71 superdelegates, who range from members of Congress to former party leaders, and another group of 129 delegates who will be chosen next month, based on the statewide primary vote tally.

More...

Obama on the campaign trail today:

Shame on her," Obama said, echoing one of Clinton's own atacks on him. "Shame on her, she knows better."

"She’s running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment, she's talking like she's Annie Oakley! Hillary Clinton's out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday, she's packin' a six shooter! C'mon! She knows better. That's some politics being played by Hillary Clinton. I want to see that picture of her out there in the duck blinds."

Hillary's campaign responds: