The Washington Post‘s Eli Saslow (2/3/10) on Obama:
He is a rare president who comes from the middle class, yet people still perceive him as disconnected from it.
It’s true that very few presidents come from the middle class—except for Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding and Woodrow Wilson, it’s hard to think of a single example from the last hundred years.
Jim, perhaps he can’t see the thicket for the Bushes.
I guess that’s today’s WaPo snobbery for you. After 8 years of Bush they’ve fully internalized the notion that the president should come from what they consider the “aristocracy.”
I imagine in lots of ways, for many in the MSM, the proper course of history itself begins with the Bush inaugural, or at least with Glass-Steagall repeal.
That “people still perceive him as disconnected from it” is bollocks as well. The article says “almost half thought he did not understand their problems.” Guess what, “almost half” is, well, less than half. In other words, more than half thought he did.
Truth be told, he is “disconnected” from the middle class, and especially the working class and poor, isn’t he?
Just not in the way the corpress twists it, as some sort of stealth “socialist” who wants to bleed the middle class dry to pay for programs they’re supposedly opposed to, like “big gummint” healthcare reform – although, of course, most folks actually do want true reform that would cover everyone.
Not what he’s proposing, is it – which shows just how Orwellian this has become. The MSM takes discontent with the sham he’s trying to perpetrate on the public, and paints it as resistance to what they actually want.
Neat trick, innit?
Maybe if he decided to represent his party as one of The People and not as “the party of business,” then there would be less “perceived disconnect.”
One party it is haft full and the other party it is haft empty. It can be a positive or negative spin. It says allot about the position the news media and people opinion.
Bush Hog’s a CIA man who’s sold US out to the Company sto’.
It is time to stop looking back at the 8 years of the Bush administration and do what the real people thought they were voting for, (CHANGE). The majority doesn’t care about things being bi-partisan, they want a country that is changed meaning they want a country of the people, by the people and for the people. They are tired of the same old corporate rule that has gotten us into all the problems we have today and they wanrt a President and Democrat controlled Congress that does let the minority holding up the needed changes. They are tired of the games being played by both sides. Th real people want the majority party to lead like we thought they would. Grow a backbone even if we must discard some centrist and blue dogs and get the job done NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As so many in past 100 yrs originated from relatively humble origins (indeed since Depression & post-war, a decent income distribution broadening occurred, perhaps finally killed off by the Reagenauts). But a better question/measure would be what are these humble Presidents’ economic status AFTER leaving power & its quo after quid…and how that has trended in the recent decades of corruption.
Read Jerry Payne’s comment. I don’t need to repeat his words.
“except for…(a dozen guys)…it’s hard to think of a single example from the last hundred years (considering multi-termers, over half a hundred)”. am I the only one that thought that this piece must be satire??
Jerry has said it well. Now what aree going to do about it. Many people say they want the change Obama promised, we elected him, he isn’t delivering. He promised single payer as a Senator, but as President he took it off the table. So what are we going to do? How upset are you? How angry are you? Gonna sit on your bums and wait for the said leadership to stop playing games? What cha gonna do??????????