Sunday, April 13, 2008

Obama's Response

I thought it would be interesting to post Obama's Response to the criticism he has received for the comments that he made, as mentioned in Matt's post.

The NY Times has an article with Obama explaining that he "didn’t say it as well as [he] should have.” I think that he truly did simply choose the wrong words, but still believes in what he was originally saying. He is afraid that people are voting out of emotion because of their economic problems rather than what they actually felt.

It is not yet clear what effect his remarks will have on voters, but with the primary in Pennsylvania is approaching on the 22nd the candidates need to be aware of their choice of words. Obama hopefuls need to prey that his explanation will please those who were offended by his comments. It, however, should be noted that he has not yet apologized for what he said. He simply has stated that he could have said it more eloquently. I think that he might need to make a formal apology if he hopes to not be labeled as an elitist.

3 comments:

Genevieve Lau said...

I don't think his statement will have any affect on his voters. To me, and probably because this is biased and I've been watching too many episodes of SNL who only make fun of Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton jumped on the opportunity to criticize him, and it just seems like a desperate effort for her to defeat someone who she's falling behind of.

Anonymous said...

I agree with g. Clinton jumps on any opportunity she sees to criticize Obama. She realizes that she is losing her opportunity for the democratic nomination, and is therefore seeking to attack Obama out of desperation. Obama's comments were not worth the rebukes that he recieved, he was simply expressing his annoyance with previous administrations, which is a legitimate concern.

Genevieve Lau said...

Thanks for the nick name, Greg. But I feel slightly strongly about this for some reason so here are more of my feelings towards this "bitter" issue. Not only do I think that this is an act of desperation on Clinton's part, the media is spinning this into a whole new category of insult. Really? Is Obama really an elitist? Aren't all presidents elitists anyway? Didn't Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton make over $100 Million last year? If I want to vote for a president who isn't educated or are one of those small town folk who "result to religion or guns" then I would vote for a non-elitist. To me, the President of the United States should be an elitist. At least Obama came out and spoke his mind whereas Clinton is being slightly hypocritical. She's an elitist too.