While Democratic co-frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton of New York is having her own problems to deal with such as the lost in trust amongst Democratic voters and the fallout of the Bosnia controversy, Democratic co-frontrunner Senator Barack Obama of Illinois also has his own problems to deal with as well as the two of them prepare for the April 22 primaries taking place in Pennsylvania.
Recently, Obama has been accused of being an elitist. Both Democratic co-frontrunner Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona have targeted Obama and accused him for having an elitist mindset.
However, Dr. Drew Westen said that they can only go so far with branding Obama as an “elitist.” Watson teaches psychology and psychiatry at Atlanta, Georgia’s Emory University. He is also the author of “The Political Brain.” Westen explains that the candidates are elite by definition.
“If you think you should be president, by definition you are an elitist, only because you believe that of the 300 million people in America, you are the best person to run it,” Westen explains. He adds: “There can’t be a more elitist statement than that.”
Both Clinton and McCain made the charge of Obama having that mindset after his “bitter” speech. This was a speech about the second amendment rights which is in regards to firearms.
Interestingly enough, guns will possibly be the hot-button issue on the table in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. I had recently written an article on the issue of guns yesterday. Guns will possible be a deep-cutting double-edged sword topic.
On one side of the blade, there are almost one-million registered hunters. There are at least 250,000 registered members of the NRA living in the state.
On the other side, there is at least one gun-related death a day in Philadelphia.
While Westen gives the indication that the elitist charge will not go that far, he says that the damage it causes will depend on how it is handled. He said that it will depend on how Obama handles the charge in his response. Westen said that Al Gore and John Kerry made the fatal mistake to letting that brand stick to them.
Westen also explains that this is also an ironic situation because Obama is the one candidate out of the three that is not “wealthy.”
It is explained that after leaving the White House, Bill and Hillary Clinton received over $109 million from a combination of book sales, speaking events, Bill Clinton’s presidential pension, and Hillary Clinton’s Senate salary, among sources of multiple streams of income.
In the case of John McCain, his father and grandfather were Navy admirals. This comes into the retirement plans for US Naval officers. Also, John McCain married into a family fortune. Then, he married his second wife, Cindy. According to the Associated Press, John McCain’s second wife has a net worth of over $100 million.
But, in a note of irony, John McCain went ahead and secured a $4 million dollar loan to keep his campaign afloat. Former Republican hopeful Mitt Romney used most of his own money to finance his own campaign.
In the case of Obama, it looks to be different. Obama explains that he and his wife, in the last five to six years have finally paid off their college loans. He adds that he did not have a trust fund nor was he born into fame or fortune.
But, in the case of the “elitist” label, it all depends on how Obama defends himself.