Hillary, You're Not Helping

I was already cranky when I stumbled out of my hotel room this morning and glanced at the cover of USA Today. The hotel's fire alarm went off at 4am (then stopped, and then went off again - prompting me to make TWO trips down the six flights of stairs to the lobby). But if that wasn't enough, there was the headline on the front page: Hillary calls Obama "elitist."

In my view, she's looking more desperate every day. She's inferred that McSame is more fit for the Oval Office than Obama, she's continually got a new idea for how to work the math so she wins (seat MI and FL, it's the popular vote, pledged delegates don't necessarily have to vote for who they are pledged to, etc), but this goes beyond that.

Calling a fellow Democrat an elitist erodes the party image as a whole.

We've already got the term 'limosine liberal' in the lexicon to fight. For me, an illustration of how backwards that term is was an article about the cost of the suits the presidential candidates wore to the debates last time around. The Dems suits cost hundreds. Bush and Cheney's suits cost thousands. (And that's presumably not even counting in the cost of whatever electronic device Bush had in his suit.) Who's the elitist?

I have no interest in writing a diary comparing Hillary's elitist credentials vs. Obama's. Quite frankly, I don't care. The issue at stake here is whether Democrats are elitist. Being perceived as elitist doesn't win you votes. Remember the ridiculous picture of Kerry going hunting? And his gaffe about "Lambert" (Lambeau) field in Green Bay?

Actually being elitist doesn't hurt you much at all. John Kerry may "look French" but I've read that it's actually the Republicans who eat more brie. And laugh all you want at Kerry's attempt to appeal to hunters, but consider how many real hunters are treated to Dick Cheney's idea of a hunting trip? Going to a private area where he can shoot tame little birdies (and, of course, his friend).

I think it's elitist to spend the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on a private yacht owned by the ruler of Oman. Yacht? The rest of us peons can barely spell the word, let alone get the opportunity to go on one. We're all too busy worrying about our jobs and our healthcare to do that.

And yet the myth of the latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, Hollywood liberal persists. Even though the Republicans are the ones who elect Hollywood actors to public offices as high as the Presidency!

Hillary, you're not helping things any by calling Obama an elitist. Think of the party and its future. There's more at stake in this race than just your own candidacy.