Politics: The American Dream

Working single mothers generally do not provide an upper middle-class standard of living. That must have been some child support settlement.

Obama's step-father Lolo Soetoro was a geologist who worked for the Indonesian government and later Mobil Oil. While there's no indication he was particularly wealthy, he seems to have provided his wife and children with a reasonably middle-class life. (Private school, a home in a middle-class neighborhood.) Obama later lived with his grandparents, and his grandmother was "one of the Bank of Hawaii's first female vice presidents", the "Grand Dame of Escrow". Upper-middle class sounds about right.

What did Obama do with that background? And a Harvard education? First he worked as a copy editor for an investment newsletter. Then he became a community organizer. Whatever that is.

And that may be the problem. You tell most working Americans that John McCain married a woman who owns a beer distributor, they go, "Oh, ok." They can understand that. The press refers to them as "Joe Sixpack", and it's a label they aren't offended by. They drink beer, everybody they know drinks beer, they buy it in the store, they understand how wholesale works, it makes sense that you could make a lot of money at it. It sounds like a wholesome, American way to make a lot of money.

Nobody knows a "community organizer". What does he do? What does he produce? Is it like a pastor? A lawyer? A union boss? It sounds vaguely political, but who elected him? Nobody? So he just appointed himself as some kind of leader? That's not right. That doesn't sound very American. Sounds kind of like he's puttin' on airs.

Barack Obama worked hard and became rich.

At what? Believe it or not, the American people have a slightly more nuanced view of wealth than Democrats seem to understand. It doesn't just matter how wealthy you are, it matters what business you're in and how you present yourself once you've got it.

John McCain divorced his wife and got a wealthier one who sells stuff people like. The divorce isn't that big of an issue - quite a few Americans are on their second (or third) spouse. Divorce rates in conservative states are even higher than in liberal ones. And most Americans had to be informed of McCain's wealth. It's easy to picture him up to his elbows in a basket of ribs.

Barack Obama's money comes from A. being a Senator (disreputable) B. publishing self-aggrandizing books (lack of humility) and C. his wife's income, which mysteriously more than doubled 2 months after he was elected. (And he later wrote an earmark for her employer.) Now he's slated to accept his party's nomination on a stage fit for a patrician.

That's not the American dream as kids in red states learn it.

It's called "populism".

And I'm laughing my ass off at the thought that the party that prides itself on diversity, complex thinking, academic knowledge, and accomplishments in organizing people could be so totally unaware of this important tradition of American politics and so out of touch with such a huge swath of the American voting public. Talk about your rich and creamy irony. You could put it on a plate and call it custard.

Great piece.