Here's your CONTEXT: What Obama Really Said on April 6 in SF

[jefferson_dem]

Run time: 01:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Ol95sOWsk   Posted on YouTube: April 12, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: April 13, 2008 By DU Member: jefferson_dem Views on DU: 4994

 
"...Rediscovering the sense that we're all in it together..."

This is a clip of Barak Obama's remarks to supporters in San Francisco on April 6, 2008. It is the section just BEFORE the so-called "bitter" remarks about Pennsylvania and Ohio that have generated controversy. It provides the context in which those remarks were made.

Neither myself, Ashley Allen nor Cellular Records are, in any way, connected to Barak Obama's campaign organization. We are, however, disgusted by the way the Senator's remarks have been twisted out of context to support a charge of "elitism" when, clearly, they were nothing of the sort. The quality of the video is poor (it was shot with a point-and-shoot camera). The quality of the audio, however, is excellent, as are Senator Obama's remarks.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. K/R

Thank you.

[otohara]

2. Redistributing Money to the Poor - I'm Outraged

actually telling rich folks they don't need George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. Not only is he an elitist, he's greedy too!

[jefferson_dem]

4. That's the irony of ironies.

At a fundraiser with rich folks on the liberal "left coast", Obama was actually advocating for economic policy that would most benefit those who are struggling in rust belt states like OH and PA.

[Kokonoe]

3. A true uniter, thank you

[stlsaxman]

5. thank you thank you thank you!

The Clinton and McCain campaigns have been fucking ruthless against Barak Obama.

It fills me with revolt and disgust.

[babylonsister]

6. Rec'd with thanks; the truth has to get out there! nt

[Texifornia]

7. K&R

There will be a backlash against Clinton...She's the dishonest elitist lining her pockets with the Columbian's money while talking down the trade deal.

[bluestateguy]

8. This was a closed event and no taping was allowed

The outrage here is that someone chose to violate those rules and leak the tape. That needs to be investigated.

[humbled_opinion]

23. I agree, what is said in Private needs to stay in Private

thats how we get all this Hyper out of context reporting. The idiots on the right always take everything out of context...

[sallyseven]

31. If a Clinton supporter did it she would be arrested

and tied to a stake. Rich people love Obama notice that the poor and not so lovey dovey. Since when has an Obama supporter been subject to the rules.

[TomBall Democrat]

39. Do they still burn witches?

[Middle finga]

9. CNN should apologize for the hit job Lou Dobbs show did against

Obama, Clinton and McCain are two power hungry desperate politicians that will do anything to win so what they say shouldn't surprise anyone but the MSM organization like CNN should no better.

[MindMatter]

10. There was more to the speech than this video shows.

Obama acknowledges making the reference to guns, etc. It seems a bit disingenuous to only include part of the talk.

[casus belli]

11. We've heard the other...

those comments were provided without the context this post provides. And it further goes to show that if Clinton and McCain were aware of the comments made in their entirety, that they have a problem with intellectual dishonesty. This speech clearly was not elitist, not did it in any way disparage voters in the way that McCain and Hillary are suggesting.

[TexanDem]

13. This is wonderful! This HAS to get out to the masses somehow! THANK YOU!!

[ejpoeta]

25. it's the taking things out of context that is the worst problem

I mean, I keep thinking that I could do that. You could do that. Take something someone says completely out of context and start spreading it around and act all outraged about it. The funniest thing is how HRC is going around trying to say that obama doesn't understand what we are going through. I'd hazard to say that based on the income alone, he's a lot closer than HRC is. She acts like she gives a crap about us. She is the one who talks down to us. She knows how to help us. Whereas Obama tells us that we have to do the work to get the change.

Honestly, I am so fed up with HRC and her baloney. I expect this kind of thing from Mccain, because he is trying to get people to not see that big gw anvil hanging around his neck. But HRC!! i had heard that one of her people went and secretly taped an audio which they leaked friday. If that is true, my guess would be that after Bill Clinton decided to bring up Basra again they thought it would turn the focus off of HRC.

I know people say this bs is normal par for the course. Then I guess I am not cut out for this stuff. Because I can't take it anymore. I, like most people, have spent my entire life living by the rules and having respect for others and all that. I am honest, trustworthy and work my butt off every day. It makes me very angry to see dishonesty and the kind of tactics like this taking part of what someone says and then spinning it like that. Standard fare for politics? Maybe. But I thought that was the kind of thing we were sick of and trying to change. HRC doesn't seem to think it is standard fare when that is done to her. I don't think it's right for things she says to be taken out of context either. It is disingenuous at best.

[eagertolearn]

29. I agree with you. I'm hoping Obama sets a new standard for elections to come...

because I like his style. If they could just stick to the issue's and one up each other this way it would be better but to pull in crap like "bitterness" "rev. Wright" etc... Don't these people falling for this know that they're(Clinton's campaign and McCain's) shooting this out for people who are missing a few brain cells(lacking the cells to actually think this through on their own)? When you fall for it it's actually an insult to you because their hoping your not thinkers and that you just take things at face value. Their insulting their own followers! The only way I have been able to keep myself from getting too upset about all of this is by getting satisfaction out of seeing the polls go up in Obama's favor after each one of these "trash' stories. It's nice to see that there are a lot of smart people out there!

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kittycat]

40. You have serious issues. I suggest you look within.

Come November, you're going to need to do your part and support the democratic nominee.

[butterfly77]

43. They have been doing it for years...

this is why we were saying when this first started to watchout, because it will get worse they(the republiCONS) have teams of people looking for words and phrases that they can exploit and take out of context, Hillary and Bill are working with them she has been on Fox a number of times and he keeps praising McCain and downing Obama. If some are truly Obama supporters they will fight back...

[berni_mccoy]

12. K&R!

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Look guys, I don' t think you get it. This video shows men in suits standing around in the daytime

being courted by a candidate who is trying to convince them to give him money. Your average working class audience will know that in another few seconds Obama is going to talk about "they"---as if "they" live on some other planet---people who "cling" to guns and religion and who are full of hate and prejudice because they are supposed to be too stupid to understand who the real enemy is. Only, if the working class is voting Democratic and not Republican they probably know full well who the enemy is, and the last thing they want to see is rich guys in suits standing around while Obama panders to them with a bunch of talk about "they" s who sound like they come straight out of Tobacco Road.

So put this video away and find some videos of Obama with his shirt sleeves rolled up talking to people in High School gyms for Christ's sake.

[TLM]

20. High school gyms aren't usualy big enough

to hold the massive crowds that show up to see obama.


The hater spin isn't working... the fact obama was talking about single issue voters voting on wedge issues because they are bitter with government isn't going to be spun into obama attacking the entire working class and saying anybody who goes to church or owns a gun is bitter.


You assume voters are too stupid to read the whole statement or so stupid they need hillary to tell them when they should feel offended.

Rural voters know when someone is blowing smoke up their ass and telling them everything is fine, and they're sick of it.

I think that seeing Hillary with her 109 million telling them that everything is fine and the rust belt is recovering fine and they are not angry or bitter or frustrated with politics... that is going to piss off a lot more people than seeing obama say wedge issue voters are motivated by anger and bitterness with government and to cling to issues like guns and immigration.

[humbled_opinion]

24. But its the spin...

The guns and immigration issue should not have been said... It was well enough to say people are angy and bitter but saying thats what makes people cling to guns that is the ammunition that will get you labeled as a gun grabber... prepare for the NRA to come heavy at Obama....

Many people don't give a rats ass about politics but try to put limits on their guns and see how they react.

[dbonds]

36. I don't think YOU get it.

You are not just twisting what he said, you are making things up. He said people are bitter and have no hope that any politician is going to vote in their best interest when it comes to economic matters. Because they are frustrated and bitter the politicians are able to manipulate them on wedges issues, such as gun, gays, and abortion. 'Manipulate' might not be the exact right word, as it has connotation of being duped.

[Yes We Did]

15. It's this kind of stuff that will give truth to power. K&R! Thank you.

[Zachstar]

16. Thank you for posting this.

A little context is great for a change.

[Blue State Bandit]

17. Logged on just to rec!

Thank you for that fresh glass of CONTEXT!

:beer:

[mythyc]

18. K&R. thanks for posting

:kick:

[Mobius]

19. I logged in after a long absence

just to come in and see what DU thought of all of this crap.
Elitist?
Are they KIDDING???
He comes from Harlem.
Yeah a Yale law school grad like Hills is really going to be in touch with mainstream America.
If she were so in touch she would not be cramming this health care fiasco of hers.
Excuse me, I have to go now due to the fact I am typing this under heavy sniper fire. :| :rant:

[Zachstar]

21. Ok everyone! Whenever someone or the media tries to spin this POST THE LINK!!

Sadly there is a distrust of youtube links because of the rick roll. So post the link to this topic instead when noting the video here on DU.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=117848&mesg_id=117848">http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=117848&mesg_id=117848 (Note: Link text is cropped so right click and hit copy and paste in the topic needed)

The direct youtube video is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Ol95sOWsk

[JTFrog]

22. K&R!

[madrchsod]

26. what we have to remember is -the audio tape

that was given to the clinton staff was "illegal" where as this video of the event was obviously ok with the obama staff. the audio tape was`t released almost 5 days later by a person who gave it to hillary`s staff..it`s looks like it`s a "stickergate" for hillary`s crew

[Willo]

27. Review these two transcripts

The video text is mine. I not sure if he said "vast midlands" in the 2nd paragraph.
I know it was a private meeting but I wish we could link the video text to the audio. Can someone put the video and the transcripts into a better format? We need to push this to all of the outlets and force the conversation.

Barack Obama
San Francisco, April 6, 2008

Video transcript:

I very early on, when I was elected to the U.S. Senate said, that George Bush's ownership society essentially meant you're on your own and that's been great for us, those who are gathered here.

But it hasn't been good for a whole bunch of people and because we have not been willing to reinvest all the wealth and all the productivity gains that have been achieved over the past decade, resentments have built up and if you go into Ohio if you go into PA if you into the vast midlands of the country they are ready to shut down globalization tomorrow.

Protectionism, anti-immigrant sentiment which is a variation on protectionism and its not that they don't understand that things have changed, its that they feel like they don't have a stake in that change and they're right because all of us have enjoyed tax breaks from George Bush that we didn't need and weren't even asking for, instead of taking some of that money and some of those surpluses and reinvesting it in infrastructure, laying broadband lines in rural communities, making college more affordable and retraining workers who have been laid off and so rediscovering in the sense that we're all in it together that's going to be critical and again, that's a political issue, that's not that we don't know how to do it.

---------------

Audio transcript:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

[eagertolearn]

28. Obama is amazing. He's telling these people...

that they have been given tax breaks(including himself) that they didn't ask for and that this money should have been used to help...... and if you watch in the audience there are people shaking their heads in agreement. He is going to help our country so much! Thanks for posting this.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kittycat]

41. So he worked as a community organizer with Chicago's poorest, because he hates them.

:eyes:

[mudesi]

30. Clinton once again underestimates the Internet

K & R and emailed to my entire list.

[sallyseven]

33. Your right she underestimates the people

that sit around in their PJ's or shorts and write hate threads at 3:00 in the morning because they do not have a job. No brains either. It is appalling the vitriol that is on this forum.

[mudesi]

37. You spelled "You're" wrong

And you might want to consider that people on the Internet post from different time zones than the web server may be located in. And it's "brain", not "brains".

:rofl:

[evolvingsteve]

46. lol

:toast: :kick: :yourock: :applause: :popcorn: :rofl:



Sallyseven just totally got burned!.....that is so sweet when a smart ass like her gets owned.....she thought she knew it all for a second there...and....that ended up being far from the case.....and she really needs to take her own advise....

[iamthebandfanman]

35. still cant figure out what the big deal was

ive been pretty mad about this whole ordeal since it started.

ive never supported obama, dont care for him or hillary much to be honest...

but this crap has made me pretty angry enough to start...

looks like im a supporter by circumstance ;)


p.s.

there has been some funny stuff to come outa it tho...
like hillary calling someone an elitest... that made me laugh, but only to hide the anger. lol.

[eagertolearn]

55. I think there are may of us who became supporters....

when the other side started going dirty. Now I can't believe I was ever on the fence! Obama for president!

[sansatman]

38. I'm Mad as Hell...

Least we forget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF08#

[Blue State Bandit]

42. THE VIDEO WAS REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE! WHY?

Where's the video? why was it taken down? Was there an issue?

[Divine Discontent]

44. maybe campaign asked the youtuber to remove EOM

[evolvingsteve]

47. ?

Which campaign though??? I REALLy wanted to see this video and I Hoped that others would too!!!! not cool....


:dilemma: :cry: :shrug:

[Divine Discontent]

48. maybe they wanted to move on from it, and this perpetuates discussion of it

who knows. Obama's camp likes to address issues quickly, have him make a statement and move on, from what I think... they don't seem to like to be negative about, well, anything or anyone, just want to discuss positive things. I saw the vid, it was good, but it's grainy, and not professional looking, so again, there could be a bunch of reasons.

[Phred42]

45. VIDEO PULLED! WHY?

[Blue State Bandit]

49. Checking the back door.

[Blue State Bandit]

50. It's also been cleaned from youtube's cache.

Checked a service that rummages the cache and found nothing. This is strange. These things usualy persist for a few days at least.

I'll try another trick.

[evolvingsteve]

51. Sweet!

let me know if you find anything out! I really want to see this...

and if the Obama campaign has that much power to pull youtube videos that could hurt the campaign, why isn't this the same case with even WORSE videos that are hurting Obama??? why hasn't the campaign had the authority to take the many OTHER videos off of youtube???



:dilemma:

[Blue State Bandit]

52. The only thing that I can think of is...

that the campaign saw the video, and found that it was from a different event, even if it was from the same day, it could become a problem, somehow. :shrug:

I have a last resort, trying to crack it from my ie cache, but I have to do a little kung-fu to view it, and I may just pull a muscle doing it.

If this works, I'll take it to the PA hq and run it by the honchos before figuring out how to post.

That is, if it works.

[Blue State Bandit]

54. Cracked! Taking copy to PA hq.

Let's find out what they think.

[Bette Noir]

53. I'm amazed

at Senator Clinton's hubris. How can anyone who had a household income of $109 million over seven years, who used to have house guests in the Lincoln Bedroom, and hopes to do so again, accuse anyone else of "elitism"?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

56. By the time the general election business starts.....

..... there will be nothing left for the Repugnicans to attack Obama with. :-)

[whistle]

57. Why is the video unavailable?