Usually, when we use a headline like this, it's to describe the subtext of what a politician really means. Not this time, Obama told members of the Black Caucus that they should "get over" the fact that Hillary lost: (Via Hot Air)
Sources at the meeting said that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a Clinton supporter, expressed the desire that Obama and his campaign would reach out the millions of women still aggrieved about what happened in the campaign and still disappointed that Clinton lost.
Obama agreed that a lot of work needs to be done to heal the Democratic Party, and that he hoped the Clinton supporters in the room would help as much as possible.
According to Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Obama then said, "However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that since I'm running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time. If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it."
Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., a longtime Clinton supporter, did not like those last three words - "Get over it." She found them dismissive, off-putting.
"Don't use that terminology," Watson told Obama.
Ed Morrissey has the real subtext of Obama's message:
Listen, sweetie, I'm busy with man-work. Why don't the women-folk get together and handle this themselves? I'm sure that'll convince women he takes them seriously. He all but told Lee and the other women at the meeting that they have nowhere else to go, so he's not going to waste his time.
This isn't the first time Obama has proven to have a tin ear when it comes to what he says in front of certain groups. Perhaps we might begin to wonder when the press is going to stop protecting this guy and hold him up to the same kind of ridicule he's getting from most conservatives.
There may be more to this insult than meets the eye. As Ed mentions, it very well could be that Obama feels himself under no obligation to reach out to Hillary supporters, that his own coalition of minorities and young people along with the Democratic far left will be enough to win.
He may be right. But then again, to go out of your way to insult potential voters is pretty stupid, isn't it?
Hat Tip: Ed Lasky
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