On Aug 17, 2:39 pm, "jbobl...@
gmail.com"
gmail.com> wrote:> On Aug 17, 9:35 am, Tom Poynton
googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>>> I'm no fan of Obama, but for a fucking *ROTHSCHILD* to be accusing him
>> of "radiating elitism" is just nuts.
>
>> Tom
>
>> ----------------------------------------
>
>
>> From The Sunday Times, August 17, 2008
>
>> Hillary Clinton’s rich friend Lady de Rothschild ambushes Barack Obama
>
>> Diehard Hillary fans plan to protest at the party’s crowning of Obama
>> – and may even vote for John McCain
>
>> At the Democratic national convention next week, Lynn Forester, Lady
>> de Rothschild, one of Britain’s most influential political hostesses,
>> will be contemplating treachery. She poured her heart and money into
>> Hillary Clinton’s campaign and she is thinking of voting for John
>> McCain, the Republican candidate, for president.
>
>> She is not impressed by Barack Obama and doubts he will reach the
>> White House. “My loyalty is to the Democrats winning. Barack Obama is
>> going to have a serious problem getting elected, for good reason,” she
>> said in an interview.
>
>> “The party needs to face the fact that without Hillary Clinton on the
>> ticket, the Democrats will probably lose.”
>
>> Rothschild, 54, is a New York businesswoman and top fundraiser for
>> Clinton who married into the British banking dynasty.
>
>> The billionaire Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, 22 years her senior and
>> former chairman of the family firm, NM Rothschild, will be with her in
>> Denver when Obama is crowned the victor. She regards the presumptive
>> Democratic nominee, 47, as something of a usurper.
>
>> The Rothschilds spent the night of their wedding dinner in the Lincoln
>> bedroom at the White House when Bill Clinton was president, so her
>> loyalty to Hillary is understandable. However, the passionate distrust
>> of Obama shared by many Clinton supporters is turning into a headache
>> for the Democrats.
>
>> Leon Panetta, Bill Clinton’s former White House chief of staff, was
>> tasked by the Obama campaign this summer with soothing ruffled
>> feelings and helping Hillary loyalists to get over their sense of
>> loss. It has been a demanding assignment.
>
>> “There is a sense of entitlement that almost seems to be inbred,”
>> Panetta said. “They are convinced Hillary is the one who should be
>> assuming the mantle and it’s tough to crack that.”
>
>> Rothschild is the founder of Together4Us, a group formed to “honour”
>> Clinton and the nearly 18m voters who supported her in the primaries.
>> Among its demands were a state-by-state roll-call of votes - a final
>> show of muscle by the vanquished Clinton - and a prime speaking slot
>> for her.
>
>> They got what they wanted after Obama caved in last week. Seasoned
>> advisers fear the convention is shaping up to be a divisive Bill and
>> Hillary psycho-drama. “It’s not something that I would have
>> recommended, but they’re trying to bend over backwards as far as they
>> can to accommodate her,” said Panetta. “I’m a little disturbed that
>> this keeps playing out.”
>
>> The former president and first lady will both deliver big speeches,
>> while diehard Hillary supporters will hold rallies and acclaim their
>> candidate during the roll-call of votes.
>
>> “I think the roll-call will be a cathartic moment,” said Rothschild.
>> “There will be a lot of people who will say, ‘Oh, what might have
>> been’ and will vote for Obama but there will be a lot of tears.”
>
>> The roll-call will not be enough to bring Rothschild back into the
>> fold, however. “We’re not going to win by pretending problems with
>> Barack Obama don’t exist. He has a huge problem connecting with
>> ordinary Americans, who think, ‘He doesn’t understand me.’ He is not
>> modest; he is arrogant. He radiates elitism.”
>
>> It is a surprising charge from a wealthy socialite, but Rothschild
>> believes she understands true grit. She was born Lynn Forester from
>> New Jersey and built her multi-million-dollar telecommunications
>> company before she met her husband. “It is not disloyal to raise
>> legitimate questions about Barack Obama,” she said. “He started
>> running for president before he even set foot in the US Senate.
>
>> “No matter what he says, he has not explained properly why he sat next
>> to Reverend Jeremiah Wright [his former pastor] for 20 years. He talks
>> about an end to partisanship but he has no record of reaching across
>> the aisle for any purpose.”
>
>> The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that Mark Penn, Clinton’s
>> former chief strategist, proposed targeting Obama’s lack of American
>> roots during the primary campaign.
>
>> “I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war
>> who is not at his centre fundamentally American in his thinking and in
>> his values,” he wrote in an internal campaign e-mail.
>
>> Although Rothschild shuttles between London and New York, she shares
>> Penn’s assessment. “Barack Obama can use the words ‘the American
>> dream’, but they don’t resonate,” she said. “He magnified the problem
>> by going to Berlin and calling himself a citizen of the world.” She
>> also resents a lack of effort to pay off Clinton’s $20m campaign debt.
>> “He has provided her with a pittance compared to what the Clintons
>> have given Obama,” Rothschild said. “Her debt could have been cleared
>> within 10 days. It’s ungracious.”
>
>> She is particularly incensed by the treatment of Bill Clinton during
>> the primaries, when the former president was accused of playing the
>> race card. “Barack Obama would not stand up and say, ‘It’s outrageous,
>> it’s not permissible’ and speak up for him.” How Bill Clinton will
>> perform at the convention is a source of nervousness for Democrats.
>> “Clearly his wounds are deeper than I thought,” said Panetta, “but
>> ultimately he understands what he has got to do in terms of supporting
>> the candidate and the party.”
>
>> The enduring hostility to Obama is reflected in a Pew poll, published
>> last week, showing that 18%% of Clinton supporters intend to vote for
>> McCain. With polling averages close to a dead heat between McCain and
>> Obama, every vote counts.
>
>> Rothschild has not yet made up her mind. “I haven’t ruled out voting
>> for McCain,” she said. “I like him a lot.” She is waiting to see who
>> Obama picks as his running mate and has her heart set on Clinton.
>
>> The favourite is Joe Biden, 65, who chairs the Senate foreign
>> relations committee. He once described Obama as “the first mainstream
>> African-American who is articulate and bright and clean”, sealing his
>> reputation for putting his foot in his mouth, but he has the security
>> and foreign policy credentials to take on McCain.
>
>> Biden will speak on Wednesday next week - the same day as the eventual
>> vice-presidential nominee. But Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, another
>> fancied choice, and Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico also have
>> speaking slots then.
>
>> Both McCain and Obama were due to court evangelical voters yesterday
>> at the California mega-church of pastor Rick Warren. In a recent poll,
>> McCain led Obama by 67%% to 25%% among evangelical white Protestants, a
>> gap Obama hopes to narrow.
>
>> Warren told The Sunday Times: “Without doubt, Obama is more
>> comfortable talking the language of religion [than McCain]. In the
>> past, Republicans talked about God and Jesus and the Democrats were
>> silent. This year, their roles are reversed.”
>
>> The meeting, he said, was designed to make a statement that the “era
>> of the partisan religious right” was over.
>
>
> Where does this whole "Obama is an elitist" shtick come from anyhow?
> Is it just because he's a polished speaker and appears to be rather
> intelligent? Just curious as to the opinions out there...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
It's all part of the "he's not one of US" meme that his opponents of
both parties are trying to hammer home.
Either he's too elitist or too, uh......strange................er,
foreign...............uhhhh, (BLACK!!).....
