Conversation | 04/21/2008 9:22 am
Does a Little Obama 'Elitism' Go a Long Way in Politics?

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LIZ: Let’s don’t any of us forget, when this is all over, the immortal words of Joan Ganz Cooney – she told me six months ago, the Democrats always like to commit suicide and they will shoot themselves in the foot again.
LESLEY: I’m not sure that it has to be that way for the Democrats.
WHOOPI: No, but that’s the way it is with us. And I’ll tell you something, this thing that happened at that dopey John Kerry fundraiser …
JOAN: What thing?
WHOOPI: I was accused of doing something that I didn’t do on stage. And not one Democrat stood up and said, "I was there, that’s not what happened." Nobody said …
LESLEY: But Whoopi, we don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened at the fundraiser?
LIZ: You were accused of making a nasty remark about George Bush. Is that right?
WHOOPI: I was accused of making disgusting, rude, ugly, crappy remarks about the president. And that’s not what happened. And before I got off the stage it was already on the AP wires. And there were people making ugly, crude, nasty remarks about the president that night. But I wasn’t one of them.
JOAN: But it stuck to you and nobody stood up for you?
WHOOPI: None of them. None of them stood up and said, "Wait a minute. That’s not what happened! This is not what went down." You know, so this idea that he’s an elitist – so she’s an elitist, we are elitists. We are. We feel like we know what’s best for the country – just like the Republicans. We’re all elitists, because the people we’re listening to, those are not the real people of the world.
LESLEY: What the Republicans do is say these people – Adlai Stevenson, Michael Dukakis, John Kerry and now they’re trying to put Obama in this category – are out of the mainstream. They’re not like you and me. They’re odd. They’re effete.
JOAN: Well, this is part of the anti-intellectual stance of the United States of America where anyone who’s an intellectual is a wimp, a loser, and therefore an idiot.
LIZ: Well, you know, there are a few elitist touches. I mean, Mrs. Kerry – formerly Mrs. Heinz – did go someplace, to one of those fast food restaurants. And when they offered her chili she said, "What’s chili?" That’s pretty high up there for being elitist.
WHOOPI: But you know, I’m sure that these guys, these nice Republican boys, if they came down and we said, "Do you want some neck bones?" They wouldn’t know what the hell we were talking about. The people who are out of touch are the people who are doing most of the talking. Because a lot of people who are doing most of the talking are not affected by the issues that people are talking about.
JOAN: Do you mean the press?
WHOOPI: Obama may not be affected by a lot of the issues, but his wife knows what they are.
JOAN: Isn’t there also the fact that, in a country as large and as diverse as ours, it is impossible to appeal to both the guy in the backwoods with his hunting rifle and his dog, and the Hispanics in the southwest and those weird people in Maine eating very little and praying a lot.
LESLEY: I’m not sure that it has to be that way for the Democrats.
WHOOPI: No, but that’s the way it is with us. And I’ll tell you something, this thing that happened at that dopey John Kerry fundraiser …
JOAN: What thing?
WHOOPI: I was accused of doing something that I didn’t do on stage. And not one Democrat stood up and said, "I was there, that’s not what happened." Nobody said …
LESLEY: But Whoopi, we don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened at the fundraiser?
LIZ: You were accused of making a nasty remark about George Bush. Is that right?
WHOOPI: I was accused of making disgusting, rude, ugly, crappy remarks about the president. And that’s not what happened. And before I got off the stage it was already on the AP wires. And there were people making ugly, crude, nasty remarks about the president that night. But I wasn’t one of them.
JOAN: But it stuck to you and nobody stood up for you?
WHOOPI: None of them. None of them stood up and said, "Wait a minute. That’s not what happened! This is not what went down." You know, so this idea that he’s an elitist – so she’s an elitist, we are elitists. We are. We feel like we know what’s best for the country – just like the Republicans. We’re all elitists, because the people we’re listening to, those are not the real people of the world.
LESLEY: What the Republicans do is say these people – Adlai Stevenson, Michael Dukakis, John Kerry and now they’re trying to put Obama in this category – are out of the mainstream. They’re not like you and me. They’re odd. They’re effete.
JOAN: Well, this is part of the anti-intellectual stance of the United States of America where anyone who’s an intellectual is a wimp, a loser, and therefore an idiot.
LIZ: Well, you know, there are a few elitist touches. I mean, Mrs. Kerry – formerly Mrs. Heinz – did go someplace, to one of those fast food restaurants. And when they offered her chili she said, "What’s chili?" That’s pretty high up there for being elitist.
WHOOPI: But you know, I’m sure that these guys, these nice Republican boys, if they came down and we said, "Do you want some neck bones?" They wouldn’t know what the hell we were talking about. The people who are out of touch are the people who are doing most of the talking. Because a lot of people who are doing most of the talking are not affected by the issues that people are talking about.
JOAN: Do you mean the press?
WHOOPI: Obama may not be affected by a lot of the issues, but his wife knows what they are.
JOAN: Isn’t there also the fact that, in a country as large and as diverse as ours, it is impossible to appeal to both the guy in the backwoods with his hunting rifle and his dog, and the Hispanics in the southwest and those weird people in Maine eating very little and praying a lot.























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