"Elitist" has been the "buzz" word from the wing of the Democratic Party that tends toward the right. They use it casually. It is a habit.
The word "elitist" is planned. It is meant to present a negative image of those who are educated, or who may have good incomes. There should not...in this country and in this party...be any suggestion that being educated or having enough to get by is "elite".
That is a shameful way to attack those in your own party.
Let's go back to 2003.
Al From et al gather to call Dean and his supporters elitists.More than 50 centrist Democrats, including Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, met here yesterday to plot strategy for the "New Democrat" movement. To help get the ball rolling they read a memo by Al From and Bruce Reed, the chairman and president of the Democratic Leadership Council. The memo dismissed Dean as an elitist liberal from the "McGovern-Mondale wing" of the party -- "the wing that lost 49 states in two elections, and transformed Democrats from a strong national party into a much weaker regional one."
"It is a shame that the DLC is trying to divide the party along these lines," said Dean spokesman Joe Trippi. "Governor Dean's record as a centrist on health care and balancing the budget speaks for itself."
As founder of the DLC, From has been pushing the Democratic Party to the right for nearly 20 years. He was in tall cotton, philosophically speaking, when an early leader of the DLC, Bill Clinton, was elected president in 1992. As Clinton's domestic policy guru, Reed pushed New Democrat ideas -- such as welfare reform -- that were often unpopular with party liberals.
"We are increasingly confident that President Bush can be beaten next year, but Dean is not the man to do it," Reed and From wrote. "Most Democrats aren't elitists who think they know better than everyone else."
They spoke about the "educated elite" as well. Not in a complimentary way.
Support from "educated elite" won't translate to winning.Even a Gallup poll using the old "elite" theme.
August 16, 2007
Support from Academic Elite Not Key to Winning
A new Gallup poll found that Sen. Barack Obama has much higher support among the most educated voters while Sen. Hillary Clinton receives more support from those with a high school diploma or less.
However, while support among educated elites may be responsible in part for Obama’s excellent fundraising, it will not necessarily translate to electoral victory. Gallup points out that in the previous three election cycles the democratic candidate receiving the most support from the most educated -- Howard Dean in 2004, Bill Bradley in 2000, and Bob Kerrey in 1992 -- did not go on to win the party’s nomination (despite a boost in fundraising). The last democrat to win the nomination with similar skewing in support by education was Michael Dukakis in 1988.
Aw Geez, if you keep saying it over and over...it might just become reality. Put down the educated and well-informed, and all you have left is people who will fall for anything. It is not that hard to be informed about the things that affect your life. It is not an elitist thing.
The Washington Post's Perry Bacon insinuated the people who had supported Dean were elitists. He remembered that from a long ago
Pew Study...that many were educated. Geez, again.
Some of us contacted him, he was sincere in thinking Dean only had the support of a few elitists.
Obama Faces the Test Dean Failed: Broadening SupportThe title itself is annoying. Dean has been working to broaden support since 2004.
Like Dean and Bradley, Obama is strongest among elites, whom other Democrats derisively call "latte liberals" -- a group that voices strong opinions but is not big enough to win him the nomination. Polls show that Obama is ahead of Clinton among voters with college degrees, while Clinton has a huge lead among voters who make less than $35,000 and those who have graduated only from high school.
..."The people who he is getting money from are more elite Democrats who have more disposable income to send him," said pollster Mark Mellman, a Democrat who is not working for any of the campaigns. "That is a constituency that can create a lot of buzz but is not sufficient to win a nomination."
Here is the worst statement from that article.
Obama must turn the intense devotion of his backers into a force that can win primaries, expanding his base of support beyond the narrow band of Democratic elites who backed Dean.
Narrow band of educated elites?
It was not an accident when Hillary Clinton referred to Obama's statements this week as "elitist." She is still a leader in the think tank that controls party policy and using words like that.
Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist, and they are out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know — not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York.
The Politico A concerted effort to put down those in the party who are educated, informed, and financially okay....is showing me that something is wrong our party's health.
Observe one thing...the ones using this derogatory term are themselves the wealthiest, the most powerful financially.
The "elite" are calling the ones who want to start bringing the people back into the party's decisions and structure....elitist.
DU Donor
