John McCain is an elitist.

[tongodeon]

Ever since the primary there's been this constant refrain that Obama is an "elitist". I was hashing this out with ponsdorf last week and the more I thought about it the weirder this accusation became.

"Elitism" isn't thinking that you're smarter than everyone else is - that's egotism. "Elitism" also isn't just thinking that you're smarter than you

Comments

[hwrnmnbsol]

Nevertheless: were I a McCain strategist, and were I to receive this criticism through the mass media such that I were forced to respond to it, I would say something like this:

Yes, it is true that John McCain has received some benefit from being born into a family that was wealthy and influential, as well as valorous, patriotic, well-hung, etc. etc. If this makes him a member of an elite class, so be it; he certainly deserves to be on top of the heap.

Did Barack Obama receive those same benefits early in life? No he did not; he had to rise to his current elite class, probably through some combination of talent, having a different set of benefits available to him (affirmative action! race card!), and lying/cheating. But, however it happened, rise he did; regardless of his lower birthing, probably among terrorists, he has nevertheless risen to join the elite of society. Harvard grad; Senator; this guy has money and power and rubs elbows with the upper crust. Don't tell me he's not elite!

The difference between John McCain and Barack Obama is not their eliteness, but how they deal with their social status. Now, John McCain may have done well for himself, but he doesn't lord it over the little guy. You can talk with John McCain like a regular fellow. He's a great man, but he's a swell guy too, and he doesn't try to look down on the man on the street. Shoot, at his heart he still IS the man on the street, with those same core values regardless of his wealth and position. Call him elite if you want, but he's no elitist!

Can't say that about Barack Obama! He uses big words! He eats arugula! Every time this guy opens his mouth, it's almost as if he's trying to make the average citizen feel stupid, or low-class, or just plain not as good as him! That's elitism: parading around your elite class and making out like it makes you better than everybody else. Sure, he didn't start out elite, but as soon as he got there, he didn't waste any time getting all intellectual on us!

Don't try to say McCain is somehow more elite than Obama. They're both Senators and their votes count the same; they both have huge funding and the support of major parties. Trying to figure out which guy has more stroke is just bean-counting; what's important is that they're both way more elite than you or I. What I care about is: which one treats me like a regular Joe, and which one makes me feel like a commoner? If you think Barack Obama uses his education and intelligence to try to make people feel stupid, that's the definition of elitism I care about. And so should you, unless you're a commie.

[the_axel]

If Obama were an elitist he wouldn't want to become a Senator, let alone President because he's not from an elite in the first place.

[tongodeon]

Yes, it is true that John McCain has received some benefit from being born into a family that was wealthy and influential, as well as valorous, patriotic, well-hung, etc. etc. If this makes him a member of an elite class, so be it; he certainly deserves to be on top of the heap.

Perhaps I'm misreading you, but isn't this textbook elitism? McCain "deserves to be a member of an elite class"? The populist position is that nobody "deserves" to be elite. Some people are born elite by good fortune, but then have to "make good" just like people born to poverty have to "make good".

And to be honest I've never understood how McCain "made good". He did terribly in Annapolis, he crashed more than his fair share of planes in the Navy, and he achieved his senate seat with the help of his rich second wife. His big claim to fame (or at least the one they keep bringing up) is that he was captured and tortured before that sob story, a flurry of media attention, and his wife's friends and fortune helped him win a seat in Congress.

Obviously McCain has done some good things just like Obama has made some mistakes, but look at them both on balance. How much did each of them start with? How much have both of them accomplished, and how long did it take them? Which one of them would have made more from and done better things with the advantages of privilege?

That's elitism: parading around your elite class and making out like it makes you better than everybody else.

This is the whole misconception that I originally wrote about. This is not elitism, it is egotism. It's no less distasteful than Tim Tebow grinning ear to ear and waving around his Heisman trophy. If you win the Heisman or graduate Magna you *are* better than the people who didn't, at least in that area, and that's who most rational people will want either on their team or running their country.

And don't even get me started on the arugula thing. At least if Obama had an ethically-based all-vegan diet or made a big deal out of buying organic we could argue that he was confusing conspicuous consumerism with personal morality but who the hell argues that fancy lettuce either makes you a better person or demonstrates that you think you're a better person? It's like the Republicans are reading from some weird culinary horoscope.

Don't try to say McCain is somehow more elite than Obama. They're both Senators and their votes count the same;

You've just gotten done calling me on the difference between "elite" and "elitist", and I appreciate the efforts to keep me honest, but now you're falling into the same trap. Obama might now be as 1337 as McCain, but the McCain/Hensley family remains more socially elite than the Obama family. Beyond elite social status McCain also remains a bigger elitist. They're both senators and their votes both count the same but what have they been using those votes for? Obama has been using heavily populist strategies to mobilize his support while McCain has been more focused on big important donors. Obama's civil rights record strongly favors supporting the disadvantaged. McCain's tax strategy caters far more to elites than Obama's does. Again, I'm not saying that Obama has never scratched the back of a rich guy or that McCain spends his free time dressing like the Monopoly Man and hitting beggars with a diamond-studded walking cane but which candidate on balance provides more material support to elites and which one is more of the populist? Which one is the elitist and the candidate of elitists?