Obama tweaks public events to stress regular guy but then came the roller rink

A small but revealing shift today by the Obama campaign in the public packaging of its candidate, who's caught some flak in recent weeks for his elitist comments and references. (Not to mention Rev. Jeremiah Wright.)

Clearly that elite criticism touched an Obama nerve as the multimillionaire, Ivy League-educated lawyer Hillary Clinton goes about the Rust Belt downing shots in urban taverns, talking about hunting and "buying" gas with a sheet metal worker. It paid off for her in dominating the recent primary results among the small working class towns of central Pennsylvania.

So Barack Obama and his surrogates began a barrage of seemingly casual comments noting he was the child of a single mother who once used food stamps. No more talk in possibly bitter small towns of Harvard, Columbia and the outrageous price of arugula in Hyde Park these days.

But now, instead of being introduced by the usual local politicians or officials at his public events as a reward in local publicity for their backing, the honor of preceding the candidate on stage and saying a few words to the crowd and cameras is being awarded to regular folks chosen by his advance teams.

The goal: to counter a perception among many that...

the wealthy Obama is out of touch with ordinary voters, an impression possibly fed by his adamant opposition as bad policy to a summerlong gas tax holiday favored by both Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain. 

In Indianapolis today, just 48 hours before the crucial Indiana and North Carolina party primaries, as The Times' Peter Nicholas noticed, the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential frontrunner was introduced by Mike Fischer, an Amtrak machinist reportedly worried about losing his job.

The senator also briefly trotted out his wife, Michelle, and their two young daughters -- 6-year-old Sasha and 9-year-old Malia. And then this evening came another special attempt to be ordinary. But this one may have been double-edged.

It happened at the Greater Skates roller ink in Lafayette, again with The Times' Nicholas and dozens of cameras on hand. You know, Harvard grad shuns Chablis for the musty rink with the fam on Saturday night. But such "opportunities" carry unseen dangers, as any political communicator knows intuitively.

How many nano-seconds would it take for video of Obama doing a full flip pratfall on roller skates to get up on YouTube? That could be as bad as Wright in its own way, a metaphor for a sliding campaign. And, truth be told, B.O., the would-be regular guy, sure didn't do very well at the old bowling alley back in the Keystone State.

The solution: His family dons the skates and gives the precarious pastime a game try. And the candidate? He shuffles out on the rink floor in dress shoes, slacks and shirt to "help" his daughters. Lame video. Nice photos. Safety.   

Small things, to be sure. But so is each individual vote.

-- Andrew Malcolm

                                                      Photo Credit: AP / Joe Raymond

Comments

[MARANIE]

OBAMA IS SUCH A WUSS.......................

[Blessed]

This is the most asinine article I probably have read yet. You are actually critiquing him for not roller skating. Seriously when did a politician have to know how to do things he might not like or never has had a chance to try such as bowling or rollerskating. Give me a break. I know Hillary is from New York but come on.

I didn't realize roller skating was a judge of presidential candidate, but I'll make sure to make a note of it after this article. The news has hit an all time bottom this campaign. I swear.

[james]

Its hilarious how this women keeps trying to champion this gas holiday to people but EVERY economic strategist in Washington has said this won't do a thing to help. She is really playing the public for fools

[Mitchell in New York]

There many good reasons for Democratic superdelegates to hold off on making a decision between Senators Clinton and Obama, but the national popular vote is not one of them. Over fifty years ago Jean-Paul Sartre warned us about something he called “bad faith.” We are in “bad faith” when we are free to make a decision but convince ourselves that there is something constraining us, preventing us, from making this decision. For example, those who seek advice can be in bad faith. They say that they cannot decide until they get some good advice, knowing in advance what the advice will be.

How does this relate to the election and the so-called popular vote? Well, if we can believe a lot of pollsters and journalists, the superdelegates really want to know what the national popular vote is going to be before they can make up their minds. Until they know, they cannot choose between Clinton and Obama. But for anyone who has seen some of the (often well intentioned) attempts to calculate the national popular vote, it should be obvious that no such total will be available. There is no evil plot afoot. The simple reality is that states have chosen very different ways to select delegates. The first great divide is between caucus states and non-caucus states......

For more, Please see http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[Matthew]

You write that Obama has "caught some flak in recent weeks for his elitist comments and references."

There is a clear bias in this line. I and many others did not think that his comments were elitist, just badly phrased. You should instead write something along the lines of "caught some flak in recent weeks for comments and references that have been portrayed as elitist."

Anyone familiar with his biography knows that he is the least elitist of the three candidates. I would appreciate it if you amended this post so as not to blatantly accuse him of elitism.

[Ryan P.]

Vintage tabloid L.A times. Does anybody read this garbage newspaper any more? Why don't you just publish Hillary's face on the front page day after day after day? You don't have to waste silly words to fill up the pages. Regards.

(Psst, This isn't the newspaper. See? No paper. All online. Called a blog. Look it up.)

[Doug]

If you put (not to mention Wright) in this blog. Will you please put (not to mention Bosnia) in future Hillary reports. For instance..
Hillary tried to beef up her male vote by coming out for guns and shots of whiskey. (not to mention Bosnia)
See how much it adds to your reports.
You are welcome.

[Buff Oon]

It takes a lot of ambition to be President of the US. It is a 24/7 job, even with all the Perks of prestiege, Power and an Airplane to fly around in.
Given Obomas background in his past life, and willing to have us believe he has been an innocent misguided patiot, He reminds me of a smiling alligator showing his pearly whites, and saying "Trust Me".
We're just on the Verge of getting rid of one such type of President and his Administation, do we want another?
We Know what Hillory is, and what she did in her past life, maybe not perfect, but always willing to correct her mistakes and push on to a higher vision. She knows full well what she is in for, and I believe she is acting as a Statesman, willing to work to heal the country.
Some people will buy into any promise made to them, most often too lazy and unwilling to face the Truth.
Al E. Gator may promise a lot, but we really know what he is all about,
Don't we....

[sherri]

RIGHT ON BUFF Onn!

[Ron]

This is typical of what political reporting has come to. I don't give a rat's patute about how the candidates rollerskate, but I care greatly about what they intend to do about the Iraq War, the war in Afghanistan, our relations with Iran and the rest of the Middle East, the plunging dollar, the deficits, etc. There is a rich field of policy conflicts/contradictions/panderings to plow which could yield both entertainment and information. Much more interesting and important than whether or not Obama does a pratfall while pretending to be a Roller Derby Queen.

[mariann]

Why doesn't Clinton make this offer to the American People - if she becomes President, to REJECT all taxpayer supported salary and benefits to her and to Bill Clinton since they claimed over a $100 million since leaving the White House. Where's the "average" joe Hillary claims she is with that kind of obscene income and of also having graduated from Yale, Bill Clinton educated as well with a Fulbright scholar, Chelsea graduated from Stanford and up until recently, working for a hedge fund firm in New York?

[Albert Judah]

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them
Romans 8:28
Why are my fellow christians so critical of Rev. Wright’s speech? He is only doing God’s work. By his testimony and the response he garned from Sen Obama, it is pretty obvious now that Sen Obama loves power more than he loves God. Sen Obama is not the one appointed by God, Sen Clinton is!

[Anee]

Ryan, obviously you do and LA Times endorsed Obama.

Obama should concede now because he is tearing the Dem party in two, the radical, move on. orgs and the moderate Dems. Neither one wants to see the party taken over by the other, its a lose-lose situation. So, Obama should make one of his Lincolnesquese speeches, which is all he is really known for and good at, and bow out of the race for the sake of party unity and to save the Dems chances for the WH in November. He will make himself look like a martyr and save what is left of his political career, because he can never win the general election now.
As for the black vote (I'm waiting to be called racist, but even with 90 percent of their vote for Gore and Kerry we still lost), they are still in the minority and we need the other non-blacks vote to win in the fall.
OBAMA CONCEDE NOW!

[Dustin]

hahahaha....OBAMA...he is WAYY to controverssial to be the president, i mean, he's just like bush except that he's a democrat (which means we know hes gonna spend a lot, unlike bush who lied and sed he was a republican and spent alot ne way) and i think obama does care about black people. but he sure as heck don't care about hillary clinton supporters. thats y hes saying we're bitter and cling to guns and religions, because he wants to get rid of our guns and impose ISLAM upon us becauese he can't escape the fact that he was once a muslim...unless he states that he CONVERTED TO christian, bringin up REVERAND WRIGHT!!!! this guy is the rich man's president and he can't win me or ne one else w/ common sense over...the only good ones are HILLARY CLINTON AND RON PAUL...personally i like mccain better than obama even because i think its better to have four more years of the same thing than try to change things with a controversial screw up like obama. ...oh, and IM SICK OF PPL SAYING "oh...well i think waht obama MEANT to say was.." because if he MEANT to say it another way, he should of sed it that way....i am bitter, and i will cling to my religion, not because im scared ...BECAUSE I LOVE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!