So Obama screwed up and said some stupidly broad things about "they" and "bitter" and "guns" and, gulp, "religion." Sure, I totally expected that this would enjoy plenty of media coverage and maybe give a bump to ol' battle ax Hillary. But what I didn't expect was a renewed debate over whether the country really wants an elitist as president. Statements are coming out left and right (literally) attacking Obama's elitism and claiming that the other candidates are closer to the people.
They're all elitists, America! We're talking about people that have limos take them from one location to the next on a regular basis. People whose incomes are entirely based on speaking at corporate events and investing in friends' exclusive ventures. People who only know rich and famous people, and who use the "regular people" they meet as example of something (bad health care, high or low taxes, military incompetence/heroism) in their stump speeches. To expect that people in this position of financial wealth and power understand the lot of Joe Working Class is completely stupid. Ask yourself, "If I went to Harvard or Yale law, or my father was a famous general and I was groomed by Barry Goldwater, and then spent the next third of my life raising money to get elected, and telling people that I know best about what they should do with their lives, would I be an elitist?"
But beyond all that, do you really want a non-elitist leader? If so, we'll have to do a little more than simply not vote for Obama. We'll have to start some form of early Greek "lottery" democracy. Perhaps we can choose .01% of the voting-registered population at random and make them automatic representatives. Then they can choose the president from a random sampling of their number. Because that's the only way you can keep the elite out of politics. Why? Because the elite are those people that are successful in life. People that can get other people to like them, throw money at them, invest money with them, listen to them, follow their orders, mobilize around them, seek out their advice, and be impressed by their skills. That's the definition of elite -- "I'm better than you are." Sorry to tell you that, America, but it's high time you woke up.