Buchanan slams own network for slandering West Virginians
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was endorsed by former Senator John Edwards on Wednesday, one day after Hillary Clinton's landslide victory among largely poor, working-class white voters in the West Virginia primary.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews suggested that Obama's endorsement by Edwards -- whose presidential campaign earlier this year was built around populist themes -- might provide "the kind of populist edge that his otherwise idealistic campaign has lacked."
Pat Buchanan, however, wasn't convinced. "We've got a trial lawyer here with a 28,000 square foot home who joined a hedge fund to study poverty and gets $400 haircuts," he said of Edwards. "He was wiped out in the primaries."
Buchanan suggested that the Kentucky primary will be a test of Obama's ability to project a more populist appeal, but that "if he goes in there and gets walloped by her again, that's going to raise the West Virginia questions. What's the matter with this guy in white America."
"Hillary Clinton has been able to identify herself with white rejection," Matthews answered, which sent Buchanan into a storm of vicarious resentment on behalf of West Virginians.
"We've been calling the white folks in West Virginia, they're uneducated, they're half-educated," he fumed. "You call them rejectionists. Maybe they like this gal! ... Last night we sat here on this set again and again and said in effect, 'Well, basically dumb uneducated white people, poor people ...'"
Matthews pointed out that the previous evening's discussion was about "the exit polling, where people were speaking for themselves," and that factors such as income and education are valid indicators of voting patterns, but Buchanan refused to be pacified.
"What do you mean by rejectionist?" he charged. "You're saying Democrats in West Virginia voted for racist reasons against Obama. ... Did you make the same statement, Chris, about the 92% of black women who voted for Barack Obama in Philadelphia?"
"What were the African-American community in Philadelphia ... voting on if not the fact that Barack Obama was one of them?" continued Buchanan. "West Virginia, Hillary was one of us. That's the same thing. But West Virginia gets trashed and Philadelphia's wonderful."
"If you're African-American," suggested Matthews, "it seems to me rooting for somebody from your community ... I wouldn't read that as a negative sentiment. However, when you're white, and you've always called the shots, to say that you're voting against somebody ... it's a different way of looking at it."
"If Barack Obama was not an African-American, he would have been beaten by John Edwards," Buchanan insisted (apparently ignoring hos own earlier claim that Edwards "was wiped out" because of his $400 haircuts.) "He would not be the nominee. [Being black] is far more of a positive for him ... with the Chris Matthews of the world and in the liberal suburbs."
This video is from MSNBC's Hardball, broadcast May 14, 2008.
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:: welcome back to "hardball." john edwards endorsed barack obama for president. after hillary's land slooid victory in west virginia, will the edwards endorsement help obama?
:: we're back with andrea mitchell and pat buchanan. i would argue, there's a new two plus two here. that is barack obama has an ally who has been talking about poverty, maybe not successfully in terms of winning the nomination, but identified himself as a poor kid. this is the kind of populous edge that his idealistic campaign lacked.
:: looking at the white voters and what he needed with blue collars, but there's the elitist aspect people criticized him for. the other thing, the other missing piece of this is elizabeth edwards, not in the picture.
:: what's that tell you?
:: she's probably for hillary.
:: i heard a groan there, bat.
:: you have a trial lawyer with a 28,000 square foot home and gets $400 haircuts. he's got something there, but he was wiped out in the primaries. we're going to find out if he has a big, powerful appeal. we have a test coming up and it's in kentucky. we're going to find out if it's as big as we're talking about.
:: kentucky derby coming up again. you suggested he will fail the test.
:: my guess is he's going to add points, no doubt about it. he's going to go into kentucky. he's not going to avoid it. he has the big endorsement. he should be the front-runner. we all crowned him. if he goes in and gets wall lineuped again, it's going to raise the west virginia questions. what's the matter with this guy and america.
:: hillary clinton has been able to identify herself with white rejections --
:: you're calling people rejectionists?
:: of course.
:: we been calling the white folks in west virginia uneducated, happen educated --
:: i'm not calling them anything bad.
:: maybe they like this gal, maybe they like her like in pennsylvania.
:: he didn't campaign there. people said, if he showed up, we would have gotten to know him. they felt he diszed them. if he were to campaign in west virginia, he, according to the governor, he might have a shot at what john mccain --
:: you can argue chicken and the egg for the rest of our lives. i've never heard my opponent cannot get hard working white people to vote for him. it's a statement and she said it.
:: last night, we sat here again and again and said basically, dumb, uneducated white poem --
:: who's this guy?
:: chris, there's a double standard on her. see how he does in kentucky when he goes with john edwards. that's his problem.
:: there's so many strawmen in this business. terry blasted away saying to end this thing. they are not asking for it to end and what is your claim here? we all call them ignorant?
:: i'd like to get a tape recording of that somewhere.
:: you call them less educated, uneducated, poor, white, racist. that's what came out.
:: what was coming out last night was the exit poll and where people were speaking for themselves in that regard. every state in the union, they looked at what has four years of college.
:: my coalition is white, working class. what do you mean by rejectionist?
:: he has been in the case of west virginia, noticeably hurt by the ethnic issue based on the exit polling, yes. that's from the record.
:: you're saying democrats in west virginia voted for racist reasons against obama?
:: no, they said themselves when asked by pollsters, did race play a part in your judgment. the answer was yes.
:: okay. did you make the same statement about the 92% of black women who voted for barack obama in philadelphia. did you ask them how many years of education they had?
:: we ask the same question of everybody. pat, these exit polls are conducted on a random basis, not based on your ethnic profile. it's on the random nature of all polling to find the truth.
:: what were the african-american community in philadelphia that gave 90% voting on if not the fact that barack obama was one of them? west virginia, hillary was one of us. that's the same thing. west virginia gets trashed and philadelphia is wonderful.
:: you want to respond to that, andrea?
:: pat, i was out in west virginia and having the time of my life, actually, covering the race there, enjoying the people and the interactions. i didn't hear everything you all were saying, but i would bet nobody was trashing the people of west virginia. the exit polls were being defined and analyzed. moving on, it could turn out you are right when we look at the kentucky state, this is the equivalent of previous endorsements. the clinton people would have you believe tonight, this is no bigger than teddy kennedy was, hear me out.
:: we're going to find out in kentucky.
:: teddy kennedy had more of an impact that the massachusetts return.
:: i want to respond to your thought. it's a thought a lot of people watching share with you. i don't deny that. when you look the history of our country, white people get elected to all the major offices offices. we've had a couple governors, that's about it. doug water and patrick, if you're african-american, it seems rooting for them would be a negative setment. when you're white and always called the shots to say you are voting against somebody who's had quite an impact, it's a different way of looking at it. what's good for the goose is good for the gander. there's negative voting and positive voting. maybe, the people of west virginia haven't been running the country. they are working folks, low income. i have been out there. you know what their great cry is? the kids are leaving west virginia when they get educated. that go to west virginia. they volunteer and fight and die in higher percentages in the state of the union. to sit on the set and hear the poor, racist.
:: i'm not saying racist. i'm being careful here. in the exit polling, we conduct randomly, there's a noticeable up tick in people in west virginia who were willing to publicly state that race played a roll in their voting. we know there's a lot more people who it had an effect on than those who tell a stranger -- think how hard it is to say. somebody asked you, did race have a roll in your decision making? you tell them it did. it's an amazing statement.
:: you and i know this, if barack obama were not an african-american, he would have been beaten by john edwards. he would not be the nominee. it's far more of a positive for him in the african-american community, but with the chris matthews of the world far more than the negative.
:: let me get andrea to get in here.
:: i would disagree with that. it's a stretch to say there's enough african-american voters who are self-identifying. his appeal had nuting to do with the voters. it was iowa that listed him above the others. it was smart, targeted, organized campaigning in caucus states.
:: chris, geraldine ferraro and joe biden might have been knocked over for what they said, but it was true.
:: i hope the world my kids live in where they don't think of race as a dividing issue. sometimes they date interracially and don't think anything about it. would you like to see that country?
:: i would like to see doctor martin luther king's nation of one nation, one people. that ain't the world we live in. you have to describe reality.
:: that's why we have random polling. you know how they are conducted. you know how it works. somebody openly states race is a factor in how they vote. come on.
:: we all spent a lot of time on college campuses. i would dare say the graduates of washington university where you're going to give the commencement addressee a very different world than i see.
:: these kids are voting and enganlged. pat, we have to reboot our systems and look at our circuits.
:: i used to speak at teach ins in washington university. d.a.m.n. vietnam and stuff like that. you're not talking west virginia or middle pennsylvania.
:: we're a big country, pat and we are both part of it. thank you, it's great to have you both on. this argument is very much a part of american life for better or worse. here, we try to do it honestly.
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