It’s always good to do hands-on research. Last weekend, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen went out to the Hamptons to check out the political scene.
Specifically, he wanted to measure how much support Barack Obama could still garner among the liberal movers and shakers who inhabit the east end of Long Island.
Let’s read his report: “Over the Labor Day weekend, I went to a number of events in the Hamptons. At all of them, Obama was discussed. At none of them — that’s none — was he defended. That was remarkable. After all, sitting around various lunch and dinner tables were mostly Democrats. Not only that, some of them had been vociferous Obama supporters, giving time and money to his election effort. They were all disillusioned.
“Let me call the roll. I am talking about are writers and editors, lawyers and shrinks, Wall Street tycoons and freelance photographers, hedge funders and academics, run-of-the-mill Democrats and Democratic activists. They were all politically sophisticated, and just a year ago some of them were still vociferous Obama supporters. No more.”
I am glad that Richard Cohen spent the weekend in the Hamptons. It’s shocking to find out that not one person in this important segment of the Democratic base still supports Barack Obama. It’s the kind of detail that does not appear in polls, but it is certainly worth knowing and measuring.
One can only wonder how they now feel about having supported Obama in the first place. Do they feel that they were duped? Why has Obama’s ineptitude come as such a surprise? Those would be good topics for another column.
but they will all vote for him again because Republicans are eeeeeeeeeevaaaaaaaaal
ReplyDeleteI forget to mention it, but Cohen did say that they will all probably vote for him... especially if he's running against Rick Perry.
ReplyDeleteA Romney would be tempting.
I think the more important issue is how much they will donate to the campaign, how much they will fund raise for him and how their new attitudes will open up some breathing room for New York Republicans.
Another issue is how motivated will they be to go out and actually cast a vote? Perhaps the swells in the Hamptons may do that but many more of the hoi polloi will most likely stay home out of apathy
ReplyDeleteRobin of Berkeley's "Cult of Obama" is an exceptional article. Well worth the read.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great piece. Here's a link: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/the_cult_of_obama.html
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