Here in Picksburgh they have been running an Obama ad where he ends by saying "Middle Class first".

Anybody got any idea what the strategy is here (other than the obvious getting the middle class to vote for him)? ???

How might people in the "underclass" feel about this?  Somehow seems like it could backfire.

What say you?

Obama is trying to appeal to working class Republicans who feel they've been screwed over by the way taxes are set up.  Middle class is hit pretty hard.  He also wants to prevent people from thinking he's a liberal who doesn't care about hard working people.  As for the "underclass", politicians have always assumed that poor people don't vote.  The assumption is in no way correct however that's the way it is.

Yeah right.  No politicians are for the middle class. The middle class is in the middle and does not get attention because they are content.

Yeah right.  No politicians are for the middle class. The middle class is in the middle and does not get attention because they are content.


Middle class utopia went out in the 1990's.  The only middle class who are content are those of retirement age.

  I thought middle class love was to come in the form of tax cuts...

  By "middle class" Obama really means "political center" and by "political center" he really means "swing voters"...

You can't talk about "class" as an American politician unless you put the word "middle" in front of it!
::)

I'm not sure what Obama means by middle class, but there certainly is a great deal of confusion in this country about class. 

i'd say that nationalizing health care, implementing an alternative energy plan to help families choked by rising oil prices, and restoring capital gains taxes to their previous level after the bush administration slashed them are all policies that will benefit the middle class. on the other hand, cutting capital gains taxes -- which encourages speculation and pushes down the dollar -- and providing oil companies with more leases for land they'll never actually drill on -- which also encourages speculation and drives up inflation -- are policies for helping the rich only. that's the bush/mccain plan.

the thing a lot of voters don't realize is, yes, the system should be fair to rich and poor alike, but if you just have one giveaway after another to the well-off, like we've had the last 8 years, in the end you get instabilities in the economy such as inflated bubbles in various markets -- due to speculative investment spurred by government handouts and irresponsible incentives to investors -- that hurt the middle and working classes.

You can't talk about "class" as an American politician unless you put the word "middle" in front of it!
::)


Here is the same,only difference our middle class has been MIA for ages.

I think it's a good idea.  He'd go even further if he also focused specifically on small business owners.  Corporations have been screwing them over for years.

How might people in the "underclass" feel about this?  Somehow seems like it could backfire.


People who are in the underclass don't actually like to think of themselves as being in the "underclass." They actually prefer to see themselves as part of the middle class, as well.

You'll find that most people prefer to think of themselves as being "middle class," even people who are extremely rich or extremely poor. Nobody likes to think of themselves as not being "normal."

Here is the same,only difference our middle class has been MIA for ages.

Where's that again?
???

That's the problem, though, once you lose the middle class, it's hard to get it back.

I'm not sure what Obama means by middle class, but there certainly is a great deal of confusion in this country about class. 


My definition of class is Lara Spencer...  :-*

People who are in the underclass don't actually like to think of themselves as being in the "underclass." They actually prefer to see themselves as part of the middle class, as well.

You'll find that most people prefer to think of themselves as being "middle class," even people who are extremely rich or extremely poor. Nobody likes to think of themselves as not being "normal."
that is extremely well said, satish. i think that sums up the psychology quite well.

thing is, there are some folks with a lot of power who totally understand that psychology, and play with it, and use "middle class" as a carrot to dangle in front of the faces of the "lower upper class", and also as a carrot to dangle in front of the "upper lower class." you get me? i'm totally agreeing with you, that's how that works. the cats who are making lots of money, if they're human beings, feel sheeshty about the cats who are making less.