Four Little Words....

[HonestChieffan]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...op%3Cbr%20/%3E

What's the difference between a calm and cool Barack Obama, and a rattled and worried Barack Obama? Four words, it turns out.

"You didn't build that" is swelling to such heights that it has the president somewhere unprecedented: on defense. Mr. Obama has felt compelled—for the first time in this campaign—to cut an ad in which he directly responds to the criticisms of his now-infamous speech, complaining his opponents took his words "out of context."

That ad follows two separate ones from his campaign attempting damage control. His campaign appearances are now about backpedaling and proclaiming his love for small business. And the Democratic National Committee produced its own panicked memo, which vowed to "turn the page" on Mr. Romney's "out of context . . . BS"—thereby acknowledging that Chicago has lost control of the message.

The Obama campaign has elevated poll-testing and focus-grouping to near-clinical heights, and the results drive the president's every action: his policies, his campaign venues, his targeted demographics, his messaging. That Mr. Obama felt required—teeth-gritted—to address the "you didn't build that" meme means his vaunted focus groups are sounding alarms.

The obsession with tested messages is precisely why the president's rare moments of candor—on free enterprise, on those who "cling to their guns and religion," on the need to "spread the wealth around"—are so revealing. They are a look at the real man. It turns out Mr. Obama's dismissive words toward free enterprise closely mirror a speech that liberal Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren gave last August.

Ms. Warren's argument—that government is the real source of all business success—went viral and made a profound impression among the liberal elite, who have been pushing for its wider adoption. Mr. Obama chose to road-test it on the national stage, presumably thinking it would underline his argument for why the wealthy should pay more. It was a big political misstep, and now has the Obama team seriously worried..

And no wonder. The immediate effect was to suck away the president's momentum. Mr. Obama has little positive to brag about, and his campaign hinges on keeping negative attention on his opponent. For months, the president's team hammered on Mr. Romney's time at Bain, his Massachusetts tenure, his tax returns. "You didn't build that" shifted the focus to the president, and his decision to respond to the criticisms has only legitimized them and guaranteed they continue.

The Obama campaign's bigger problem, both sides are now realizing, is that his words go beyond politics and are more devastating than the Romney complaints that Mr. Obama is too big-government oriented or has mishandled the economy. They raise the far more potent issue of national identity and feed the suspicion that Mr. Obama is actively hostile to American ideals and aspirations. Republicans are doing their own voter surveys, and they note that Mr. Obama's problem is that his words cause an emotional response, and that they disturb voters in nearly every demographic.

It's why Mr. Obama's "out of context" complaints aren't getting traction. The Republican National Committee's response to that gripe was to run an ad that shows a full minute of Mr. Obama's rant at the Roanoke, Va., campaign event on July 13. In addition to "you didn't build that," the president also put down those who think they are "smarter" or "work harder" than others. Witness the first president to demean the bedrock American beliefs in industriousness and exceptionalism. The "context" only makes it worse.

This gets to the other reason the Obama campaign is rattled: "You didn't build that" threatens to undermine its own argument against Mr. Romney. Mr. Obama has been running on class warfare and the notion that Mr. Romney is a wealthy one-percenter out of touch with average Americans. Yet few things better symbolize the average American than a small-business owner. To the extent that Mr. Romney is positioning himself as champion of that little business guy and portraying Mr. Obama as something alien, he could flip the Obama narrative on its head.

It would be all the more potent were Mr. Romney to use "you didn't build that" to launch his own economic narrative. One unexpected side effect of "you didn't build that" is that it has emboldened the GOP to re-embrace and glory in free enterprise (so abused since the financial crash). And the president's disparaging attack on business has also made voters more open to a defense of it.

Meaning, it's a perfect time to marry emotion with some policy. Mr. Romney has explained why the president doesn't get it. The next step is to explain why his own tax policies, regulatory proposals, and entitlement plans are the answer for those who actually do the building. The president is on defense. We'll see if Mr. Romney can keep him there.

Write to kim@wsj.com


And this little gem underscores how foolish he was for what he said:

[Chiefshrink]

I assure these 'four words' will be the total focus of this election now and especially the focus of Romney in all his ads and especially the debates to come that OMarxist will try to avoid like "honoring America" whoops ! I mean like "the plague."

This will be Obama's "Howard Dean" moment ! Count on it !!!!

[LiveSteam]

I have 4 words for Obama

**** OFF AND DIE.

[Saul Good]

This thing is really resonating.

Here's the thing that gets me, though. His camp keeps talking about the context and saying that you need to listen to the whole speech. Well, I've listened to the whole speech. I understand the idea that society contributes to a business's success. Forget talking about context, and just say that it was worded poorly. Here's why. The context makes it worse.

The whole thing about (paraphrasing and editorializing) "you were smart and worked hard, but that's got nothing to do with your success because other people are smart and work hard to, and they aren't as successful, so your success is somehow invalidated" is what gets me.

This thing isn't going away.

[KCTitus]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

This thing is really resonating.

Here's the thing that gets me, though. His camp keeps talking about the context and saying that you need to listen to the whole speech. Well, I've listened to the whole speech. I understand the idea that society contributes to a business's success. Forget talking about context, and just say that it was worded poorly. Here's why. The context makes it worse.

The whole thing about (paraphrasing and editorializing) "you were smart and worked hard, but that's got nothing to do with your success because other people are smart and work hard to, and they aren't as successful, so your success is somehow invalidated" is what gets me.

This thing isn't going away.

Shhhh!

[Munson]

King Hussein is gonna curse the day he spoke those 4 little words.

[Comrade Crapski]

Hopefully enough people are paying attention this time, because he said four little words "spread the wealth around" 4 years ago expressing the same sentiment ie I am a communist, but still was elected POTUS.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

#KenyanBorat

[Fairplay]

The person who built this website didn't really build it.

[Aries Walker]

Quotes out of context happen all the time in politics. Sportshrink mentioned Howard Dean; that "hee-ya" sound effect practically ended his run, even though it literally had no meaning behind it. God knows this year the Democrats sure had their fun with "I like to fire people" which, when you hear the whole clip, makes sense. It's the same thing.

And it's a pretty good reason why I don't really ever want to be a politician. Knowing me, I'd let out something that could potentially ruin my future about once a week.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

Quotes out of context happen all the time in politics. Sportshrink mentioned Howard Dean; that "hee-ya" sound effect practically ended his run, even though it literally had no meaning behind it. God knows this year the Democrats sure had their fun with "I like to fire people" which, when you hear the whole clip, makes sense. It's the same thing.

And it's a pretty good reason why I don't really ever want to be a politician. Knowing me, I'd let out something that could potentially ruin my future about once a week.

Dean's campaign was already sunk when he did his scream. He had just been hammered in the ballot boxes. Romney didn't say that he liked firing people. He said that he liked to be able to fire people who provide poor service by taking his business elsewhere.

Obama said this, and the context makes it worse. Why he doesn't simply say that it was a poorly worded remark that doesn't concert his true feelings is beyond me. He can't seem to admit that he is ever wrong.

[JonesCrusher]

He didn't say it!

His vocal chords, tongue and air allowed him to speak.

[ChiefRocka]

lame.

[Brainiac]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

Quotes out of context happen all the time in politics. Sportshrink mentioned Howard Dean; that "hee-ya" sound effect practically ended his run, even though it literally had no meaning behind it. God knows this year the Democrats sure had their fun with "I like to fire people" which, when you hear the whole clip, makes sense. It's the same thing.

And it's a pretty good reason why I don't really ever want to be a politician. Knowing me, I'd let out something that could potentially ruin my future about once a week.

The problem with the "quotes out of context" defense on this one is that the full context makes it sound even worse.

[Comrade Crapski]

The idiot is at it again:

On Wednesday, President Obama argued that not raising taxes on certain households amounts to a "giveaway" from the government. On Thursday, White House spokesman Jay Carney repeated and defended the term "giveaway."

http://atr.org/obama-letting-people-...wn-money-a7078

Barry's handlers better get his teleprompter fixed, pronto.

"Hey, we let you keep your money. We gave it to you."