Wealthy GOP donors "couldn't live with Sarah Palin," voted for Obama instead

July 20, 2011
Wealthy GOP donors "couldn't live with Sarah Palin," voted for Obama instead

And now they're feeling betrayed.

It's in this must-read post from Jim Geraghty. He quotes Gov. Chris Christie's comments to a gathering of big election donors on why he will not be running for president, which is a worthwhile read in itself.

But even more interesting is what Geraghty quotes from Politico's Mike Allen's newsletter (apparently not available online). Allen relays what he heard from the "moderate Republican" millionaire-billionaire donors at the meeting:

Several of them said: I'm Republican but I voted for President Obama, because I couldn't live with Sarah Palin. Many said they were severely disappointed in the president. The biggest complaint was what several called "class warfare." They said they didn't understand what they had done to deserve that: If you want to have a conversation about taxation, have a conversation. But a president shouldn't attack his constituents – he's not the president of some people, he's president of all the people. Someone mentioned Huey Long populism.

Cry me a river. They looked at Obama's Harvard law degree and that sharp pant crease and thought he was one of them, or at least more so than that uncredentialed piece of Wasilla trash, with all her vulgar "you betchas" and excessive children, including that embarrassing baby she doted on. And these snobs, instead of apologizing for contributing to the downfall of America, have the nerve to complain about "class warfare."

Jim Geraghty goes easier on them but still holds them accountable for their very grievous misjudgment:

Dear wealthy moderate Republicans: I mean no disrespect, as you've made more money than I'll probably ever earn and you're quite accomplished in your fields. And like you, I find Chris Christie to be a bold and inspiring leader, who makes a very intriguing option at the national level someday.

But not all of us are shocked and stunned about Obama's class warfare and his demonization of you and the sense that he doesn't think of himself as your president too. Some of us spent two years telling anyone who would listen that he was a lot more liberal than his bland, blank-slate rhetoric suggested. And was all of this worth it because you "couldn't live" with Sarah Palin? Really? The prospect of having her living at the Naval Observatory was so epically offensive to your sensibilities that you really thought this, and all of the economic joy we've endured for the past thirty months, was the better option?

By any chance, have you done any reexamination of all of that thinking in the past two and a half years?

Don't bet on it.

Instead of whining and complaining they should volunteer a few hours apiece for some public shaming and promise not to screw it up so horribly next time.

http://www.punditandpundette.com/2011/07/wealthy-gop-donors-couldnt-live-with.html