By Bree Hocking
Last week, Republican National Convention speakers (many of whom live in big cities and make millions) couldn’t stop yammering on about their small-town values, claiming Obama had somehow smeared the demographic at-large by questioning former small-town mayor Sarah Palin’s preparedness for the vice presidency.
Obama, who last spring made some tone-deaf remarks about small-town residents clinging to guns and religion, now appears to be taking a more conciliatory approach. During a presidential campaign forum Thursday on national service, he mentioned “small towns” or “small rural towns” or “small-town mayors” repeatedly when referencing everything from inequality in the military to volunteerism.
He even took a swipe at himself, saying “we yak in the Senate” but small-town mayors “actually have to fill potholes, trim trees and make sure the garbage gets taken away.”
It was a deft comment — self-effacing while simultaneously putting Sarah Palin’s claims to vast and substantial executive experience in context.
