I Wonder if There is an Applebee's in Oahu?

On NPR, Cokie Roberts asserted that Sen. Barack Obama's vacation to Hawaii "makes him seem a little bit more exotic," and characterized Hawaii as "a somewhat odd place to be doing it," despite also asserting, "I know that he is from Hawaii, he grew up there, his grandmother lives there." Roberts previously criticized Obama on ABC's This Week, stating that Obama's vacation in Hawaii "has the look of him going off to some sort of foreign, exotic place."

These inside beltway pundits try so desperately to connect to the working stiffs who live in the nether regions of the USA. Cokie’s silly comments mirror an assertion by the NY Times op-ed contributor, David Brooks, when he lamented that Obama was so elitist, he would never be caught at the salad bar at an Applebee’s Restaurant. Sadly, little Davy hasn’t been to an Applebee’s. If he dined there like the great mass of the American electorate, he would know that Applebee’s doesn’t offer a salad bar.

Cokie lives with her family in Bethesda, MD. According to the 2000 Census, Bethesda is the best-educated city in the United States of America with a population of 50,000 or more. 79% of residents 25 or older have bachelor's degrees and 49% have graduate or professional degrees. The median income for a household is $99,102, and the median income for a family was $130,160. Eighty-six percent of all residents were white. For the vast majority of Americans, Bethesda seems a little “exotic.”

David, the resident reasonable conservative at the NY Times, lives in Montgomery County, Maryland. Montgomery County in Maryland is situated just north of Washington, D.C. and southwest of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the nation, and has the highest percentage (29.2%) of residents over 25 years old that hold an advanced degree. I don’t believe there is an Applebee’s near Davy’s gated home.

I wonder where Davy and Cokie vacation? I do not believe I would find them in Pigeon Forge, TN riding the roller coaster at Dollywood. Or at the Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, SD sharing tips with other hog owners. Perhaps they stayed home to show their solidarity with nearly 67% of Americans who are not going anywhere this summer.

I continue to chortle when these highly-paid, insulated pundits believe they can “channel” the feelings and views of those who live outside the affluent neighborhoods ringing Washington, DC. They are clueless. I keep thinking about Joan Rivers description of ‘roughing it.” Roughing it for her means ordering a meal via room service and actually eating it!