I KNEW it!  He had to have had exposure to that thesis!   It explains to a tee what he was saying. And if enough people listen to the relevant section here,  the sense of what he said that people are pouncing on is totally off-base from what his deeper insights offer.

TPM Reader GB sent me in the video of a 2004 appearance by Barack Obama on the Charlie Rose show in which he talks about the same issue of rural and working class Americans and the Democratic party. It’s from November 23rd, 2004, so just after Obama was first elected to the senate but a couple months before he was sworn in.

It’s interesting to watch since it’s in a very non-campaign setting and almost four years ago. He makes exactly the same point, but explains it differently. Some of it is likely equally demagoguable, but shows up some of the tendentious misconstruals of what he said. I clipped out the three minutes or so of the hour segment where he addresses this issue …

Talking Points Memo | Obama in 2004