Obama's Remarks Give Clinton an Opening

MISHAWAKA, Ind. — A political tempest over Barack Obama's comments about bitter voters in small towns has given rival Hillary Rodham Clinton a new opening to court working class Democrats 10 days before Pennsylvanians hold a primary that she must win to keep her presidential campaign alive.

Obama tried to quell the furor Saturday, explaining his remarks while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly.

"If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," Obama said in an interview with the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal.

But the Clinton campaign fueled the controversy in every place and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are vying for not only in Pennsylvania, but in upcoming primaries in Indiana and North Carolina as well.

Political insiders differed on whether Obama's comments, which came to light Friday, would become a full-blown political disaster that could prompt party leaders to try to steer the nomination to Clinton even though Obama has more pledged delegates. Clinton supporters were eagerly hoping so.

They handed out "I'm not bitter" stickers in North Carolina, and held a conference call of Pennsylvania mayors to denounce the Illinois senator. In Indiana, Clinton did the work herself, telling plant workers in Indianapolis that Obama's comments were "elitist and out of touch."

At issue are comments he made privately at a fundraiser in San Francisco last Sunday. He was trying to explain his troubles winning over some working-class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions:

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

The comments, posted Friday on The Huffington Post Web site, set off a blast of criticism from Clinton, Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain and other GOP officials, and drew attention to a potential Obama weakness _ the image some have that the Harvard-trained lawyer is arrogant and aloof.

His campaign scrambled to defuse possible damage.

There has been a small "political flare-up because I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter," Obama said Saturday morning at a town hall-style meeting at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. "They are angry. They feel like they have been left behind. They feel like nobody is paying attention to what they're going through.

"So I said, well you know, when you're bitter you turn to what you can count on. So people, they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country."

After acknowledging his previous remarks in California could have been better phrased, he added:

"The truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, those are important. That's what sustains us. But what is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they are being listened to."

Clinton attacked Obama's remarks much more harshly Saturday than she had the night before, calling them "demeaning." Her aides feel Obama has given them a big opening, pulling the spotlight away from troublesome stories such as former President Clinton's recent revisiting of his wife's misstatements about an airport landing in Bosnia 10 years ago.

Obama is trying to focus attention narrowly on his remarks, arguing there's no question that some working-class families are anxious and bitter. The Clinton campaign is parsing every word, focusing on what Obama said about religion, guns, immigration and trade.

Clinton hit all those themes in lengthy comments to manufacturing workers in Indianapolis.

"The people of faith I know don't 'cling' to religion because they're bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich," she said.

"I also disagree with Senator Obama's assertion that people in this country 'cling to guns' and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration," Clinton added.

"People don't need a president who looks down on them," she said. "They need a president who stands up for them."

McCain's campaign piled on Obama, releasing a statement that also accused him of elitism.

One of Clinton's staunchest supporters, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., acknowledged there was some truth in Obama's remarks. But he said Republicans would use them against him anyway.

At a campaign rally in Wilson, N.C., former state Democratic Party chairman and current Clinton adviser Tom Hendrickson said rural voters don't need "liberal elites" telling them what to believe.

Bill Clinton was the featured speaker of the rally but avoided commenting on Obama's remarks. When asked about it afterward, he said simply, "I agree with what Hillary said."

___

Jim Kuhnhenn reported from Muncie, Ind. Associated Press writer Mike Baker in Wilson, N.C., contributed to this report.

Comments

[lmatthe]

Let's break this down for the seemingly simple-minded Clinton folk'

You can take my job... but you can't take my god...
You can take my job... but you can't take my gun...
You lied to me about giving me a job, so I no longer trust you...you know who I do trust, people who are just like me...
You tell me that it's the fault of immigrants that you can't get me the job you promised, so now I have a problem with immigrants. .

Note: To those who believe that...the real culprit is both parties for letting the labor movement die under Reagan-Bush and yes Clinton.

Breaking down Obama's comments to bumper sticker size should help the people who desperately want to find something wrong with what he said. I personally like having a candidate that talks to us as adults. Not ones like Clinton McCain & Bush who push the bumper sticker mentality.

[furelise]

Simple-minded Clinton folk? He wasn't talking to you . He was talking to people with money about you. If you find comfort in a gun fine. If the only time you need religion is when things are tuff, fine too. But don't blame Pres. Clinton for the economy. If Obama wins the nomination, you will be blaming the Republicans which is where the blame belongs. Bush has his trillion dollar war, cutting taxes on capital gains, dividends and estate taxes for millionaires and billionaires. The first six years of his presidency he didn't veto a single pork barrel expenditure because most of them came from his party. please keep in mind Sen. Obama has never said he would opt out of NAFTA. On the contrary, he took pains to send his economic advisor to reassure the Canadian government that he would not. You really should avoid condescending and elitist statements about Clinton supporters. It might lead someone to believe you are arrogant.

[lmatthe]

Typical...Yes "Simple Minded" I meant it, Clinton supporter. You can't even get your facts straight. I guess you..like other Clinton supporters (and like base republican voters) ignore the programs like Keith Olberman and Ed Shultze whom broke the story that Canadian officials actually announced that it was Clinton's people whom approached them. That came from the "horses mouth," not Matt Drudge. That's probably in part why Clinton got Booed today by factory workers in Penn.

You called me arrogant...I Call you ignorant for not getting the story right.

[fmstam]

You capture well the content of what Obama was telling the San Franciscans behind closed doors, but you multiply the condescension about a thousand fold. If you are trying to defend your candidate, I think he would say no thanks. He has already run away from his original psycho-social analysis that the small town folk of Pennsylvania cling to religion, guns, and xenophobia because they're frustrated and bitter. But, of course, you've reduced the population of an entire region to a set of platitudes, so it is not hard for me to get my simple-mind around that.

[lmatthe]

condescension you say....Pardon me if I'm sick of politicians talking to us like 5 year olds. Then I see people who are progressive saying that they won't vote for the progressive candidate who won fair and square....

OH wait...Florida and Michigan...!!! PLEASE, if Clinton was that upset about the situation, she'd have protested when Dean announced the penalty. That's like pleading 'No contest to a crime, then after you hear your harsh sentence, you want to re-inter your plea to not guilty because you don't like the sentence...

condescension.... I'll stop being condescending when Clinton supporters stop throwing temper tantrums. I'll stop being condescending when Clinton supporters look at what happened in 2000 Bush V. Gore, and see that Clinton trying to use the super-delegates in the same fashion is scary and self centered.

How's that for "condescending"

[buzz]

Obama is cleverly trying to divert attention from the prejudiced portion of his remarks, by framing the issue as whether people are bitter or not.
That isn't the issue.
Obama was asked the reason that white people living in rural areas in PA might not vote for him. He responded by pointing the finger at them, as a group, and by claiming that they, as a group, "cling to guns and [racism]" to assuage their feelings of "frustration."
That is a bigoted, prejudiced remark. The fact is that Obama's campaign DEPENDS upon white people, who, although angry about the state of our Union, are NOT racist or prejudiced.
He further revealed who he thinks the "typical white person" is. That revelation, along with all other signs of his true feelings, is troubling.
I have concluded that Obama is a racist. His supporters can rant and rave, like Wright, about "white people" and blame every objection to Obama's views on white bigotry, but the truth is that he is the one stereotyping whites, judging whites as a group and unfairly denigrating white people for adopting positions that he himself advocates.

[suigeneris]

"That is a bigoted, prejudiced remark"

No it isn't -- that's a bigoted, prejudiced QUESTION~!!!

ANYTHING he says in response to a question about "why won't white people vote for you" can be tagged like you just gleefully have, IF THE QUESTION IS ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE.

Your problem is with the question, not with the answer. Stop trying so desperately to find something to justify your hatred of this man.

[lmatthe]

Hey Buzz, Like most Clinton Supporters and republicans alike (they're about the same people now a days) Your leaving out the crucial part of the quote. Right before that statement when Obama says that because they've been lied to so much in the last 20+ years...the people in small towns...

If your going to make an argument...try to be at least a little bit intellectually honest!!!

[lmatthe]

BTW...since when did "God Dammed America" become something racist against white people. Turn off Fox would ya!! What did Wright say about White people? Give me a quote where he racially slurred white people as a whole. OH, I'm sorry...your probably a Clinton Supporter...like republican voters...facts don't matter to you...

[furelise]

The government runs everything from the White House to the schoolhouse, from the Capitol to the Klan, white supremacy is clearly in charge, but Asa, like Jesus, refused to be defined by an oppressive government because Asa got his identity from an Omnipotent God

Rev. Wright

[furelise]

The genie is out of the bottle and can't be put back. The truth about Barack Obama, which many have known, is now known to everyone. He is an empty suit, willing to become whatever his audience of the moment requires of him. A straw man, a chameleon who pets cows, bowls and drinks beer in Pa. and tells an audience there about his admiration for GHW Bush and his Gulf War and Ronald Reagan. He leaves Pa. for sunny Ca. to the wealthy he says the ones he left in Pa. are struggling so turn to racism, guns and religion. His surrogates angrily blaming Hillary for putting the message out, I applaud her because everyone needs to know the truth abut this "straw man" Unknown, untested ,arrogant saying whatever required to win.

[fmstam]

There is no question that if Hillary was uncovered to have made identical remarks behind closed doors to a group of big city donors, the Chris Matthew's within you all would be frothing and she would be crucified.

[furelise]

Bravo

[suigeneris]

Um, she HAS, and so has her husband.

The difference is, OBAMA would not have jumped on her for it, like liar-liar-pants-on-fire Hillary has so gleefully now. Her press release on the matter and John McCain's were almost identical. What does that tell us about our loyal Democratic Senator Hillary, I wonder...?

[Oldgypsy]

Obama's words were spoken to SanFranciscan "fat cats" to give them a "wake up" call or a challenge to their consciences to sympathize is evident. He said nothing inaccurate. The feigned outrage of the Clinton camp would be laughable if the insight of the Democratic voters was more reliable. This "tempest in a teacup" is indicative of Hillary's desperation. If she is truly unaware of the bitter frustration of middle Americans, she is as blind and uncaring as McCain! I doubt the concerns of middle America are anything more than a campaign "glitch" to be "managed". The Clinton family business is foreign trade. Hillary's and her lobbyist campaign staffers will stop at nothing to obscure voter scrutiny of her true motives, interests and objectives.
Many have wondered at the reason for Bill's "blunder" at reminding us again of Hillary's "Bosnia" lies. I believe it was no blunder, but a (as he saw it) necessary sacrifice to keep media attention from a greater, and potentially, more devastating issue. The Mark Penn-Colombia "heat", was drawing too much public attention to that issue. Time to throw a smoke-bomb to the press to cover the sensitive issue of Hillary's involvement with future free-trade with Colombia.
As an American, I'm neither "demeaned" nor insulted by Obama's "bitterness remarks". Truth may not be comforting, but its at least refreshing. Especially in the midst of Clinton mendacity or McCain ignorance.
DIG people...seek facts and don't be spoon-fed sound-bites and campaign barbs.

[otuyelu]

Obama's banter about bitter working class voters during a fundraiser
made the voters show bitter anger.
Anger anchored in rising hunger and hopes blown asunder.
Hope the solver to the cause of anger

Hillary who is keen to pester, armed with this as fodder
a supercilious finger pointer,
Fuels the bitter chatter stemming from misdirected anger.
Anger reared in near a decade of NAFTA job plunder

Obama's bantering needs a word chosen better
Hillary's pestering needs a people truly bitter

[furelise]

What is laughable is how much you sound like your Master. Can't rely on Democratic voters to make the correct decision? You are condesending to assume voters supporting Hillary do not understand the difference between a man who pretends to bowl, pet cows and drinks beer with the locals and someone who really cares about the lives of the people she meets. Yeah, Obama was speaking to a bunch of fat cats, but there was one little problem. He didn't know he was being recorded when he said the people of Pa. turned to guns and relegion to deal with their problems. He didn't know anyone outside that thin air ambience would know he said the people of Pa. were racist and wouldn't vote for someone "different" That has to be the explanation right? It couldn't be that we just don't like or trust him. .That is a joke and an insult. Sen. Obama has said he will not opt out of NAFTA. He lied twice about Prof. Goolsby meeting with the Canadians to reaasure them his statements about NAFTA were domestic polotics. As far as Hillary being involved in the Columbian free trade, it is a lie and you know it, but you don't have any problem with that. There has already been a "stink" bomb thrown by Sen. Obama and anyone who didn't understand before that he is a straw man. Ambitious, Arrogant and Condesending. understands now. Pa. has seen the truth and it is Hillary's.

[suigeneris]

well said.

it's amazing how the clinton/mccain (because they might as well be the same people) folks will swallow any kind of disingenuous nonsense in their desperation to find a reason to hate Senator Obama.

[furelise]

From NBC/NJ"s Aswini Anburajan
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Led by the Chicago press corps that has covered Obama for years, the candidate today faced a barrage of questions in what turned out to be a contentious news conference.Questions centered on why his campaign had denied that a meeting occurred between his chief economic advisor and Canadian officials as well as questions on his relationship with Tony Rezko, a Chicago land developer and fast food magnate, now on trial for corruption charges.Obama claimed that when he had first denied the meeting between Austan Goolsbee and any members of the Canadian administration he provided "the information that [he] had at the time." He added, "Nobody reached out to the Canadians to try to reassure them. They reached out, unbeknownst to the rest of us; They reached out to Mr. Goolsbee, who provided them with a tangible conversation and repeated what we've said on the campaign trail." When did the meeting take place? Why did the Canadian officials reach out? Did Goolsbee not come forward right away and admit the meeting to Campaign Manager David Plouffe and Obama when both denied it last week? These are questions that went unanswered as the press conference was cut short.

[fmstam]

Obama's effort to explain himself after the fact is all too disappointingly similar to his Clintonian defense of himself after the Reverend Wright matter, that he wasn't present when the Reverend made those particularly remarks that were played in the videotapes and had never heard those particularly remarks before, as if after 20 years of close devoted association he didn't have a clue as to what his minister's belief system was, or what he was publishing in the church newsletter or selling in the church bookstore.
There is much to admire about Obama, but let's be real about what appear to be his actual faults.

[fmstam]

Sorry about the previous double post.
To compound it all, Obama is totally disingenuous when he tries to control the damage by focusing narrowly on his statement that the people in the depressed economy of the Midwest are bitter, which he states we of course all know is true, and he is dishonest when he spins his comment to suggest that he was only saying that people "take comfort from their faith" when they are bitter. That is not what he said to what he thought was a closed door private audience in San Francisco. Clinging to guns or religion or anti-immigrant sentiment does not have the same meaning as taking comfort in one's faith. Obama may have been correct in his original statement at the SF fundraiser that anti-trade sentiment stems from the frustration of a depressed economy and loss of jobs, and I don't find that part particularly condescending, but then he is just as guilty as Hillary in demagoguing that issue by catering to this anti-free trade sentiment while campaigning in Pennsylvania and Ohio. In fact, his characterization of anti-trade sentiment as a response to frustration in San Francisco makes his catering to that sentiment in Pennsylvania and Ohio appear even more transparently pandering.

[lovelyjmc]

Senator Obama's comments were accurate and not indicative of elitism or disrespect for people in small town America. Senator Clinton's attempt to make a big deal out of the remarks and whip voters up is shameful and insulting to voters. Hiilary Clinton makes me ashamed as a woman and as an attorney. Wiining at any cost has its consequences.

John McCain is clearly out of touch and out of step. Are voters as stupid as Senator Clinton thinks that we are. I hope that she is proven to be the stupid one. The Republican nominee needs to find out why he continues to make mistakes while speaking about the war in I raq.

[furelise]

lovely. It is wonderful for the Democratic voters to have a glimpse of the real Obama. Of course she will repeat his words until the entire country has heard them. Just as the entire country has heard the lies repeated about Hillary. You are an attorney? Funny that you just dropped that in when it had nothing to do with the issues. Smacks of elitism to me. If you are a lawyer and a woman, you should be ashamed of yourself. Just one generation ago, you would not have been excepted to law school, or medical school. You wouldn't have been eligible for a scholarship for anything but the occupations accepted as suitable for women. Now, if you are married and successful, it is apparently fine to say you achieved your success because of your husband. Tell me how you feel about affirmative action, because without it, I wouldn't have gotten a college education. Sexism is alive and well in the good ole USA. Forty years ago enough women in my state voted against the ERA to defeat it. Hillary offers so much more than the others and the fact that she is a woman fills my heart with joy. You are just perfect for Obama. Smug, arrogant and condescending.

[Senya]

The McCain campaign"s "bitter point" comment (April 11, 2008) reveals its anti-intellectualism that might be its characteristic from now on. Ms. Clinton"s act of copying it reflects her readiness to abandon her own principles if that brings her some political points. But,
1. What is elitist in saying that those who have lost their jobs and experienced massive unemployment are bitter? If you were in their shoes you would be, too.

2. There is nothing arrogant in applying Sociology 101 in understanding society:
- Fear produces a need for guns.
- People pray more when experiencing hardships.
- Hardship is a fertile ground for finding scapegoats and accepting prejudice.

3. And, of course, being bitter doesn"t imply absence of resilience and optimism, as Ms. Clinton claims now .(We remember her feeling bitter and shouting "Shame on you" and continuing to be resilient, as well as her recent comparison of herself with Rocky in that regard).
Senya

[furelise]

I swear you Obama people are so funny. Sociology 101? "Fear produces a need for guns"?
anti-intellectualism? If being afraid of losing your house and not being able to feed your families is a reason to buy guns, I predict a run on gun shows and churches all over the country. Sen. Clinton isn't copying anyone. She noted Sen. Obama's elitism before John McCain, but if he actually wins the nomination, won't the Republicans have fun with this. There is just a Treasure Trove of goodies waiting for them and as a longtime admirer of Sen. Clinton, I can tell you it will hurt bad.

[becky]

Yes, Barack Obama repeatedly speaks out of both sides of his mouth, depending on where
he is speaking. His lovely little speech in San Francisco shows how he visits the different areas
of the country and then passes judgement on the people there, and privately gossips about it.
""It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." The problem here is not that he said people are bitter, but that he then says that's why they cling to their guns and religion. As if when he becomes president, people won't have to have hobbies or religion, they will be so focused on him that that is all they will need in their lives.

[CaptainSunshine]

We all know you dislike Obama and that he is not your choice for the Presidency of the United States, but let's be real. Senator Clinton lies. John McCain flip flops for political expediency, e.g Bush tax cuts and immigration. This is not talking out the side of his mouth. This is being honest.

Barack Obama, the next President of the United States, was responding to a question of why weren't blue collar American voting for him and was it because he was black. He said the major reasons for their antipathy towards his candidacy was not because he was black but because they were bitter at and frustrated by their government and that they felt left behind. His references to guns and religion highlighted the two topics politicians, namely Republicans, have used as wedge issues, such as immigration, gays in the military, gay marriage, and gun control, to bring blue collar workers to the polls.

[furelise]

Sen. Clinton lies? Right. You have Bosnia, now what else have you got?
OBAMA LIES:
Parents met and married and conceived the great one because of Selma, Al.
[He was four years old at the time of Selma riots]
Took $100,000 from Rezko
[He took $250,000 and $90,000 still unaccounted for]
No one in his campaign met with Canada re. NAFTA.
[His economic advisor met with Canadian Consul in Chicago.]
He didn't hear Rev. Wright say anything like the recording.
[In his "SPEECH" he admitted he had heard controversial remarks.]
He claimed he sponsored ethics bill and passed it.
[He co-sponsored ethics bill that didn't pass]
He claimed he co-sponsored bill to control nuclear threat.
[Sen.Lugar,, author of the bill said he didn't and the bill didn't pass anyway]
These are on the record, established fact and not some vague reference to his character.

[SLone08]

What a silly comment. Do you actually believe the stuff you post?

[becky]

Yes, I do. Is that a problem for you.

[grrrfren]

I just saw this posted on The Scotsman online

'It's Obama, stupid: Carter and Gore to end Clinton bid

By Chris Stephen in New York
DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president.
Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race.
Former president Carter and former vice-president Gore have already held high-level discussions about delivering the message that she must stand down for the good of the Democrats.
"They're in discussions," a source close to Carter told Scotland on Sunday. "Carter has been talking to Gore. They will act, possibly together, or in sequence."
An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton's rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

Democrats should act sooner rather than later if they want to prevent Hillary from completely destroying the party. I and my friends and family will not vote if she steals the nomination. That means all those down-ticket Dems will lose votes too.

[mjc]

If that happens, you'll see many, many Democrats simply sit on their hands during the campaign. It is much like having the superdelegates deciding who is going to be the nominee before all the votes are in and before the contest is over.

[furelise]

Well, grrr, you better tell Steven in NY to come up with some verification because I don't know him and am not inclined to gossip. Wasn't that long ago Mathews and Olbermann were predicting John Edwards would jump on the Obama bandwagon. Friends of Edwards and his wife say they didn't like the arrogant way Obama treated them. Sound familiar?

[Binea]

I think maybe she is the neocons real candidate...look how they have been attacking Obama together ,look at how Rush told his listners to vote for her in the primary,look at how much they have had her on Fox and conservative media.I suspect they want her to win even more than they want McCain.She is easier to deal with as far as they are concerned,she really is one of them,and so whether she wins or loses against McCain..They win,and are happy with eigther Hillary or McCain.And here's more food for thought for the fence sitters...IF Obama is less of a problem for them to beat,then they would be helping Obama defeat Hillary in the primary,not the other way around.They still fear Obama.
This stinks like rotting meat.

[mjc]

There isn't really any nice way to say this but IMAGINE just how that washes with folks like myself who have been fighting for Democratic Party causes for decades, not for a person but for the Democratic Party. Obama is the one who is not and never will be a real Democrat; he is a demagogue, and the trouble is there are a lot of young people and some older ones too who can't tell the difference.

[furelise]

If you think Hillary is easy for the Republicans to deal with, you need to check your facts. For eight years they tried to destroy the Clintons and they almost destroyed the country in the process. Pay attention to what I'm saying here. Hillary Clinton will never back down to anybody. I have heard people from your camp the Republicans are changing parties for the privilege of voting for Obama.So which is it? Are they going to vote for Obama, will they vote for Hillary because Rush told them to or will they vote for Hillary because they don't like Obama. Stay tuned for the next installment on April 22.

Rise Pa. and Hillary will rise with you.

[fmstam]

The problem isn't that he said that people in small midwestern towns are bitter, although this is painting a wide group of people with a broad brush. The problem is that in trying to explain to the big city slickers in San Francisco why his campaign is facing some challenges with these quaint small town folks, he claimed that they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Why is this a problem? Because it is condescending (and probably incorrect) to reduce the religious values or gun affinity of this group of people to a psychological symptom of frustration. It is also presumptuous and condescending to suggest that small town Midwesterners are xenophobic, or are any more "anti-immigrant" than people in the city, where sentiment against illegal immigration actually runs pretty high (e.g., Los Angeles). Not to mention that he accused them of having anti-immigrant sentiment rather than anti-illegal immigration sentiment.

[Actionmac]

ok, the truth is, with all he said he didn't say THEY DON'T LIKE BLACK PEOPLE because of AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, you know like why people don't vote for clinton, as Elton said, MISOGYNY.

Ask those small town folks and are they HAPPY to hear millions of jobs were created and the factories in their towns are still boarded. Ask them if they are HAPPY to hear IMMIGRANTS are working while they are struggling. Ask them if they are HAPPY that gun laws may keep them from using or buying guns. Ask them if they are HAPPY to hear the elected official they voted for, voted for the trade deal that took their job. Ask them if they are HAPPY about their pension leaving with the job.

Go ask the PEOPLE who is being a CONDESCENDING ELITIST, you who understands the issue well enough to parse the words like a politician to get a VOTE. The candidate with staff and family supporting ANOTHER trade deal like NAFTA. The same politician that PUSHED NAFTA as GOOD for the country, then when campaigning says I WAS against that trade deal. The politician that will tell you that your jobs are not coming back, but there will be other WARS for you to fight in to make a living...
or the person telling the TRUTH about how ANGRY, USED, FORGOTTEN, FRUSTRATED, and BITTER for all of the above and more small town and middle America ARE.

[furelise]

How about this? George Bush has a war going on that is costing the American taxpayers over one trillion dollars and he cut the taxes the rich have to pay on dividends, capital gains and estate taxes. The Republican passed pork barrel bills which Bush refused to veto. Now maybe you don't think this might have hurt the economy, but i would respectively disagree. Can you understand this? SEN. OBAMA HAS NO INTENTION OF OPTING OUT OF NAFTA. Pres. Clinton shut down the US government twice refusing to sign bills with earmarks. The man himself, Fmr. Fed. Chairman Alan Greenspan, has said Hillary is the best qualified to turn the economy around. All of this aside from the fact that what Obama said was condescending and smug.

[westburbs3]

Memo to Barack Obama: Re: television ad.
Scene opens with people of various ages and hues, walking in post industrial mid-west. Unemployment line. Someone says. This really bothers me.
Headline of new war dead stats. Someone says. This is all so bewildering.
Shots of the super rich playing. Someone says sarcastically, This is so bewitching.
Headline of White House stalling on various disclosures. Someone asks someone else if they're bothered by this. He/she says. I'm bitter about it.
Music comes up with Sinatra singing, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.
Close. I'm Barack Obama, and I approved this message.
End of controversy.

[fmstam]

The problem isn't that he said that people in small midwestern towns are bitter. The problem is that in trying to explain to the big city slickers in San Francisco why his campaign is facing some challenges with these quaint small town folks, he claimed that they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Why is this a problem? Because it is condescending (and probably incorrect) to reduce the religious values or gun affinity of this group of people to a psychological symptom of frustration. It is also presumptuous and condescending to suggest that small town Midwesterners are xenophobic, or are any more "anti-immigrant" than people in the city, where sentiment against illegal immigration actually runs pretty high (e.g., Los Angeles). Not to mention that he accused them of having anti-immigrant sentiment rather than anti-illegal immigration sentiment.

[Actionmac]

ok, the truth is, with all he said he didn't say THEY DON'T LIKE BLACK PEOPLE because of AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, you know like why people don't vote for clinton, as Elton said, MISOGYNY.

Ask those small town folks and are they HAPPY to hear millions of jobs were created and the factories in their towns are still boarded. Ask them if they are HAPPY to hear IMMIGRANTS are working while they are struggling. Ask them if they are HAPPY that gun laws may keep them from using or buying guns. Ask them if they are HAPPY to hear the elected official they voted for, voted for the trade deal that took their job. Ask them if they are HAPPY about their pension leaving with the job.

Go ask the PEOPLE who is being a CONDESCENDING ELITIST, you who understands the issue well enough to parse the words like a politician to get a VOTE. The candidate with staff and family supporting ANOTHER trade deal like NAFTA. The same politician that PUSHED NAFTA as GOOD for the country, then when campaigning says I WAS against that trade deal. The politician that will tell you that your jobs are not coming back, but there will be other WARS for you to fight in to make a living...
or the person telling the TRUTH about how ANGRY, USED, FORGOTTEN, FRUSTRATED, and BITTER for all of the above and more small town and middle America ARE.

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

Why, oh why, oh why did Huff Post have to dig this "dirt" out on Obama at the eleventh hour before Pennslyvania and ram it down everybody's throat ad naseum effectively stabbing him and all of his supporters in the back?. Arianna WAS a stalwart Obama supporter up until this happened. Do you suppose that hateful Green guy from Air America gave her an ultimatum-that if she wanted to continue being a regularly on his weekly radio show she had better kick Obama to the curb and join the Hillary train? (I bet this comment wont get okay'd for posting!)

[furelise]

I'll bet that is exactly what happened.

[CaptainSunshine]

There is still a debate to come . . . with Katie Couric no less . . . we'll see what topics are brought up . . .

1. trade deal with Colombia

or

2. the frustration and bitterness of small town Americans who have lost their jobs overseas.

Number 1 is the real issue . . . and number 2 is the result of number 1. We'll watch Couric try to hammer Obama on this and give a pass on NAFTA and other trade issues.