Clinton Heckled, Obama Cheered Over 'Bitter' Remarks

The Clinton and Obama campaigns clearly have one thing in common in the wake of Barack Obama's "bitter" remarks: both sides believe the incident provides their candidates with the means to go on the offensive, with Clinton working to paint Obama as "elitist" and Obama seeking to demonstrate that he is "in touch" with the needs of working-class America. It is, of course, too early to assess what lasting impact this story is going to have on the race, but the way the audience at the Alliance For American Manufacturing forum in Pittsburgh received the candidates, and reacted to the issue, will be heartening for the Obama camp. Obama, who greeted the crowd at 8:45am, raised the issue and received applause. Clinton, addressing the same crowd later in the morning, brought up the remarks and received mostly silence, with a few audible impatient jeers.

[WATCH.]

RELATED:
Clinton Met With Cries of 'No!' in Latest Bitter Speech [WaPo, "The Trail"]
Obama's Shot at Clinton's Shot [ABC News]

Comments

[Weathermaker]

83% of Americans think we're going in the wrong direction. If this alone doesn't make you bitter, you have mental issues. "Yeah, gas is $4, I have no health insurance, I can't send the kids to a decent college, I'm 3 payments late on the house and the car and I'm about to lose my job ... but hey! I'm an optimist, everything is going to be okay! Why worry?"

[Montanamotor]

Prozac is GREAT, ain't it?

[Barbwire]

Well, there's always Alfred E. Newman (of MAD Magazine): What, me worry? I think Hillary and McCain are elitist and condescending in not recognizing just where most Americans are. What ever happened to Bill's feeling our pain???

[k6007]

It's the people we've been electing year after year. When you want to know why our country is inthe shape that it's in....Look in the mirror, Constant Voter!

[Give Peace A Chance]

Hillary needs to denounce and reject Gov Rendell for calling Pennsylvanians racists.

[IndependentPAVoter]

She cant when she agrees with him. There hoping to turn this election racial in a negative way unfortunately for them the youth vote is alot stronger now and we are not having it. We are not bogged down by our parents rhetoric like previous generations. Thank God!

[bailey2006]

Even if she does denounce and reject Gov. Rendell for his statement, I bet you she will not refute the fact that there is a good possibility that Gov. Rendell is right.

I do not know the good people of PA. However, my aunt and uncle, who now live in Houston, lived there for 10 years. My aunt grew up there. And I can say from what they have related to me, there are many racists in PA. Do not know the percentages, though, enough to know if they could have a significant impact on how the good people of PA will vote.

[MikePS65]

Thank goodness we have Senator Clinton to let us know when we should be offended.

Well, to be fair, she’s just doing what slick politicians do so well – making it clear that, if you're not waving the flag or kissing the voting public's collective ass, you must be a) un-American or b) elitist.

Well guess what, Senator Clinton? THIS voter has had his fill of elected officials who use the word "patriotism" like a magical incantation, designed to distract us from the lies that leak from the other side of their mouths. I'm good and tired of my elected officials assuming I prefer the suck-up in place of the truth. I'm an adult, and I can take plain talk that doesn't pander to my ego. I'm just not that frail. Are you Clinton supporters so sensitive that you prefer the high-gloss sales job? For those folks, here it is: no one's bitter, no one’s disenfranchised. Everything's fine.

I’ll take the straight talk that sometimes hurts over the usual transparent and insulting snow job I’ve had to listen to for the past eight years. In fact, I'm heartened that I can still recognize the truth after all this time and am delighted that someone isn't afraid to speak it.

[Jenz0r]

Amen.

[williamg]

Breaking News

At a townhall in Scranton, Pennsylvania Presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) stunned the crowd of about 200 people by stating that Presidential candidate, Barack Obama (D-NY) is an "out-of-tough liberal elitest." With just one week until the Pennsylvania primaries, the tone on the campaign trail has harsh if not perplexing to many on the campaign trail, and to many voters across the nation.

Hillary Clinton told the crowd of laid off millworkers, "Senator Obama is out of touch with working Americans, like you, and me. Listen, I have talked to, I don't know, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of pollsters and focus groups, and I have to say, I know what regular people think. They think Senator Obama is an elitest and not in tune with them."

Sen. Clinton then went on to stress how she stayed in contact with regular people during her years in the White House. "You have to understand, when I was in the White House, hundreds of thousands of Americans wrote to me. They wrote to me because they, you know, they knew that I was one of them, and I think that speaks profoundly. Think about this for a second, hundreds of thousands of people wrote me letters, and I made sure my aids read almost every one of those letters for me. I have stayed in touch with the people, and Senator Obama has not. He is a teamster-endorsed-latte-liberal-elitest."

[IndependentPAVoter]

LOL how in the HELL does having your aides read letters for you keep you in touch with the people?? LMFAO please tell me she didnt really say that.

[Mchris1947]

No, she REALLY did say that. And the crazy thing is, she THINKS that statement makes her point. She believes getting letters, NOT READING THEM, in and of itself keeps you in touch.

Mind you, how did she find the time to read, or even be briefed, on what essentially amounted to fan mail, when she was working on Health Care (which failed), or championing NAFTA (which passed, but now she claims she was against all along)?

The Clinton Campaign has stooped to simpleton schemes like twisting Obama'swords to look like an insult. And the media has fallen in hook, line and sinker.

Where is the outrage over her Cheif Campaign Strategist Mark Penn trying to shove the Columbian Free Trade Deal down our throats behind her back (if you believe such a thing)???

That should have shown the entire nation EVERYTHING we need to know about her candidacy: She is either a complete fraud, claiming to work for common people when she has no such intention, OR she is so unprincipled that she would let people who should be her sworn enemies hold the highest positions in her campaign... AND pay those enemies millions of dollars for their "duplicity".

[TruthBeTold4us]

Hillary Clinton actually said "working Americans like you and me?"

I didn't grow up in a wealthy Republican household in Park Ridge, Illinois (a wealthy suburb of Chicago). I didn't have fond childhood memories of being packed into my father's Lincoln town car for a 2 week vacation each summer at a lake cottage in PA. I didn't get to take ballet and tennis lessons. I wasn't raised in wealth and privilege or as she claimed in her bio Living History, "raised with every advantage." I didn't get to go to Wellesley, my parents didn't have the money. I wasn't a member of the Young Republicans at college. I didn't get to attend Harvard Law school either. Nor was one of my first jobs out of school working on a Watergate committee. My spouse and I didn't get to take a honeymoon trip to Acapulco. I didn't move to Arkansas and almost immediately get a job at a college, then a prestigious law firm thanks to my husband's connections. I wasn't asked to serve on the board of Wal-Mart. I didn't make $109 million since Bush has been in office. Don't own a multi million dollar home or vacation home in the Bahamas.

Hillary is NOT your average American.

[EvoMan]

All true, but let's be fair. Park Ridge ain't Winnetka.

[ddc]

C'mon guys, williamg was obviously joking. He claims she sai "Think about this for a second, hundreds of thousands of people wrote me letters, and I made sure MY AIDS read almost every one of those letters for me." That should have given it away...I guess this is just another sign of how bitter this race has made us all, some seem to have lost their sense of humor.

[PhilosophicalPotato]

Good God!

Yes I guess technically Hillary is a "Working" American. But she ain't no Blue Collar Gal and she never will be so long as she's a millionaire.

When she has to decide whether or not to pay the heating bill or for her kid's prescriptions, and then watch politicians on TV claim they are going to do something about it... and then years pass (and thousands of similar, difficult decisions later) and nothing's been done... that's when she will understand the bitterness.

There's such a thing as listening to the American people, and then there's such a thing as pretending to listen to the American People. There's a huge difference.

[The 13 Colonies]

She has let down all American women. She lies cheats, and as far as this woman is concerned, she is PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sloane7]

"He is a teamster-endorsed-latte-liberal-elitest."

Did she really say those words? Is she thinking she doesn't need those voters, their very active support in the Democratic Party and their ability to fundraise? Every day in every way she is worse and worse - and very short-sighted.

[hannitizer]

Anybody still wondering how Bill Clinton could have become such a womanizer during his ascent to the presidency, just look at who he had to wake up to every morning. She has no room for class in her personality because it is overrun with pettiness. Pettiness is a reall turn-off whether you're a spouse or the voting public.

Obama 08.

[xrayman]

It's great that Obamakins are now following Clinton around to heckle her. Way to go.

[cowman]

Or could it be the general public doesn't like her?

[ZsaZsa]

Nahhhh. Can't be. :)

[Oilygarch]

That's why the lady is a...

[DRPike]

He gets mass applause, she gets mass silence with a few "No's" stating they don't agree with her. And that's Obama's hecklers? Get a grip.

[IndependentPAVoter]

Apparentely Clinton doesnt realize we in PA have been rolling our sleeves up and working hard for the past 20+ years and we are tired of it and bitter from it. I cling to my religion during almost all of lifes stresses and if that wasnt possible I dont think anyone would have religion.

[meltingpot101]

It seems the lady may have over played her hand.

[kennedy]

The lady anchor is right you have to play it over and over. I was there and the few people that said that were all Obama supporters. I looked over and they were wearing Obama buttons. And I could bearly hear them. They just didn't want to hear the truth about Obama. He is toast in PA.

NEW PA POLL:

ARG: 4/11-13/08

Clinton 57

Obama 37

Good night Obama.

[flydoghead]

ARG ranked in the bottom half of more than three dozen polling firms, among 2008 primaries through late February. It also ranked near the bottom in another ranking

say no more

[flydoghead]

try real clear politics

Hillary up 7 points

down from 16 points

and falling

[jj]

GOP dream ticket:

McCain/Clinton '08

[hannitizer]

I swear I was just thinking the same exact thing!

[EspritDeVoltaire]

I've been saying McCain/Clinton ever since it became apparent she is losing and she and Bill both started praising McCain over Obama. It's a back door to the White House because of McCain's age. The portion of the Republicans that he would lose, the evangelicals, won't vote for him anyway unless he runs against her.

[Oilygarch]

Wait, you forgot somebody for when there is no teleprompter in sight: Lieberman

McCain / Clinton / Lieberman '08

manage-a-trois / ala cascot, with a cherry on top

Lieberman can also serve as their foreign policy advisor and whisper sweet nothings into McCains ear while having a map to point to wherever he goes. He will simply say to McCain's ear, now, these are the bad guys, these are the good guys. Now, these can have nuclear facilities, these cannot. These cannot violate Geneva Conventions, oh, but these can. These can't violate UN Resolutions, but these can. These can accept the latest made US weaponry, these can go fly a kite.

And the world will be all a happier place; once the nuclear dust has settled.

Forget global warming. What the world will experience here will be more BANG for the failing buck.

Hmmmm.... -maybe shoulda said: ...with a Cheney on top

[ProfessorVP]

Come to think of it, Oily, didn't Nancy Reagan used to hide behind a potted plant and tell Ronnie things to say like, "We're doing the best we can," and such?

[naschkatze]

I picked up on the boos. You watch, tomorrow or in the next few days Clinton will drop these particular attacks and start something else because her inner polling will tell her she's getting a backlash. She's running out of time fast though.

[ZsaZsa]

I loved the pause in Obama's speech: "It's time to cut through the...rhetoric." Like he's inviting us to fill in the blank.

Maybe it's just me, but whenever Sen. Clinton shakes her head gently, smiles, and starts off her sentence with "You know...," I start to roll my eyes.

[EyeWantOneNation]

SAME HERE !!!!!!

That sad, pitiful, "mom" thing she does !!!!

LOL...and I thought it was just me !!!!

[naschkatze]

"Mom" knows what's best for us. *snark*

[EspritDeVoltaire]

The ones that put me to sleep start with, "I remember". Wait that's what it's meant to do... So that's how she's reversed the paradigm and created the Manchurian Electorate.

[kay]

Me too.

My husband says "and that's what happened" is a dead giveaway. That's what she closes with.

That means it didn't happen.

[Ono4Hoopono]

She has so many lie "tells," it's a wonder she keeps at it. Isn't there anyone around her to tell her it's not working?

You can just hear the manure truck backing up...

Beep!...Beep!...Beep!

[missjabez]

I'm sick of the "You know", too. We know what? "You know" is a gauche expression, and I would expect someone as educated as Clinton would know not to use it. Oh, but maybe hurling the "you knows" around is all part of her scheme to present herself as a regular Jane. But nothing annoys me more than the fact that she feels she needs to emphasize a point by hollering at the top of her lungs. Oddly enough, Obama is capable of making his points by speaking in mellow, relaxed tones. Maybe Clinton should take some public speaking classes from Obama.

[Ron]

Its bitter Hillary that needs to get a grip. Has she seen her tax returns yet, after calling someone else an elitist? Obama's kicking her butt, and she's gotten even more desperate, while more people and delegates switch toward Obama.

[Oilygarch]

Hmmmm....

Senator Bittery Rodham Clinton? Soon to be either Governor of New York or the new Charleton Heston?

Rodham Clinton and Charleton Heston almost have the same ring to them.

Yet, as a role model, others will wish not to have been her.

[The 13 Colonies]

I think she should run for president of the NRA, since she likes to shoot harmless little ducks.......................................................

[allentown]

I don't think the crowd reaction is so much saying they think there was zero problem with Obama's comment as much as it is saying they don't want the Dem candidates attacking each other. Clinton is clearly attacking here and has been on this riff for multiple days. I think Dems are saying Clinton is welcome to stay in the race as long as she wants if she runs a positive campaign addressing her strengths and battling McCain. If she is going to be helping the Republicans by accusing Obama of things like elitism based on cherry-picked inelegantly constructed couples of sentences, then most Dems want her gone. There are strong Hillary partisans, strong Barack partisans, then there are the majority of Dems who just want to assure we have a Dem President. So, this was basically a case of the fans calling Hillary for a personal foul.

[markkraft]

Note that all these tactics of Hillary Clinton are ways of not debating the issues... because if she runs a positive campaign based on her political experience and on the issues, she loses.

[markkraft]

Ever cynical Hillary... always pointing the dirty finger.

One day, it'll fall off or get bitten off, I'm sure.