by Mark Silva
Sen. Barack Obama, who concedes he could have chosen his words better when he spoke about a bitterness among working class voters last week in a closed-door setting, is paying for those words with a weekend of public complaints from the Clinton campaign about his “condescending’’ attitude toward small-town America.
Yet, even in addressing the question again today, Obama’s more carefully chosen words have left him vulnerable to a cascade of complaints from Clinton campaign surrogates – the mayors of small-town Pennsylvania supporting Clinton’s candidacy – who spoke out today in a campaign-orchestrated chorus of scripted indignation.
It’s the word, it seems, that Obama cannot get around: “Bitter.’’
“Condescending,’’ replies Tom Vilsack, ex-governor of Iowa and a Clinton-backer from a state where Obama had launched his successful campaign with a strunning caucus victory over the senator long perceived as the front-runner in the party.
Speaking Sunday at a closed-door fundraiser in San Francisco, Obama had said he understands why some working-class voters become frustrated and vote on single issues. “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," he had said, in an address revealed in bits and pieces this week by The Huffington Post online, delivering the controversial words on Friday.
Yet speaking today, he didn’t say it all that differently -- leaving the opposing campaign the same opening to take offense at a sweeping characterization of working class voters in small towns where Clinton and Obama are competing for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“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 today in Muncie, Ind. "They are angry. They feel like they've 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,’’ Obama said today. “Some people, you know, they vote about guns, or they take comfort in their faith, and their family and their community. And they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country, or they get frustrated about, you know, how things are changing.’’
Vilsack, former governor of Iowa and an ex-mayor of his adopted hometown Mount Pleasant, grew up in Western Pennsylvania.
“I think I have a good understanding of the thoughts and feelings and motivations and beliefs of those who live in small communities, whether it be in Pennsylvania or in my state in Iowa or for that matter, across the United States,’’ Vilsack said in a conference call today organized by the Clinton campaign. “After reading and reviewing Sen. Obama’s comments, I have found them to be condescending and disappointing."
And they reflect in my view a very flawed reading and understanding of people who live in small towns in Pennsylvania and across the United States,'' Vilsack said. "Folks who work everyday, play by the rules, and want to do right by their families and their communities.
“He suggests that people are bitter,’’ Vilsack said. “I think they are frustrated. I think they are anxious because eight years of the Bush economy has not done what it needs to do. What they want is not a pat on the head from a presidential candidate; they want a pat on the back… to be told that there is a plan which is a way to make things better, and leaders who are dedicated to making that happen.
“The most glaring misreading and misunderstanding of people in small towns were Sen. Obama’s comments about God and guns,’’ Vilsack said. “He suggests that in some way the faith of those who live in small towns is superficial. It’s used as a crutch in a time of need. That’s not what I know.
“What I know is that our faith is real and it is rooted. It is the foundation of our values system,’’ he said. “It is what defines how we live our lives, and most importantly of all, how we raise our families. It is true. It is genuine.
“His comment about guns suggests that they are an instrument that we use somehow to protect ourselves from the outside world, to isolate ourselves from the outside world. When in fact, guns are a reflection of what we do with our family and our friends. It’s how we pass on, through hunting, family traditions that are strong and how we form friendships that are lifelong.
“I am deeply concerned about these comments because I think it’s difficult for a Democratic candidate to be successful in a general election if he misreads and misunderstands people who live in small communities, to the extent as reflected in his comments. If we are to be successful in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and Ohio and Missouri and Iowa and Colorado and other states around this country that are made up of a lot of small towns and a lot of people who believe in God and who enjoy hunting, we’re going to have to have someone at the top of our ticket who understands those folks.’’
Chris Doherty, the mayor of Scranton, said: “I can tell you in Scranton and Northeast Pennsylvania, we’re optimistic. We’ve seen over 400,000 million invested in our city over the last seven years and we’re doing real well. It’s disappointing that Sen. Obama doesn’t realize that. He’s spent some time here and you could see the changes in our state and how well we are doing.
“As to people in our area turning to guns or to God or the perception that things are bad, the truth is what the governor said, people in Northeastern Pennsylvania like to hunt,’’ he said. “We worship our God regardless of our religion and that doesn’t happen in bad times necessarily, it happens as part of who we are, as people from Northeastern Pennsylvania. That tradition was passed down to us from our parents, from our grandparents, people in Pennsylvania have been here for three to four generations.
Robert Lucas, mayor of Sharon, Pa.: “The furthest thing from the truth is that we are bitter. To say that we cling to our religion and guns because of that – I can’t understand that. In this small city of 15,000, we have over 35 churches. Those churches weren’t built because we’re bitter and we don’t go to church because we are bitter.
“We don’t go up to the mountains to hunt because we are bitter. We’re concerned that seven years of Bush has really hurt us.’’
John Callahan, mayor of Bethlehem, Pa.: “We have lost thousands of high-paying blue collar, family-sustaining jobs. But we’re still here and we’re still fighting to make our cities and our neighborhoods strong.
Tom Leighton, mayor of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: “Today’s the first day of fishing, and fishing and hunting brings families together. It allows time for fathers to spend time with their children. On top of other things that go on, whether it’s soccer or going to church, the people of Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding community have a strong faith and attend mass and their congregation daily.
The people of Wilkes-Barre “are not bitter,’’ the mayor said. “They are very optimistic about the future… We need leadership that is going to help us improve things here, not put us down.
Steve Reed, mayor of Harrisburg, Pa.: “We happen to like our small town values. We think they’re the bedrock of the American values that have built this nation and the people of our towns embrace their religions out of faith, not out of bitterness or frustration. I have found our small town citizens to be decent. They are hardworking. They are friendly. They are giving. They are caring. They are patriotic.
“They don’t deserve to be categorized as they were in the remarks made out in California,’’ he said. “It’s a very unfortunate stereotype of the citizens of our towns in this state, and in every state across the nation, to have them unfairly categorized as they were. Frankly, the remarks of Sen. Obama lacked judgment. They lack understanding.
“Frankly the remarks are condescending, they are negative, they are hurtful.’’
Comments
Are there still some neandrathals out there that believe in religion? Really? I think Obama hit it on the head with as much polital correctness as one could use. People use "God" when they want to; when they are sad or when they are happy, and more often than not, the former. This is not "secret", and for people to beat up on Obama over this item is an exercise in futility, as Hillary has already lost the race anyways.
Posted by: Xcellentform | April 12, 2008 5:50 PM
Rejecting racism as an explanation, Obama answered a question at a private fund raiser by saying that Pennsylvania voters were bitter about their economic situations. For that he got slammed as an "elitist" by the usual suspects: Hillary Clinton, McCain and the Republican Party. It is known as Distraction Politics.
About two weeks ago Karl Rove gave an interview in which he established what was going to be the Republican playbook against Obama. Cast him as an "elitist" "out of touch" with ordinary folks (Harvard grad you know, arrogant. I said then Oh so that's how "they" are going to start spinning anything that Obama says. It is a classic Swift Boat technique. Take a strength and turn into a liability. Rove should know. He is a master at the technique. After all he is the one who sold the American electorate on the idea that the son of a multi millionaire, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but a failure at virtually everything he had ever done, was just an average Joe. And if Bush II was not too bright, heck, most of the electorate felt they weren't all that bright either and deserved to be "represented" by someone who turns out to be ... you fill in any words you want.
So after the Master Rove laid out the strategy, Clinton and McCain embraced it. Hillary's was the first sniper fire. Then McCain joined in the fire, followed by the local Republican parties. "He's an elitist," they clamored. "He's out of touch." "He should apologize for speaking the truth to the American public." "How dare he call anyone bitter." After all Americans are all smiling in the rusting heartland.
Do they really think we are all morons? I guess they must since they certainly talk to us as if we were. And I guess a lot of the time it has worked. It is also known as distraction politics... Distract people by giving them a target to be angry about. Rev them up to be angry at someone else so they can't get together to work on possible solutions. That way they won't realize that Hillary Clinton, the former Goldwater Girl, whose accent now changes as frequently as her hairdo used to when she was the President's wife, is now multi-millionaire. $107 in 7 years is a nice return for selling access to a future president by a former president. That way the electorate won't stop to consider that McCain is also a multi millionaire by virtue of his second wife, having abandoned the first after she was injured in a car accident. They might not realize that he was against any mortgage melt down fix, because most of the folks caught in it were the "undeserving poor." So let's see if distraction politics works yet again or maybe this time too many chickens have come home to roost for everyone to be taken in yet again.
Posted by: Annabella | April 12, 2008 5:50 PM
Please people let me explain to you why you are the way your are. I can explain why your a racist, or god fearing or love people killing guns or hate illegals. It is the economy stupid! Now don't question me just sit down and listen to my wise words because I get it just ask my pal Rev. Wright.
Posted by: Aaron | April 12, 2008 5:59 PM
Well, I guess Sen. Obama can wave good-bye to the Bubba vote!!
Posted by: Chuck | April 12, 2008 6:00 PM
I have often said that if I had known in 1968 what I know now, I would have sat down and cried.
Bitter? You bet I am!
Posted by: Dave Anderson | April 12, 2008 6:00 PM
We *ARE* bitter!!!
Who the F@@k said we are happy? The fed is giving irresponsible, IDIOTIC bankers our hard earned tax dollars. Congress is giving irresponsible, IDIOTIC bankers/home builders our hard earned tax dollars. These successive bailouts are driving the dollar down and "inflating" the middle into poverty.
What kind of monumental imbecile could possibly thing Americans are happy with this corporate welfare.
GET THIS STRAIT, SOME OF US ARE READY TO RIOT OVER THESE ABSOLUTE SOCIAL INJUSTICES. DO NOT EXPECT US TO ACCEPT THESE CRIMINAL BAILOUTS QUITELY.
Posted by: Eric deCarbonnel | April 12, 2008 6:07 PM
Another shot to the foot but he's still limping along.
Posted by: John Q Pubic | April 12, 2008 6:09 PM
It's just words, per Clinton. I cannot understand why Clinton got worked up. Of course, Obama respect small town folks as much as Clinton does, or possibly more. Without them he cannot win. Now dont' make a fuss over it. It's just words
Posted by: Georgee | April 12, 2008 6:11 PM
Same old thing comes out of his mouth no matter how he juggles the wording. "BITTER" is not how people prefer to be described..Quit now Obama before you insert foot in mouth again........HRC will win...
Posted by: kcm | April 12, 2008 6:11 PM
All the rats are coming out of their holes. The Clinton supporters who like her twist everything around. I think that Hillary has finally gotten her Republican Card. Maybe in November we can have 2 Republicans running. They are so close that I can't tell the difference. Usually before you pounce on somebody that hard, you ask them to explain their comment. NOOOOOOOO Hillary shot out like a bat out of hell. The phones at the Clinton Headquarters must be ringing non stop trying to convince the superdelegates to vote for her. What a sorry sight.......
If she can't recognize what's wrong with America, how does she hope to fix it ?
Posted by: Ron | April 12, 2008 6:13 PM
Between the Rev. Wright controversy and the typical white person comment, and the Bitter middle class clinging to faith and guns-- I humbly cannot perceive Obama as President. A President must uplift their country and the citizens and NOT tear them down. Obama has now lost any chance at getting my vote and it is evident today, that many folks are done with him. A leader must be positive. This is America and we are a strong proud nation who will overcome our obstacles.
Posted by: Steve, ATL | April 12, 2008 6:13 PM
Please. I can see wanting to make something out of nothing to have something to write about, but this is so over-the-top.
Clinton is desperate. McCain is no better. Obama is the real deal. People are bitter. I'm glad someone is finally saying the truth instead of relying on focus-group approved sound bites.
Go Obama! There are millions of us with you.
Posted by: Leebo | April 12, 2008 6:14 PM
Obama – Black is Wright
Obama attracts thugs and bullies to his campaign and personal life and is able to do so with impunity.
If Obama where Caucasian, he would have been bulldozed by the media long ago.
Look at Obama’s affiliations:
- Senator Meeks who openly hates whites and gays and is listed prominently on Obama’s campaign website as a major Obama supporter and backer and is one of Obama;s super-delegate. Mr. Meeks has been integral in helping Mr. Obama succeed in politics.
- Mr. Ayers of the Weather Underground, a group that killed police and tried to bomb the US Capitol, served with Obama on the board of the leftist foundation called the Woods Fund.
- Robert Malley a close senior adviser to Obama who advocates negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group.
- Larry Sinclair alleges in 1999 Senator Obama’s arranged to meet him in a limousine, sold Senator Obama cocaine and then gave Senator Obama oral sex. Larry then claims that he and Obama went to a hotel and preformed oral sex again. Mr. Sinclair is testifying in court under oath that these allegations are true.
- Mr. Auchi is an Iraqi billionaire and major financial sponsor and closely connected to Obama’s rise to power.
While working with Saddam Hussein, Auchi made his fortune through the selling of arms in Iraq and the funneling off of money from the Oil for Food program.
- Mr. Rezko an Iraqi citizen and Obama’s and Auchi’s long time friend and a major mob figure. Rezko is NOT known for his civic sense of duty and does not do favors without asking something in return. Coincidently in the Chicago Times today it was reported that Rezko was negotiating to purchase rehab buildings in Obama’s district.
- Mr. Wright a racist who hates America and whites with Hitleresque triads. Mr. Wright has been Mr. Obama’s spiritual mentor for over 20 years. Before the media exposed Mr. Wright, Mr. Wright was on Obama’s campaign staff as Obama's chief religious advisor. Mr. Wright and Mr. Meeks are ideologically closer to Karl Marx and Black Nationalism, than to Christianity.
- Rashid Khalidi a fundraiser for Obama and is one of Obama’s close friends. Khalidi Khalidi claim Israel as a "catastrophe", and supports Palestinian terrorist groups.
- Mr. McPeaks is Obama’s military adviser and national campaign co-chairman who publicly states that American Jews are the "problem." and “Christian Zionists were driving America's policy in Iraq to benefit Israel.”
- Michelle Obama trumpets Obama as “the second coming of the messiah,” and also states that she “has never been proud to be an AMERICAN in her adult life".
The list goes on…
How can Obama’s bad judgment to choose to affiliate with criminals and fanatics be justified?
Had Hillary Clinton had any of the above ghosts in her closet, she would have been thrown out of the election long ago.
Hey everybody - am I missing something here?
Are we so in love with the color black that we forget to see the man?
Posted by: Carlie Stearm | April 12, 2008 6:14 PM
The pied piper just dropped his flute.
Posted by: reason | April 12, 2008 6:17 PM
obama lost any consideration from me a long time ago, so anything eles he does is of minor concern to me.
ANYONE WHO THINKS THEIR SINGLE EGO is greater that MILLIONS of people in two states does not deserve to be considered as President.
he cried foul about Florida and Michigan and when they offered an opportunity for a reVote, Clinton said O.k., and obama said NO.
he lost my respect right then and there. he whined that he was being treated unfairly and when given the opportutnity to wright the wrong(?) he said no, and kept on whining.
that was a clear indication of who the man is. Nothing else really matter.
Posted by: not presidential | April 12, 2008 6:18 PM
As I have stated before I consider hussian Obama to be just another white boy with a plan; to get elected, and hopefully America will wake up to the fact that he has deceiced them and is one of the all time anti white and racist men of our time.
Endorsements from the likes of kennedy only strenghtens my beleifs that the guy is not presidential material nor leadership material.
Posted by: ronnie smith | April 12, 2008 6:19 PM
Obama may have meant something else when he made his bitter statement but if he wants to be our president words and how you say them is very important we certainly do not need another president like Bush who has made lots of countries change their mind as how the view America they have lost admiration of America over some of the he not only did but poor choices of his word Yes we need a change and Obama has again proved he is not the one.
Posted by: babs in ga. | April 12, 2008 6:22 PM
What Obama said is right. He said what he did in a spirit of compassion. He shouldn't be attacked, he should be elected.
Posted by: Paul Church | April 12, 2008 6:26 PM
the working poor are bitter, he was right. Clinton and Bush pandered to the 'hot button' issues that the working poor identify with, illegal immigration, gun rights, religion. Maybe Obama is just too honest to be POTUS, or maybe he is just naive in his belief that he can speak to the American People as adults.
Posted by: Lynne B | April 12, 2008 6:28 PM
You're kidding!!!
Tom Vilsack said rural voters are "frustrated"!!!
What a condescending, arrogant jerk!!!!
Oh, wait. I forgot. We're talking about Barack Obama. Vilsack is cool, because he said "frustrated". Obama said "bitter," and that's completely different.
Couldn't we talk about torture or something? I'm already bored with this.
Posted by: ryan | April 12, 2008 6:29 PM
This is so much BS. Anti-Immigration was spread to help explain why people lost there jobs. When bad trade deals take away American jobs, Politicians like Hillary have to deflect the blame to outside groups but If you lost your only source of income or insurance you blame the person who took the job away from you. The politician and the immigrant. You become cynical of what the government will do and you retreat to other values and propagate anti-immigration, and anti-trade notion because your angry and bitter. What Obama was saying was true of the social situation and to take away the complexity of the situation shows how out of touch $109 million Hillary is.
What happen to this outrage when it was proven Hillary lied about supporting NAFTA, or Bosnia, or Ireland, or when Penn went to Columbia of all places. All these things are a lot worse then anything Obama's done.
Posted by: MM | April 12, 2008 6:31 PM
Add it to the growing list of reasons Saint Obama the Con Man will never be president of this great nation - ever.
The man is spilling over with arrogance.
Posted by: Tom | April 12, 2008 6:33 PM
Wow, the Hillbots have become rather desperate, haven't they?
Fellow Obama supporters, you have your work cut out for you between now and a week from next Tuesday.
Don't be shy about flooding Pennsylvania newspaper blogs and remind everyone:
1) Bill Clinton pushed through NAFTA and Hillary supported it.
2) Hillary's top campaign advisors were caught secretly negotiating a free trade agreement with Columbia, even as she was publicly lying and saying she was against it.
3) Bill Clinton amassed a fortune of over 100 million dollars on the elite global "lecture" circuit, presumably in exchange for future political favors.
3) Hillary Clinton's fired campaign manager Mark Penn's firm has worked for both Blackwater and John McCain.
4) Hillary Clinton's parents were Republicans, and she herself was a Goldwater Republican until she felt change blowing in the wind.
5) Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the credit card sponsored bankruptcy bill, which makes it harder for folks to get out of bankruptcy.
6) Hillary Clinton voted against the cluster bomb ban, knowing fully that cluster bombs are designed for as much collateral damage as possible.
7) Hillary Clinton voted in favor of getting Bush the unfettered ability to launch an illegal war of aggression in Iraq.
8) Hillary Clinton voted in favor of Kyl-Lieberman, which was passed in order to pave the way for yet another illegal war of aggression, showing she learned absolutely nothing since 2002, or simply does not care.
9) Hillary Clinton has not stood up to the neocon agenda in any meaningful way over the course of the last 8 years, when America needed her most.
10) Hillary Clinton has indicated she believes John McCain is a better candidate for president than Barack Obama.
In summary:
The Clintons aren't only ELITISTS, they AREN'T EVEN DEMOCRATS.
Posted by: Karl B. | April 12, 2008 6:33 PM
The Pennsylvania politicians will rally around this. The response was worse than the original comment.
Posted by: Jeff | April 12, 2008 6:36 PM
Barack should be an expert on bitterness; his wife is chock full of it.
Posted by: PoliticalDookie | April 12, 2008 6:37 PM
Tony Rezko and the The Chicago-style politics of "Where's my cut"...
Plus his Spiritual Mentor Jeremiah Wright and the Theology of Hate...
Plus Condescension, or "People are just too unsophisticated if they don't vote for me"...
Plus Ralph Nader...
Obama defeated in November
Posted by: MJ | April 12, 2008 6:39 PM
if hillary is too dense to comprehend the fact that EVERYTHING obama was refering to is the REASON Democrats failed to get Gore or Kerry into the whitehouse then the democrats are doomed. Everyone knows obama was telling it like it is and only idiots questions his motives. WAKE UP AMERICA
Posted by: Lee Nelson | April 12, 2008 6:39 PM
There are many people in small communities who do not go to church on Sundays, and many people who do not believe in hunting but that does not make the people who do, bitter. We all have to live with tolerance of our neighbors and get along with each other in small communities, thats the American way.
Posted by: Consuelo Mander | April 12, 2008 6:39 PM
Bitter - 2: marked by intensity or severity: a: accompanied by severe pain or suffering b: being relentlessly determined : vehement c: exhibiting intense animosity d (1): harshly reproachful (2): marked by cynicism and rancor e: intensely unpleasant especially in coldness or rawness
Posted by: Edward | April 12, 2008 6:39 PM
There are many people in small communities who do not go to church on Sundays, and many people who do not believe in hunting but that does not make the people who do, bitter. We all have to live with tolerance of our neighbors and get along with each other in small communities, thats the American way.
Posted by: Consuelo Mander | April 12, 2008 6:39 PM
There are many people in small communities who do not go to church on Sundays, and many people who do not believe in hunting but that does not make the people who do, bitter. We all have to live with tolerance of our neighbors and get along with each other in small communities, thats the American way.
Posted by: Consuelo Mander | April 12, 2008 6:39 PM
The Clintons are trying desperately to deflect attention away from the fact that Hillary has been exposed as a serial liar, a corporate puppet, and a manipulative opportunist.
And she's no feminist, I'm sorry. All those years enabling and covering for her philandering hillbilly husband, even as she knew the woman coming forward were telling the truth, and then staying with Bill just to ride his coattails into the oval office...
That's setting the feminist movement back by about 150 years, in my opinion.
Posted by: Karl B. | April 12, 2008 6:41 PM
Sometimes, you can't say things that are obvious, like whether the emperor has the clothes on his body.
What is outrageous here, in my opinion, is that so many Clinton surrogates jumped out to blast at the other candidate of their own party, just to knock down the hopeful one that could resuscitate the Democratic Party.
The selfish people would ultimately see their own favored one doomed in a general election.
Just feel strange that they could not tell people nationwide had a disgust at Clinton. The repeating polls about favorable vs unfavorable already shows Clinton can't win in any case.
Posted by: jay | April 12, 2008 6:43 PM
It's hard to believe that people would be so gulible to allow this distortion of facts to influence their decision in selecting a presidential candidate. If one simply read Sen. Obama's comments it should be intuitively obvious that he in no way intended to make a demeaning comment about people living in small town America.
I find it reprehensible that the MSM takes little responsibility for printing the facts and supplants meaninful dialogue with snipits merely focused on sensationalism.
Posted by: J. McNair | April 12, 2008 6:43 PM
And so it continues.
HRC's offer to take Obama in as a veep and rescue his political career is looking like a wiser move by the minute.
Spending some time as political wallpaper could do a lot of good.
When will the Chicago media drop the other shoe to this story---that a lot of rural places are increasingly populated with 'bitter' African Americans who had to flee the american city as theme park for the wealthy phenomenon--particularly outside of
Rezkoland (Chicago)?
Posted by: realist | April 12, 2008 6:44 PM
Obama touches on subjects that a lot of society considers taboo. Then we have the habit of shooting the messenger. When Obama says "let's talk about race", talking heads tell us "yes, but not YOUR way..." Obama talks about the frustration in the inner city communities and we tell him his beliefs are insulting. Then he talks about rural America and we tell him his beliefs are insulting. It's about time someone (Obama) begins talking about topics considered taboo and open a discussion on why some are insulted. We say we want honesty in our politicians, then we beat on the ones that do.
Often the media is more interested in that the average person. Both liberals and conservatives are tiring of the media frenzy over each sentence in the campaign.
Posted by: Mark G | April 12, 2008 6:59 PM
I like what Tennesse Guerilla women had to say about all this the best.
http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com
/2008/04/obamas-bitter-analysis-all-
bigots-are.html
Join the HRC camp now Barry. Come to mama baby.
Posted by: btchisthenewblack | April 12, 2008 7:00 PM
This issue and others like it (Hillary's memory of sniper fire, McCain's 100 year war, etc) are about as important as Neil Patrick Harris's clarifications of his comments regarding Britney Spears's appearance on How I Met Your Mother.
Instead of everyone trying to be Ed Rollins or Michael Deaver or James Carville or Mark Penn or David Axelrod or one of these other cynics and charlatans, let's focus on what each of these people are voting for and what their positions are.
All of this word play is just garbage the media needs to fill time a column inches.
Posted by: Bake McBride | April 12, 2008 7:05 PM
All this is just swell.
Meanwhile, we lost 19 soldiers in Iraq this week.
Question:
Why is Romania called Rome-ania?
Anybody?
Buehler?
Buehler?
Okay. Another question.
What happens to all those soldiers in Iraq if China decides to stop our credit?
How we gonna get them home?
Posted by: anotheruppitywoman | April 12, 2008 7:06 PM
I disagree with the backlash coming from Obama's comments. He's not trying to suggest that, as mayor Lucas said, people are turning to guns and God because of economic woes. Obama is arguing that, in terms of political action and platforms from politicians, economic policy has been a fruitless pursuit. Since politicians in the past have been inept in changing economic conditions, guns and God are alternative platforms where movement has been and will continue to be possible. Obama is right.
Posted by: Brad H. | April 12, 2008 7:09 PM
Are these folks REALLY so uninformed, ignorant or stupid to assume people aren't AWARE that what Obama said was simply a statement of fact?
He must have hit one helluva nerve with these money-grubbing warmongers to have warranted them getting so fired up about the simple use of a word that accurately reflects exactly what people feel (real people who don't have multi-million dollar bankrolls).
The fact that those who are attacking him the most fervently are either unaware of the nature of what people of the middle class have to endure under the policies these hacks espouse simply verifies Obama's statements.
Maybe when these fools decide to speak the truth will the mindless, illiterate and hateful trolls who follow them understand just how distasteful and offensive they are in the face of their own empty criticisms and worthy of complete ridicule they themselves are behaving by backing the idiocy of the right wing and corporate lackeys like McCain and Clinton.
There are only 2 kinds of republicans, rich ones and suckers.
Posted by: wirehedd | April 12, 2008 7:10 PM
Think of all the Clinton issues that have come up between the debates in Ohio and Texas in early March and now....
1 - NAFTA (I'm against it even though in the 90s and as late as 2002 I was for it)
2 - Colombia/Mark Penn
3 - Bosnia
4 - Tax returns
5 - and now this....
The Clintons think this "elitist" thing is going to work. Some people are upset about it now, but give it time...elitist...yeah, right...calling someone an elitist when they have like eight homes like McCain does....calling someone an elitist when they made $109 million over the last seven years like the Clinton's have.....yeah, right......
Posted by: Audrey Beck | April 12, 2008 7:12 PM
Hillary is triangulating Union Dems against Cubicle Dems-- that's how Bill Clinton got NAFTA passed. No, the irony is that she and Bill are pretending to be on the opposite side (pro labor) this time.
Sadly, no one seems to remember how the Clinton threw labor and the working-class under the bus to get NAFTA through. They poured gas on the charges of "corrupt labor bosses" and hinted to the cubicle Dems that it was okay to nuke those has-been, ignorant lunchbox types since (according to them) the New Economy was going to make them irrelevant anyway.
Posted by: goga54 | April 12, 2008 7:15 PM
disappointing political hackery from vilsack.
"'bitter?' that's condescending. they're frustrated.'"
i suppose vilsack figured out that the obama administration's secy of agriculture will be someone who can deliver more votes in the general election.
Posted by: rob mccolley | April 12, 2008 7:20 PM
"400,000 million"? I seriously doubt that.
Posted by: Tim | April 12, 2008 7:20 PM
Obamas remarks have a connection with his sentiment about America in general.Rev Wright is Obamas compass.This guy is way out of touch.
Thank you from bitter small town America.The Elitist has shone his head again.
Posted by: DT | April 12, 2008 7:21 PM
Sen. Obama's remarks in a closed door session before major donors are just one more reflection of his poor judgment, character,
and credibility.
His remarks show a fundamental lack of understanding of this country, its ideals & values.
Had the media & the DNC investigated or vetted Sen. Obama and his fringe, non-mainstream ideas and values, he might never have reached the point of being the nominee.
Is the DNC going to investigate him ever?
Posted by: concerned | April 12, 2008 7:22 PM
Where is the scrutiny and explanation for Hillary's misspeak and misrepresentation on issues like sniper fire in Bosnia and free trade agreements. Even John Edwards apologized for his Iraq vote. Hillary clearly feels she is entitled to be president. Who is the elitist?
Posted by: Matt | April 12, 2008 7:29 PM
What does Obama plan to do with these bitter, religious, gun-touting, small town people - move them into the big cities, set them up in public housing, give them foodstamps and have them live off the government? Meanwhile their children can drop out of school and start killing each other for sport. That's working well, just ask Mayor Dailey.
Posted by: Mary | April 12, 2008 7:35 PM
OBAMA YOU AND YOUR ARROGANCE LOST MY VOTE ...
Posted by: nane | April 12, 2008 7:39 PM
Let's keep it simple.
1. In the following sentence, replace Obama's name with Clinton of McCain.
2. Replace the "Small-town" with "Black," or "Jewish," or "Female."
According to [Obama, (1)] [Small-town (2)] Americans 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."
So, in Obama's beliefs, an entire group of people are bitter, and this bitterness among the group automatically leads each of them, to Guns, Religion, Hatred, Fear. Their emotion combined with their lack of critical thinking skills dictates they adhere to these opiates of the masses. Now we can understand those who cling to their religion, and hand in hand, their bigotry, and hand in hand, their guns.
I get it now. Thank you, Mr. Obama, for the enlightenment.
Posted by: yael | April 12, 2008 7:49 PM
I grew up in an industrial town and worked during two summers on an assembly line at a truck and tractor factory. Thos plants are gone. The jobs are gone. Obama spoke the truth. With "political-friends" like the people quoted in this article it's no wonder so many jobs were lost in Pennsylvania. Bitterness was an unavoidable consequence. Obama should be thanked for speaking candidly
Posted by: Tom Davis | April 12, 2008 7:50 PM
All the rats are coming out of their holes. The Clinton supporters who like her twist everything around. I think that Hillary has finally gotten her Republican Card. Maybe in November we can have 2 Republicans running. They are so close that I can't tell the difference. Usually before you pounce on somebody that hard, you ask them to explain their comment. NOOOOOOOO Hillary shot out like a bat out of hell. The phones at the Clinton Headquarters must be ringing non stop trying to convince the superdelegates to vote for her. What a sorry sight.......
If she can't recognize what's wrong with America, how does she hope to fix it ?
Posted by: Ron | April 12, 2008 7:52 PM
this is all a load of crap.
Obama spoke the truth and his supporters there with him loved him for it. he electued their problems spot on.
Posted by: Gion | April 12, 2008 7:55 PM
Dear Mark,
You made an error in your article.
"Obama had said he understands why some working-class voters become frustrated and vote on single issues."
The above is incorrect. He was asked why he has a hard time getting votes from average working Americans. Please listen to the audio tape at Huffington Post.
Posted by: Danny | April 12, 2008 7:58 PM
All this is thought provoking, but Mr. Obama probably more or less,used the wrong choice of words.
Posted by: Charles Nickalopoulos | April 12, 2008 7:58 PM
I lived for many years in Baltimore County, Howard County i,e Pikesville, Ellicott city in MD. I went to the Univ of Baltimore and had several friends who came from State College or Pittsburgh. I've visited REading, Lancaster, Philly, Strasburgh, Poconos and other areas of PA and what Sen. Obama said so offended me and many of my friends.
It's not just the 'bitter' comments that Sen. Obama said but the connection he made to small town voters in PA and IN who only go to church and 'cling' to their guns because they are bitter AND that is why they are not accepting of people who are not like them aka Sen. Obama, anti immigration and anti-trade.
He is basically saying that small town folks are bigoted and not open minded and THAT is what is most offensive. I wish that the media would focus on that aspect.
Now, I'm just a disenfranchised voter in FL whose vote won't count because Sen. Obama and Howard Dean and Donna Brazile have blocked all measures for a revote and to have the votes counted as is before June 3.
Just swallow this bitter pill, don't come looking for our vote on Nov3.
Posted by: star | April 12, 2008 8:00 PM
".... they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
It's not the word "bitter" that's making trouble for Obama, it's the words that come afterwards.
Posted by: WylieD | April 12, 2008 8:04 PM
It seems to me that, as usual, Obama's words reflect truths that are more correctly applied to himself than others. Usually, people project onto other people that they don't understand that which are their own problems. I hear Obama dividing the world into "they" (the word he used) and the rest of "us", coming from the candidate who says he doesn't want to be stereotyped himself.
I hear Obama saying rural voters cling to their religion out of bitterness, but it seems to me that it is Obama's church and its teaching that meets that description more than the PA voters.
His tendency to divide the world into those who are educated and enlightened and the close-minded who don't support him, is very self-serving.
Seeing as how Obama was answering why he wasn't leading in PA, his using this explanation to claim that PA voters have antipathy to people like him, seems to me to be using stereotyping to accuse PA voters of being racist out of bitterness.
Posted by: Annette Keller | April 12, 2008 8:08 PM
Amazing how everyone who is offending is already backing CLinton. Everybody I have spoken with, or articles I have read give Obama's words a totally different meaning. I think it is simply a case where you take advantage of someone who spoke casually and trusting to a group of people about something and there is an opportunity to cram it down their throat and make them look mean spirited. Let's see by the time the vote gets out who really feels offending by those statements. Certainly I don't and I'm a middle class struggling, bitter, politically unempowered American.
Posted by: Jill, Terre Haute | April 12, 2008 8:13 PM
Amazing how everyone who is offending is already backing CLinton. Everybody I have spoken with, or articles I have read give Obama's words a totally different meaning. I think it is simply a case where you take advantage of someone who spoke casually and trusting to a group of people about something and there is an opportunity to cram it down their throat and make them look mean spirited. Let's see by the time the vote gets out who really feels offending by those statements. Certainly I don't and I'm a middle class struggling, bitter, politically unempowered American.
Posted by: Jill, Terre Haute | April 12, 2008 8:13 PM
I think there was nothing but truth in what Mr. Obama mentioned. In trivializing the complex issue of economy and how it affects the mindset of people I think Clinton and her supporters are showing a lack of an ability to understand the issues at hand.
Posted by: Urmi Ashar | April 12, 2008 8:14 PM
As a small town resident for 40 years, I find Mr.Obama's posture an affront. Aside from the evident snobbery it reflects, the conduct evidences a lack of the level of good judgment I seek in a US President
Posted by: William | April 12, 2008 8:18 PM
I think that Mr. Obama was right. Im a 42 year old white male and I live in an industrial town and I see jobs going away every day. I am bitter, I am angry...but I dont think Obama or any of the candidates will do anything about it. But at least he knows what upsets me
Posted by: rod | April 12, 2008 8:20 PM
These are just scripted remarks by the mayors. They don't really mean it. Obama has spoken, the people are bitter and no amount complaining by the racist gun nuts is going to change that. Obama knows what it's like to be poor and white in rural America. He speaks for all Americans as the great Uniter.
Posted by: Hans | April 12, 2008 8:26 PM
It is not terribly surprising that BARAK OBAMA's condescension comes out when referring to what he 'considers' the 'LOWER CLASSES'!!! After all OBAMA attended only the finest of elite-snotty schools including HARVARD LAW!!! Why shouldn't he denigrate those ignorant working + bowling stiffs??? He can bowl a 37 - WOW!!! See all BLACKS are not gifted athletes!!! Ha!!!
Posted by: Zyskandar A JaimotZ | April 12, 2008 8:27 PM
If those Hillary supporters think Obama saying that American's are agree and bitter also Hillary using that to get back to her derail campaign
Please tell me governors what have you done for your state to help the economy grow? What about those people who are losing their homes and their jobs are you telling me that they are not bitter and angry?. I think they are more angry and bitter to see themselves as homeless. All those people who say Obama is wrong, are they going to give people losing their homes job?. Of course not. It is better to ignore the fact. Fact is a better medication to swallow. All Hillary supporters and Hillary herself I mean Governors please with all the money you have at the bank use that as a charity for people losing their home and money and help them out. And John Mcain use your wife money and those people who have lost their jobs and houses. things are easier said with many excuses when it is true. and people use it to benefit their course.
Posted by: foday | April 12, 2008 8:39 PM
Obviously, Senator Obama is the only candidate that is willing to state the truth and everybody that dislikes him can't handle the truth. They want to distort, misconstrue somebody's words. Senator Obama has nothing to apologize for, it is all of those, who distort his words, that should apologize. Win at all costs, is a very stupid strategy!!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | April 12, 2008 8:40 PM
Well, so what? This alleged gaffe won't hurt Obama. Nothing has yet. Big media is too enraptured to let this play out to his detriment. If the Wright flap didn't irreparably damage him, if the insinuations of crooked Rezco deals didn't slow his bandwagon, if his bogus padded resume had no negative impact, if the Sinclair allegations did not stop his Big Mo, the fact he "misspoke" (can we say that about The Obama?) will certainly not impair his candidacy. Let's be real here.
There isn't ANYTHING he can do or ANYTHING he might fail to do that will affect the opinions of his starstruck fanbase. He is inoculated. He is immune. He is impervious to slings and arrows (but never imperious). Just observe the defensive posts related to this matter by his aficionados throughout the net. A veritable lovefest of denial and self-righteous indignation, not to mention the usual specious counterattacks.
As we continue slouching towards Denver and an almost certain Democrat disaster, The Obama, clad in the shining armor bestowed upon him by his devout adherents, floats above the fray toward destiny, protected from attacks, allegations, and analysis. Semper Fi USA!!!
Posted by: GyreneDawg | April 12, 2008 8:48 PM
Barack Obama is the ONLY potential candidate for President who has the pulse of the majority of the people. What he has said about the attitudes and thoughts - bitterness over illegal aliens, etc. is real - and the posts on the Chicago Tribune can prove that. I'm sorry he had to "deplore" his long-time friend/minister for statements he made. We ALL have friends/family who do and say things we do not agree with and are not responsible for but we do not isolate ourselves from them. Each time Obama gets lambasted for something he says - and each time he does not back down for his statements I like him better. He sees things with different eyes than the old political hacks and has no need to apologize when he speaks his mind and the truth. He's a breath of fresh air. (I'm an old white lady who has a son who has played pick-up basketball with Obama long enough to know the real deal and admires him greatly). We should all be more like Obama.
Posted by: Rebecca Bricker | April 12, 2008 8:57 PM
Gutter politics. The Clintons are seizing upon an opportunity to pit "small town America" against "big city America". I find it hard to believe that there are people who honestly believe that what Senator Obama said was factually incorrect.
Posted by: frellthat | April 12, 2008 9:07 PM
Many Americans are bitter. In 7 short years we have had stagnant income, significant increases in health care, gasoline, food, home heating, etc. We were lied into a war which is killing and maiming our children and bankrupting our country. When we travel overseas we need to tell people we are Canadians. We are spied on by the government which feels that torture is just fine. Habeuc corpus is a thing of the past. Laws passed by Congress are signed but ignored by signing statements. The list goes on. Mr Obama's simplistic reasons for bitterness are simplistic insulting and wrong. He seems like a kid trying to act cool in front of the rich people. If he's the nominee he'll never win, and shouldn't.
Posted by: marianne | April 12, 2008 9:15 PM
I knew the real Barack Hussein Obama would come out and loud and clear from his own lips.
He is change. Please.
Posted by: Cesar | April 12, 2008 9:27 PM
I think Obama doesn't understand the way of life in small town PA. Instead of trying to understand them, he made a grossly remark that reflect the stereotype of a group of people.
His action is un-presidential. How can he be a president of all American if he doesn't respect and understand the need of all American?
Posted by: joeysky | April 12, 2008 9:30 PM
Excellent article!!
I'm so glad Hillary spoke out and rejected Obama's remarks - because they hurt the Dem Party, reps and candidates.
And Democrats certainly don't want the world to think they agree with Obama's view of small town America.
Thank you Hillary!
Oh, and if reversed - Obama would have done the same.
Posted by: Josey | April 12, 2008 9:35 PM
No candid comment will go go unpunished. Truth is too dangerous. This is completely crazy. Of course there are bitter disenfranchised people who the dream has passed by. Speaking truth is the first step in moving in a new direction. But in the political climate of USA circa 2008, truth will not be abided.
Posted by: ethel | April 12, 2008 9:43 PM
Standing up for all of us! It's about time wiser words were spoken and here they are. Thank you for this post.
Posted by: jangles | April 12, 2008 9:45 PM
This is idiotic. It's fine for Clinton to campaign against a trade agreement her chief strategist and husband are taking hundred of thousands of dollars to promote, but Obama is criticized for stating the obvious? Of course people are bitter who have lost their livelihood and see little chance of it coming back. Clinton is taking advantage of this bitterness by campaigning against free trade when everyone around her is supporting it and her own record shows she has supported it.
Posted by: Tim Gregorek | April 12, 2008 9:46 PM
Maybe there aren't many Bubbas driving around in pickup trucks with the classic bumper sticker "God, Guns and Guts Made America Free" where Obama's detractors live, but here in rural Pennsylvania that line may as well replace "e pluribus unum" as the motto on the national currency.
I live in western Pennsylvania, and I can tell you, people here are bitter and angry. Poverty is prevalent. People hunt squirrels and eat them, along with racoon stew. People also hunt deer here, not for sport, but so they can put meat in their freezer so they can feed their families. They cut wood in the forests and heat their homes with wood stoves because they can't afford to pay the gas bill. I know a guy who goes to old landfills to dig up old milk and beer bottles to sell on eBay. He uses the proceeds to buy clothes for his family at the Salvation Army (and to pay for his dial-up connection).
Racism and prejudice are ever-present here. A friend of mine is part-owner of bar in a small rural town south of where I live. I meet up with him there occasionally and watch as down-and-out people come in with their disability and welfare check money and drink it away. It's a pretty depressing place, but it does serve as the social center for a town that has seen its few industries shut down and the local people's jobs eliminated or shipped off elsewhere.
I hear the usual rants there, that it's all the fault of gays and minorities and immigrants (although those aren't the terms used, but rather the usual, virulent slurs). A black man walked in the last time I was there, and a guy near me at the bar muttered in a not-so-quiet way, "What's he think he's doing in here?" When I brought up the presidential race and Obama with another man at the bar, his response was, "there ain't no way America is ever going to vote for a black guy." Later on my bar-owner friend told me about his experience talking about Obama with another woman at the bar, and her angry response was that "it's because of half-breed n*****s like him that America is in such bad shape today."
Prejudice, racism and fear do run rampant in areas like this. People are poor. They are in bad health, overweight from a deep-fried diet, and toothless from the lack of dental care. They are unemployed. They are uneducated. They do cling to their hunting rifles and to their religious beliefs. For many, it is about all that they have. The towns around here are full of decaying, boarded up buildings. People live in rundown old trailers with abandoned cars in the front yard. I have seen people using an old car as a stable, with their goat tied to and living in it. I could drive you by a least three old houses that have Conderate flags in the windows.
So go ahead and discount Obama's talk of how bitter and angry that some of the people of rural Pennsylvania are. Call him elitist for taking the time to pass through areas such as this to listen to what the people have to say, and to then relate what he has heard to people in more prosperous parts of the country when he is asked about it. I have lived in San Francisco, and let me tell you, there is a marked difference between the general attitude there and the attitude here in the "rust belt". Go ahead and dismiss everything that Obama said as political posturing. Let Hillary and McCain "pick him apart" and parse his words. But please keep in mind that when Obama said:
"it's not surprising then that 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."
That he is 100% accurate in his assessment.
I know, because I live here, my family and my friends' families have lived here for generations, and we see it every day, all around this region. There is a very fine line between poverty and prosperity here, where making above $20,000 a year puts you in the realm of the "haves", but also knowing that you're one contract termination away from joining the ranks of the "have-nots".
I come from a family of dairy farmers. I know what it's like to spend up to 12-16 hours a day sitting on a tractor for three dollars an hour, which I did through high school and every summer until I was fortunate enough to head off to college. Many of my friends were also fortunate and went to school, and then relocated to other parts of the country. Some of us were able to come back under better circumstances, but the large majority of people here are not as fortunate.
Thirty years worth of the right wing dismantling our public education system has taken its toll. Thirty years worth of mismanagement of the economy, of shutting down factories and shipping jobs out of the country, of subsidizing corporate farms and taxing family farms out of business, has taken its toll.
Yes, people are angry, and bitter, but Obama never said that they aren't resilient, opitmistic or hard-working. Those are Hillary and McCain's twisted words, and for them to stand up and suggest that rural Pennsylvanians aren't fed up with the way things are, only reveals how out of touch they really are with at least this part of the country.
Of course, all McCain has to do is suggest to poor rural folk that the party of gun-control, gay marriage, and NAFTA is going to take away what little they have left, and rural conservatives will vote for him, just as they did for Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. As for Hillary, the more she "takes apart" Obama's message, the more she does the GOP's work for free. If Hillary can't see that the people of rural Pennsylvania are bitter, and angry, and mad as hell about the way things are, then she needs to step down from that one hundred million dollar platform of hers and take a real look around.
In western Pennsylvania I hear two things: the "God, Guns and Guts" crowd see John McCain as the heir-apparent to the mantle of rural conservative values; and the people who hope for some kind of change see Barack Obama as the person who understands the situation that we are in, and maybe is the one who can lead us in a new direction. What I don't hear is anyone talking about whatever and whomever it is that Hillary claims to stand for.
In the end, I think this is all a "lost in translation" much ado about nothing episode.
Going back to Obama's statement, and keeping in mind that he was speaking to a specific group of supporters in San Francsico, and keeping in mind that he was discussing a variety of "talking points" in the previous paragraph, I think that it is the absence of the word "issue" in this particular portion of his response to one of the attendee's questions that is lost in translation from the actual event to the transcript spun in the media.
So let's break it down:
"'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.
Obama is offering: - closing tax loopholes - roll back taxes for the top 1 percent - tax breaks to the middle class - health care for every American
But:
"But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them."
"So it's not surprising then that they get bitter" and "As a way to explain their frustrations...they cling to" issues that focus on: - guns - religion - antipathy to people who aren't like them - anti-immigrant sentiment - anti-trade sentiment
It's the usual laundry list of GOP hot-button talking points.
What Obama was doing was contrasting his talking points, with the tradtional GOP talking points that he has to contend with if he is going to break through and reach these tradtional blue-collar voters.
I can't imagine that anyone who was in the room with Obama misunderstood this. It's only when the transcript is removed from the context in which the information was delivered that the MSM begins to spin it into something that it's not.
Posted by: astral66 | April 12, 2008 9:49 PM
If Clinton can lie about being under sniper fire and McCain can't differentiate between Al Qaeda and Shiites then Obama can make a mistake regarding his chose of words. But he is correct Americans all across America are upset, angry and yes bitter at Washington. If that were not true than George Bush's approval rating would not be 27% and 82% of American would not think our country is on the wrong track. Now if that is not anger, frustration, bitterness than I don't know what is. Also it is a known fact that republicans use social issues to persuade voters to vote republican because they can't win on issues like: the economy, the war in Iraq, and their overall indifference to the American people. There is a negative connotation associate with the word "bitter" but the fact still remains Americans are not happy. If Obama wins or not I am proud that he was brave enough to speak hard truths to the American people. But the sad fact is Americans can't handle the truth that is why politicians’ lie to us. If Obama loses because he spoke the truth than we can aspect politicians to continue lying to us.
Posted by: Kay | April 12, 2008 10:04 PM
Heh,what do expect from someone who listens to that Wright preacher.
Obama is going to be called upon again and again to explain things like the award bestowed on Louis Farrakhan, "G*d d*mn America!", "the US of KKK-a," and blaming America for 9/11. t was not the first time Wright appeared to endorse Obama, who was baptized at Trinity United, has been an active member of the church for two decades and receives spiritual mentorship from Wright.
The title of Obama's second book, "The Audacity of Hope," was taken from a sermon by Wright.
Posted by: repete | April 12, 2008 10:05 PM
This is the sixth Swamp post today repeating this story and Obama's small town rant. Enough already. Not nearly the coverage Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran, Shia...Sunni....Shia, Bosnia sniper fire got. I think McCain publicly tearing into his wife and calling her the c word deserves more outrage than this. Bush must be so thrilled that Obama's taking all the heat.
But go ahead with your blind outrage, all small-minded, little people. Voice your indignation to the realms!
Posted by: DD | April 12, 2008 10:09 PM
His remarks are not surprising and they were bound to slip out from his facade at some point. He wants us to believe that he is all for the people but if you really look at his record and the choices he has made in his own life, it is all about getting himself to the top and using the people any way he can. That's why, considering his inexperience, he chose to pursue being president instead of governor as he initially thought. He's a man on a mission and people should be asking what that mission really is.
Posted by: Frank | April 12, 2008 10:31 PM
It will be interesting to see how much Obama is truly hurt by this controversy and whilst I accept the observation that all the candidates have their personal flaws - has there ever been the 'perfect candidate'? At least in recent electoral history? Was George W. Bush perfect? Al Gore? John Kerry. They each had their flaws and some more than others.
The hard truth: Obama's comments were for once, poorly phrased. They might have tingled the nerves of a few Americans who are unwilling to contextualize his words. But I think vast majority of Americans, in Pennsylvania or otherwise, will come to realize that no matter how unpleasant these truths are - truths they still remain. When your job is shipped across to China and your house is being repossessed, how is it possible to 'not' be bitter? In this sense, there is nothing remarkable about Obama's comments; he's simply telling it as it is. Yet perhaps his comments are startling for the way in which they represent a politician being honest with the electorate and not playing Rove-esque politics with small-town America. The Clinton response was all too predictable. How much has America learnt after the Bush-Cheney episode? We're about to find out.
Posted by: Max | April 12, 2008 10:42 PM
Personally I feel that people are making "mountains out of mole hills". I also believe that the Clinton campaign (and the McCain campaign) are grabbing anything and everything and blowing it all out of proportion to see how much they can slow Obama down. The force of their attack proves to me that they are running scared because of his popularity. I also believe that Hillary and maybe even McCain knows what Obama meant. In spite of all the upbeat remarks made by various mayors, etc., I'm sure that many of those people ARE bitter. Their jobs have gone away and no relief in sight. . . And, you may be sure, they are being told by those other two candidates that Obama is "elitist", insulting them! I doubt if they would even have noticed if those people weren't screaming loudly about it to beat the band. I believe that they would have heard the ring of truth in Obama,s statement and they would have felt that he really cares. . . Because he DOES!
Marianna Settles
Escondido, CA
Posted by: Marianna Settles | April 12, 2008 10:44 PM
C'mon everybody and especially Hillary say what you mean. Uppity Ni**er. Isn't that what they are really trying to say?
Posted by: Alan | April 12, 2008 10:49 PM