Comments (120)

Personally, I found the "bitter" business surprising only insofar as I did not expect Obama's elitism to surface quite so obviously. The working class and the poor have been Clinton's all along and,now, with what appears to be a character flaw, Obama, slings mud and whines at them.

Then there is the debate. Throughout this campaign Clinton has taken a pounding from the media at large, which has continually focused on such important matters as her attire, her breasts, her rear end, etc. At one point, several newspapers and TV stations, in typically ingenuous "self-analyses" acknowledged the unfairness of the debates, the hostility of reporters at Clinton's press conferences, in news reports, etc., promptly returning to business as usual.

At no point, even with the Rev. Wright controversy did Obama have to face anything like Clinton has. There was and has been no Chris Matthews, MSNBC, et al, with guns aimed at him. One single debate in which the moderators asked him some hard questions and one hears him whining from New York to California.

Bashing the working class and whining when challenged in one debate do not winners make. More importantly, opposing mandatory health care when Americans die for want of insurance and taking a stand on immigration that will set us back years do not encourage us to grow as a nation.

Disappointing. He will not get my vote on Tuesday.

The senator said what most of us feel,that disillusion can lead to resentment and a feeling of bitternes.Failures from past administrations produce resentment,and folks become bitter.These are natural and democratic reactions.If you as a writer have a problem with this ,then go back to your college or whatever, and reclaim your fees.
hoffman,I find your commentary very silly and non-productive. Have you ever talked to the people in the townships and rural communities,except from a noisy bar-phone?

MaggiB,

Barrack Obama from his book "Audacity of Hope", Page 261.

"If the political winds turn, I will stand with the Muslims"

That page is talking about immigrants, legal immigrants that come into this country and how they matter.He was talking about how after 9-11 the Muslim immigrants in Chicago were getting dark looks..that all immigrants mean something to this nation, that "we have learned something from ww2 and the Japanese internments...and I will stand with them if the political winds shift in a ugly direction".

Half lies about Barack and lies from the whole cloth...?

That is the only way Hillary Clinton (spit) can win. For her supporters to lie. It is disgracful.

He was also saying that the government...from both parties failed the citizens. That that is why the wedge issues became so important..people would rather vote on gay marriage, guns,immigrants because the worker did not feel that they were heard, they lost jobs, the way they lost everything but what was always part of their traditions.

And it was a closed door meeting to people that were not rich, but were volunteers that were going to PA and was wanting to know what to expect. They were asking questions...he answered them. And Mayhill Fowler who snuck in a recorder..slanted what was said. When will people demand all the news?

people would rather hate then think.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that only in America, which was founded on the principle of the separation of church and state, is the political field mined with issues of faith and religion?
Europeans do not question a candidate's relationship, or lack of it, with God. They want to know how the candidate will make their lives better in the areas of economics, safety and freedom. God, they can deal with individually, in the privacy of their homes and churches.

Buzz wrote: "Obama was speaking in code to a bunch of people he knew would understand -- millionaires in the most liberal city in the country -- and believed his words were off the record."

Right on! Obama has no respect at all for the guns, the religion and the xenophobia he described. He did not make this statement out of understanding, he made it out of pity for the weaknesses "small-town people" embrace in their desperation. Religion is not these people's solace, in his mind; it is their crutch. As is gun ownership. As is antipathy to outsiders.

I believe what Obama said is true. And I believe Americans' increasing belief in gun ownership, in religion, and in 'America for Americans' is a direct result of the failures of their own government and their own politicians - Sen. Obama included.

The real danger that faces Obama is that the road he has decided to take into American politics is nearly impossible. If it were not for his ability to move crowds, you are right, he would not be in this race. He has that detestable quality of being smart - Americans hate smart people. Smart people address issues, and you can't fit issues on bumper stickers. You can only fit slogans on bumper stickers. Also, is it a paradox that people who claim not to be bitter are practically foaming at the mouth with bitterness at one comment? Is the following a paradox?
- Obama claims to want to help out of work Americans
- Americans out of work because rules of capitalism
- Rule 1 - do what gets you money
- Rule 2 - do what gets you money at all costs
- Rule 3 - there is no product you can't provide if it gets you money
- Bush supports these Rules more so than "liberals"
- Liberals thus deemed "unamerican"
- Americans want rules to not apply to them - they want jobs even if it costs the company money
- Obama expresses concern about such an elitist system, wants to change it
- Clinton avidly for such a cruel system, says she is against it
- Out of work Americans want help
- Obama observes that unemployment causes bitterness
- Obama labeled as Elitist

Yeah, odd.

Anyhow, I find it funny that not a single Obama-hater used the word Elitist until Hillary did, or rather, until news agencies forced it down people's throats. What I think we ought to do is make up a word, and when Obama mentions Christianity, we should publish hundreds of stories that say Obama is an anti-poflingentrist. We will keep repeating it for days, then we will interview someone, refer to Obama's statement and ask, "Do you feel that this makes Obama look like and anti-proflingentrist? And they will vehemently agree that it does. Elitist, yeah, a guy that worked his butt off and climbed to the top by his own abilities. Or Hillary, the down to earth millionaire who lived in the governor's mansion and the White House and, in her book, said that she was "waiting for grace." Yeah, because the average Joe is married to a millionaire and just waits for grace.

Hillary supporters.....I am at a loss. What can I say? that your comments will continue to be shallow or unexplained? Or when they are explained it will be poorly and use terms that you picked up from the media?

Many of the comments I am reading here only prove radio host Larry Elder's point--that black people are more racist than whites.

If you don't like America, how come you ain't leaving for Africa? Having it too good here. eh?

What a crock! McCain says things like:>Arizona Sen. McCain, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane on a flight to Pittsburgh, said the remarks may well have defined Obama for Americans as representing "a certain out-of-touch elitism."

What a joke! Our current selected president did not even know the price of gas! Talk about being out of touch! Obama is telling it like it and the neo cons are jumping on his statement as they always have, to distort and enlarge what they know he said. These are the same people that have contributed to the current state of affairs in out nation. I see Swiftboat coming in again. Is the Rush or Karl at the helm?

Obama is speaking truth to power. Admit it America, we NEED someone like Obama in the whitehouse that understands the problems facing the poor and working class. Forget about everything except the economic situation and our boys dying in Iraq. Vote for someone that is not going to keep this war going for another 100 years!

What a crock! McCain says things like:>Arizona Sen. McCain, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane on a flight to Pittsburgh, said the remarks may well have defined Obama for Americans as representing "a certain out-of-touch elitism."

What a joke! Our current selected president did not even know the price of gas! Talk about being out of touch! Obama is telling it like it and the neo cons are jumping on his statement as they always have, to distort and enlarge what they know he said. These are the same people that have contributed to the current state of affairs in out nation. I see Swiftboat coming in again. Is the Rush or Karl at the helm?

Obama is speaking truth to power. Admit it America, we NEED someone like Obama in the whitehouse that understands the problems facing the poor and working class. Forget about everything except the economic situation and our boys dying in Iraq. Vote for someone that is not going to keep this war going for another 100 years!

Personally, I'm looking forward to having an "elitist" President. After eight years of our Connecticut-born Yalie cowboy, who was elected because more Americans wanted to have a beer with him, I'll be happy to have an intellectual in the White House. I don't care if "normal Americans" can't relate to him. I just want someone that can pronouce the word "nuclear" correctly and speak in complete sentences. I'm sorry if that makes me sound like an "elitist". I want a smart person that attracts the best and brightest minds in America to solve our numerous problems, the way that FDR and Kennedy did.

What a crock! McCain says things like:>Arizona Sen. McCain, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane on a flight to Pittsburgh, said the remarks may well have defined Obama for Americans as representing "a certain out-of-touch elitism."

What a joke! Our current selected president did not even know the price of gas! Talk about being out of touch! Obama is telling it like it and the neo cons are jumping on his statement as they always have, to distort and enlarge what they know he said. These are the same people that have contributed to the current state of affairs in out nation. I see Swiftboat coming in again. Is the Rush or Karl at the helm?

Obama is speaking truth to power. Admit it America, we NEED someone like Obama in the whitehouse that understands the problems facing the poor and working class. Forget about everything except the economic situation and our boys dying in Iraq. Vote for someone that is not going to keep this war going for another 100 years!

"Apparently those who pillory Barack Obama for his "bitter" statement in San Francisco either are afraid of the truth, or are ignorant of one of the main functions of religion, any religion.
Or they could simply be playing the political game of "gotcha!"

Other people who may not feel the same way about religion, who probably have long come to the conclusion that it is nothing more than a fraud perpetrated on mankind, or pure superstition, cling to guns instead."

As long as Barack is speaking the "truth" then why the focus on small towns? Wouldn't the same be true for ANYONE going through hard times--the auto workers in the Rust Belt, the software engineers in Silicon Valley, construction workers anywhere...that they turn to things to cling to, say, alcohol, gambling, prostitutes, maybe even religion, just as the members of his urban parish do? What do disaffected youth in the cities these days but gang bang? Yet Barack focuses on "small towns" and makes it sound pejorative and somehow belittling to cling to religion in tough times. And I'd rather see men hunting animals than each other. As for the "anti-trade" and "anti-immigrant" cracks, well, Mr. High IQ himself has come out against trade deals and supported the border fence, so what makes him any different than the people he's describing? What is it he's running from?

Claire wrote:I find Senator Obama very smart, but that comment struck me as sort of stupid.

Stupid for anyone who lives in a bubble and has no sense of the real world, and or if you are running for office. If the latter, as in the case of Obama then he can't tell the truth because the American public despite its assertions to the contrary, has a aversion to the truth. So that is the reason why we have people elected to office who don't believe in a thing, not that matters to their constituents anyway. We see where that got us with Bush.

I'm originally from Western PA, and grew up during the 1970's and '80s. Obama was telling the truth - people there are clinging to the only things that the corporations haven't taken away from them, their guns and their religion.

BTW, why are my comments being deleted when there's so many racist comments on this subject? Not to mention the usual drool from JJ.

First off I'd like to state that I don't care who wins the democratic nomination so long as the republicans are booted out of the white house in the november election.

I hear a lot of people talking about Obama being a product of ivy league schools but is it really such a bad thing to expect the president of the United States of America to be well educated? I thought this was a plus. Is this not the case in PA?

What is striking is the hypocrisy contained in the latter half of his statement about small towners being "anti-trade" and "anti-immigrant", implying that jobs are not lost due to trade and illegal immigration. This from the man who, with Hillary Clinton, is saying we need to re-think NAFTA, and who supported a border fence.

By the way, I used to live in NE Pennsylvania, and the people in that small town are very suspicious of outsiders, "immigrants" or not. At that time, the early 1990s, the area lost more than 1,400 jobs as the major textile industry moved to Guatemala. The unemployment rate for the area ran over 11 percent. Many of the workers were basically unskilled and uneducated. At the same time, a couple of dozen illegal aliens were caught by the INS working at a meatpacking plant near Scranton. Now, if YOU were unskilled and unemployed, how would YOU feel about an illegal alien doing a job you could and would do? To pretend there is no basis other than "bitterness" or "hate" for opposing illegal immigration is to deny reality.

People who are offended by Obama's truthful slip of the tongue are probably also offended, I imagine, by the arithmetical observation that 20% of Americans are smarter than the other 80%, and are apt to retort vociferously that, NO, it's the other way around -- 80% are smarter than the other 20%. Or 30.

Before election: everybody come to Jesus.
After election: everybody worship Mammon.

Obama has two problems from his "bitter" remarks, one a still-lingering issue from last month. He says he could have been more artful with his choice of words, but then asks how he could be thought to be demeaning to religion because he is so religious. His problem here is that more many Americans he has not truly answered the religion question. Is his religion one that fully demonizes all white Americans or was he conveniently absent whenever the Rev. Wright spewed his own brand of hate and therefore ignorant of the message of his church? Until March, I thought Obama was the one to defeat McCain, but now I am certain he cannot and that Clinton is our only hope.

Obama is our Savior. Obama and Reverend Wright are RIGHT! God D*** america. All you racist "typical white people" with your guns and phony religion can redeem your "bitter" selves by making Michelle proud and voting for her husband. He will apologize to our Muslim brothers for arrogant evil american policies.

If the news had covered Obama like they do other unknowns instead of putting him on a pedestial. he would have been out of the race already. All that His wife has said about this country his rev has said bill ayers the underground terrorist rezko dealings he should step down .instead of people telling Hillary to get out Now what did Obama mean when he said if the winds turn he will stand with the muslums Obama does not have q&a at his cult meetings

All Obama would have to do is torture someone and the media would've ignored it. I love that the "ethical" section of the Post is silent on the fact that the President and his cabinet choreographed torture sessions. How would this affect the Republican nominee for President? No one in the media cares. No one asks. They can only handle trivia.

Tim writes:

"Is anyone posting even from PA? This state is all about religion and guns. Everyone I know is out hunting the first day of deer season. Most schools even have off that day as if it were a holiday...I dont see how it is wrong to say that people that lose their jobs may turn to their religion for guidance...What obama said was true. I am religious. I am a "gun toter." I am from Pa. I am supporting him because he is the only candidate that is supporting me."

I've lived in rural PA the majority of my life. I agree with you 100%.

I interpreted Obama to say that when citizens are convinced that the government is owned by special interests, they have no incentive to vote for their own economic interests, and so fall back to the issues of God, guns, and gays, issues which conservatives have trumped up specifically to distract the electorate from voting their economic interest.

We're not taking our eye off the ball this time over this nonsense.

Oboam is tone deaf? Hardly. He's right on target. That some have such a fragility in their faith that they read negativity into his words is more indicative of deafness -- and blindness.

Yonkers, New York
15 April 2008

I am not a Barack Obama apologist. As a matter of fact, I am not anybody's apologist.

With that out of the way, let me just say that Barack Obama spoke the truth, the hard and brutal truth, that those people in the small towns of Pennsylvania who have lost their jobs and are struggling now are so desperate as to cling to anything they can find to give them comfort, solace and relief from their pain.

Of course, most of them reflexively cling to religion; others to guns.

Is not one of the functions of religion to give a human being who is suffering from fear, from stress, from pain, and who feels lost, to give that human being comfort, reassurance and hope that after this physical life there is the spiritual life with God everlasting up there in heaven?

Apparently those who pillory Barack Obama for his "bitter" statement in San Francisco either are afraid of the truth, or are ignorant of one of the main functions of religion, any religion.
Or they could simply be playing the political game of "gotcha!"

Other people who may not feel the same way about religion, who probably have long come to the conclusion that it is nothing more than a fraud perpetrated on mankind, or pure superstition, cling to guns instead.

Barack Obama likewise spoke the truth here. These are people who must believe that men are responsible for "the slings and arrows of [their]outrageous fortune," and that their easy recourse is toward guns. Does not the Second Amendment say that the right to bear arms shall forever be allowed--or words to that effect?

Amd is it not true that a beast lurks inside every human being and that, given the right provocation, that beast surfaces and overwhelms "the better angels of our nature?"

Barack Obama does not deserve all this vitriol and flagellation from supposedly literate, educated and civilized people. He is the bearer of truth.

Mariano Patalinjug
MarPatalinjug

Who will bring the Bushies to justice? That is the most important requirement for the next president. The Washington Post Jesus Section should be scrapped. There is a terrorist in the White House and yet the media is wasting time on banal bickering.

When you think of how easily we've been led by the nose these past 8 years--some of us Americans actually running to embrace those who would destroy our souls--this hoopla over Obama's remarks seems absolutely ludicrous. We can't get on our high horse. We abandoned self-respect as citizens a long, long time ago. We are truly the Great Humbugged.

SIMPLE:

Will GOP commit to GAS not hitting $6 a GALLON?

Will GOP commit to MILK not hitting $5 a GALLON?

Will GOP commit to STOP RELEASING BIN LADEN's TAPES?

Will GOP commit to STOP Showing FOX Terror LEVELS?

Will GOP commit to STOP abusing "CIVIL RIGHTS"?

Its all Evangelicals who made our life miserable.

I don't ever agree with William Kristol B he has it right--the masked slipped or rather fell and exposed Obama as shortsighted and putting forth schyster lawyers tricks. I find it interesting he gets worked up about how much money Sen. Clinton has. If he were honest he would also note that most of HER wealth was made by Bill Clinton!! I guess he does not know that when Bill Clinton was Gov. of Arkansas he earned only $25,000 a year and Sen Clinton was making less than that. I just wonder where Obama with his slippery answers get's off with his drivel. The man is not big enough in character or smart enough to be Pres. The thing with him is EVERYBODY IS WRONG AND I--OBAMA is right. The attack he leveled at Sen. Clinton today is beneath contempt. If he wishes to be Pres. he doesn't throw his grandmother under the bus AND he leaves the racist church he STILL BELONGS TOO until this very day. Please wake up America this is not the man you think he is!!!

niki,
Everything you said is not true.
Just take time to do some research.
Katrina relief was not bungled by the Federal Government but your corrupt dem friends in the state.
The terror memo is all bunk.
Gas prices did not rise as a result of the War.
The War did not cause the recession.
Rip Van Winkle could not see both sides of the coin and that must be people like you Niki, and even worse your Hate has blinded you and you could never see the truth.

What crap! Hoffman sanctimoniously says "I'm inclined not to think too hard about the San Francisco statement." Notwithstanding that condescension, she observes that it was "kind of half-baked Marxism." Yeah, that's not thinking too hard, all right.

Seriously Michael?!!!
As I recall, it's the Bush administration that has stumped all over the "Supremely democratic" state that you want to talk about, did you miss the 2003 torture memo, or how about the way Hurricane Katrina was handled?! And as for "supremely powerful", US is now far less popular in the world than it used to be.
And if I remember correctly, it's during this administration that we entered a recession, a war that has really helped fuel said recession, rising gas prices, a worsening healthcare system, rising unemployment and so on. Billions are spent on the war instead of on the people who need them in this country. The so-called "supremely powerful" country that you mention cannot exist on such weak foundations.
If you call Bush and Cheney "supremely democratic" you must have lived in a cave for the past 7 years or so.

Help make Michele Obama disapponted in America again......send her husband packing.

the prob with dems is they assume that they have already won the election.
the people know that a crazy left wing party run by two-faced idiots (now that should be interpreted as racism or sexism) will sink USA to bottom of ground zero, just like our enemies have hoped for....Change. An america that is not supremely powerful and not supremely democratic any longer.
the dems have no chance of winning white house, not this time.

My mother, with a BA degree, won't vote for Obama because he's black. Her two kids (both with advanced degrees) will vote for Obama.

Love my mom, but she is a hypocritical Christian. Call it like I see it.

It's OK just go and read Bob Herberts article in the NYT. How silly of us we missed what was really going on...IT'S THE RACIST THAT ARE MAKING OBAMA HAVE TO SAY STUPID THINGS ABOUT GUNS AND RELIGION.....Didn't take the Obama camp long to get out the racist card this time man they are getting good at the racist thing.....they hate us cause we'r black....

I'm not an Obama supporter, at the moment I don't even know who I support. But, I don't find offense in what Senator Obama said. What did he say that wasn't true, times are bad, economy is in recession, people are unemployed, 47 million don't have healthcare, and yet billions of dollars are funding a misguided and seemingly unending war, of course people are bitter and they have a mistrust of their government. Hell, it's not only the blue-collar workers that are bitter, I think the general population is. And as far as religion goes, time and time again it has been shown that during periods of calamity people tend to cling to religion. People in small towns with nothing else left find refuge in the Church because nothing else outside it seems to be going right.
In fact, how can Hillary Clinton and John McCain call Obama elitist, do they know what it's like to live in poverty or live without healthcare. I highly doubt they are in touch with the poor. Clintons have raked in millions in the past few years.
I think that this overly PC crap needs to stop. There are things about Obama that I may not agree with, but in this case he's telling the truth and it seems like it's too harsh for people to want to hear it.

We should run a survey now to figure out how many people in USA think Barak Hussein Obama should or could be the President.
I am willing to take any sweet bet that he will lose the race by a huge margin.

Wow, really funny to see Obama supporters completely in denial about his comments, not only the full import of them but also how they'll come back to haunt him in November.

There's none so blind as he who will not see.

Obama's political duplicity is better understood when "Bittergate" is viewed in conjunction with the affair re the "Reverand" Wright. When you compare his contradictory comments from both scandals, you cannot help but conclude that Obama, in large measure, liked or enjoyed or was highly sympathetic to Wright's most incendiary, anti-white comments.

In the Wright scandal, Obama said that he stuck with Wright, even though Wright was racist, because Wright brought him to Jesus, and to religion, and that he maintained his affiliation with Wright's Church because of matters of faith and God, not politics.

In this most recent scandal, Obama says that people in the Midwest turned to "God and Guns" because they were bitter and frustrated. In this most recent scandal, he betrays a lack of interest in faith, suggests that faith is often a lot of "bull" motivated by anger and resentment, and Obama disparages faith and religion.

The Conclusion: Since Obama does not think too highly of faith, he did not stay with Wright's church because of faith. He stayed in that Church because he enjoyed the poisened fulminations of a racist preacher who said, among other things, that AIDS was invented by America to kill black babies and gloried in the thought of Americans dying in the twin towers.

A CNN online poll today showed that 67% of voters do NOT consider a candidate's religious views to be important in selecting a president.

Earlier in the week, Barack Obama tried to gently suggest that Americans cling to their love of steel phalluses (guns) and the fantasy of paradise AFTER death (religion) because they have pretty much given up any hope of anything good happening to them due to the machinations of the US government.

Sounds about right to me.

I guess it takes a Claire Hoffman to call the obvious "stupid" and to demand that Obama play politics like the rest of them.

I'm a lifelong Democrat who has voted in every election since 1972. I had reservations about Obama 12 months ago, but I have been impressed how magnificently he has risen to the challenge and moved this campaign into something resembling intellectual territory. To watch as two OLD politicians like McCain and Hillary attempt to drag him down to their level is disgusting.

I would never vote for McCain and his BS Express. What's changed for me is that I won't vote for Hillary either. She has really acted beyond the pale in this campaign, and I'm beginning to strongly dislike everything that she and Bill do and say.

I will be voting for Obama this November, even if that means writing in his name on my ballot.

Wow, yet more main stream media coverage of a non-event. I guess Obama should've have used the word "ecstatic" rather than "bitter" to characterize hard working Americans who've lost their jobs, their health insurance, and maybe even some of their dignity.

Just more tripe being spewed by the same worthless "journalists" and opinion-a-trons who should've spent just half the coverage given to "bittergate" to investigating the claims made by Cheney & Co. in the run up to the Iraq invasion 5 years ago.

Oh, and get ready, 'cause Obama is taking this thing all the way baby!

"The people have chosen, and they've chosen Obama."

Yep, and John McCain is salivating. Obama has just handed him yet another huge club to pound him into the dust come November.

Dudley writes, " Instead of "cling", he could have used "turn to" and "feel sustained by" "

Sorry, but that dog won't hunt, because in the exact same sentence he included bigotry and xenophobia as things people "cling" to. So does he also approve of those, too?

Of course not. He was listing what he thought were people's faults. The whole "sustained by" and "turned to" schtick is belied by the complete sentence.

Obama was speaking in code to a bunch of people he knew would understand -- millionaires in the most liberal city in the country -- and believed his words were off the record.

Again, out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. All the lame explanations that follow once you've been caught are meaningless lies. Obama's not even very good at it, considering how much he does it.

The article's good, but the comments are juvenile. Little kids are playing in the mud throwing attacks in response to a mature article. Go figure, at least these petty comments won't end up making a difference. The people have chosen, and they've chosen Obama.

Well, as a wise religious leader once said, "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). Obama, thinking he was not on the record, spoke what he truly thought. His lame "explanation" is just that ... lame.

And I've never bought his "deep-felt faith." There's little evidence of it in his life, unless you count liberal politics as evidence. Some of his political positions (particularly on abortion) are directly contrary to the Bible he says he reads. He attended Trinity because it helped him politically ... period.

I can "translate" Obama's words for you.

Yes, in the past he has said, "we just need to work harder to get our message out", if a constituency hasn't been especially responsive. Identifying the reason for possible alienation and "resistance" to an otherwise effective message... his comments make perfect sense. He wasn't speaking "upliftingly", he was speaking "matter of factedly". Instead of "cling", he could have used "turn to" and "feel sustained by". It is not a flattering word. Instead of "bitter", he could have used "disillusioned". In the end, he's speaking to the same underlying reasoning, which is... the reason why folks will want to stick with what they believe they HAVE and not reach out for what they know they NEED. Stick with what has been there, and be wary of anyone offering false promises or looking out of the normal. One of the strongest human emotions is the desire NOT to be "suckered". People time and again will go against their own interest to avoid that kind of pain, even if the only reward is a "feeling" of having not made a BAD choice and not the "reality" of having actually made a GOOD one.

Is Obama making some draping statement about how small town people are too stupid to use their heads? No... he's speaking how he's always spoke... to the human condition. It's only "insulting" to people who believe anyone not like them or that is accepting of views unlike their own, is "bad". Lost jobs make people bitter. Identity politics is a REALITY. The power of religion and the foolishness of Democrats to cede their faith or spiritual perspective to Republican party is something Obama actively has criticized and spoken out on.

What's not to get? If you want to pick a word choice and read boogeymen into every sentence, people are welcome to hiring another Bush. Obama has NEVER claimed to be a perfect man, but he's certainly the kind of straight shooter we need in the Whitehouse.

Claire, Are you out of your mind?
what is this blind protectionist tendency towards Obama from some of you in the media?
Can you not call a spade and spade without attempting to make us beleive that is not!?

Oh yeah, i failed to mention that i've never seen so much cynicism toward someone trying to bring a positive message into politics. With any luck the cynics will succeed in keep politcs in the mud. god forbid anyone brings a positive message into washington, obviously they just don't get it. Sen. Obama almost had an impact on binging a civil discussion back into the elecoral process bet hell yeah, we smacked him back down into his place.

Growing up in a predominantly white NW Ohio town, now living in a mixed ethnic urban community, when I look back and vist my hometown I see the racism that still exists in supposedly non racist communites. This country truly needs a person that can finally get us past these barriers that so many are unwilling to break down. We were so excited about the Berlin wall coming down perhaps it was easier for us since it not our problem, and it was a place thousands of miles away and there was no sacrifice on our part. We just can't get over our unwillingness to trust our African American brethren even so many men who have their heart in the right place. The biggest mistake I think Sen, Obama made was pigionholing millions of folks in the midwest, many who are doing quite well in spite of the economic hardships. Many of those who are not choose not to vote (however many do).I really think many of of the things he stated apply to some people, but there are many that the statement makes no sense. Maybe his statement sounds elitest but I think it's fair to say that the other 2 hopefulls are at least more removed from reality and have avoided this kind of trouble by just avoiding difficult issues and topics head on.

Barack Obama is a Harvard graduate who lives in a $l.4 million dollar house in Tinley Park. It has a thousand bottle wine cellar, and mahogany carvings inside. The IRS says his 2007 income was over $900,000. He now has more secret service protectors than any other campaigner. He hopes and expects to be living in total luxury by 2009, inside the White House. This is all not elite?? Of course, he is an elitist! Very, Very conceited and quietly arrogant. Everyone knows this. Why pretend it doesn't exist? Because he is gaming the system, and needs to be viewed as the underdog. One wonders who is giving all these millions and millions to him, and what they want in return.

Obama said those people are antipathy. Seems to me he's the one who is really antipathy and completely lack of compassion. People are duped by some wealthy liberals in the america who love to destroy Clinton whatever way they could by propping up Obama. You don't have to agree with people with faith and believe in 2nd amendment of constitution, but to show such contempt says loudly about the true color of this Obama character as well as his unqualification as a statesman. Imagine what outcry the media will be bursting with if either McCain or Hillary disparage African Americans with similar contemptuous remarks. They will be crucifixed by the media immediately. Here Obama and his supporters not only shown no sign of remorse, they even belittle the insensitivity and continues their offensive smear against Hillary. What arrogance projecting himself champion of hope and change and comparing himself as Kennedy and MLK. He's nothing but another cunning politician, American are misled.

Here is what Hussein Obama was "REALLY" saying..........

Pennsylvanians and citizens from small town America are typical white, racist, rednecks----who use religion, anti-immigration, and gun toting as crutches/excuses, instead of helping themselves!!!!

Someone posted this on another site...............................

Let's look at what Obama really thinks:
From Dreams of My Father,

"I FOUND A SOLACE IN NURSING A PERVASIVE SENSE OF GRIEVANCE AND ANIMOSITY AGAINST MY MOTHER'S RACE". Barack Obama

From 'Dreams of my Father', "The emotion between the races could never be pure, even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race (WHITE) would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart."

Barack Obama
From Dreams Of My Father: "That hate hadn't gone away," he wrote, BLAMING "WHITE PEOPLE — some CRUEL, some IGNORANT, sometimes a single face, sometimes just a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives." Barack Obama
From 'Dreams Of My Father', "There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs," he wrote. "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on,to show your LOYALTY TO THE BLACK MASSES, TO STRIKE OUT and name names" Barack Obama

"What I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice," Obama said. "He's much more of a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible and that I'm not losing myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that's involved in national politics."
Barack Obama

Barrack Obama from his book "Audacity of Hope", Page 261.

"If the political winds turn, I will stand with the Muslims"

I'm not living in Pennsylvania, however I do understand the remark obama made. This was after outspending Clinton (2 to 1) in that state. His donors (who he is hitting up for more money) wanted to know why Pennsylvanians are not now swooning over him?

His answer is insulting even to me- Basically, he said it is THEIR FAULT not his. That they are a bunch of downtrodden thugs with god and guns waiting around for a government handout since the factory closed 25 years ago. That is the essence of his remark to the SF snarkies. It is totally obvious what he meant and he would not have sad it to their face. It implies he is highbrow and above them.

I guess the people he insulted along with the rest of us are so stupid that now his highly paid media plus all his well-paid political supporters like have to explain what he meant.

People may be bitter or whatever but the remark was probably an honest statement by obama about his real feelings. Why he has to save us from all the evil politicians – except him of course. He really thinks he is smarter than the average American. I disagree. I think he is not so smart but selective in his thinking and overly ambitious.

In the meantime they are sitting around in Pennsylvania cleaning their weapons and saying their prayers.

You know maybe the people there do get him. They get that he is arrogant, self-serving, over arching and condescending, not to mention an ego centrist. That he wants to BUY their vote through a media blitz and it’s all about obama. Yeah, he is the only human that knows what is going on- give me a break please.

DOES the term JUNIOR senator mean anything? Yes - it means he is a beginner at what he does not a seasoned professional.

I'd like to know where all the cash is coming from since the web system is so easy to manipulate. Of course all the media feeding at the trough don't want to know they just want to party.

Didn’t he already say he was a bonehead about his free piece of lawn and also that he sat in the pew but didn’t hear anything? Excuses, excuses, excuses. Do we really need a president that is so good at making excuses? I especially like how he points his finger at everyone else!

What's rich is that people say he will make a good president when there is no evidence of that. He, himself said he will change everything. The American system is not good enough for him - he can fix it all for us since we screwed it all up. He will have to do everything for those dumb midwesterners that are too stupid to understand him even when they hear and insult.

That is not a president that is a Dictator. Well in the name of change he knows what's best for us, right? If not it is our own fault and he will explain what he means since we are so stupid after all to really undertsand him.

The trouble with Obama is that he has many versions of the truth. For a moment, he let his "mask slip" when he thought he was in like company and told his fundraisers what he really thinks. Too bad for him, his remarks made their way to prime time. But it is good for the American public to get another glimpse of the real Obama.