'Bitter' voters? Obama regrets wording
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - April 12, 2008 Obama tried to quell the furor Saturday, explaining his remarks
while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly.
But the Clinton campaign fueled the controversy in every place
and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and
arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are
vying for not only in Pennsylvania, but in upcoming primaries in
Indiana and North Carolina as well.
Political insiders differed on whether Obama's comments, which
came to light Friday, would become a full-blown political disaster
that could prompt party leaders to try to steer the nomination to
Clinton even though Obama has more pledged delegates. Clinton
supporters were eagerly hoping so.
They handed out "I'm not bitter" stickers in North Carolina,
and held a conference call of Pennsylvania mayors to denounce the
Illinois senator. In Indiana, Clinton did the work herself, telling
plant workers in Indianapolis that Obama's comments were "elitist
and out of touch."
Campaigning in Muncie, Ind., Obama addressed the issue at
length. "I didn't say it as well as I should have," he said at
Ball State University.
At issue are comments he made privately at a fundraiser in San
Francisco last Sunday. He was trying to explain his troubles
winning over some working class voters, saying they have become
frustrated with economic conditions:
"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns
or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or
anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to
explain their frustrations."
The comments, posted on the Huffington Post political Web site
Friday, set off a blast of criticism from Clinton, Republican
nominee-in-waiting John McCain and other GOP officials, and drew
attention to a potential Obama weakness - the image some have that
the Harvard-trained lawyer is arrogant and aloof.
His campaign scrambled over the weekend to defuse possible
damage.
There has been a small "political flare-up because I said
something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a
whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right
here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter,"
Obama said Saturday morning at a town hall-style meeting at the
university. "They are angry. They feel like they have been left
behind. They feel like nobody is paying attention to what they're
going through."
"So I said, well you know, when you're bitter you turn to what
you can count on. So people, they vote about guns, or they take
comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And
they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this
country."
After acknowledging his previous remarks in California could
have been better phrased, he added:
"The truth is that these traditions that are passed on from
generation to generation, those are important. That's what sustains
us. But what is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they
are being listened to. ...
"What we need is a government that is actually paying
attention."
Clinton attacked Obama's remarks much more harshly Saturday than
she had the night before, calling them "demeaning." Her aides
feel Obama has given them a big opening, pulling the spotlight away
from troublesome stories such as former President Clinton's recent
revisiting of his wife's misstatements about an airport landing in
Bosnia 10 years ago.
Obama is trying to focus attention narrowly on his remarks,
arguing there's no question that some working class families are
anxious and bitter. The Clinton campaign is parsing every word,
focusing on what Obama said about religion, guns, immigration and
trade.
Clinton hit all those themes in lengthy comments to
manufacturing workers in Indianapolis.
"I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in
America and its policies," she said. "Now, Americans who believe
in the Second Amendment believe it's a matter of constitutional
right. Americans who believe in God believe it's a matter of
personal faith."
"I grew up in a churchgoing family...," she continued. "The
people of faith I know don't 'cling' to religion because they're
bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor,
but because they are spiritually rich ...
"I also disagree with Senator Obama's assertion that people in
this country 'cling to guns' and have certain attitudes about
immigration or trade simply out of frustration," she said.
"People don't need a president who looks down on them," she
said. "They need a president who stands up for them."
McCain's campaign piled on, releasing a statement that also
accusing Obama of elitism.
One of Clinton's staunchest supporters, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.,
acknowledged there was some truth in Obama's remarks. But he said
Republicans would use them against him anyway.
At a campaign rally in Wilson, N.C., former state Democratic
Party chairman and current Hillary Rodham Clinton adviser Tom
Hendrickson said rural voters don't need "liberal elites" telling
them what to believe.
Bill Clinton was the featured speaker of the rally but avoided
commenting on Obama's remarks. When asked about it afterward, he
said simply: "I agree with what Hillary said."
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Jim Kuhnhenn reported from Muncie, Ind. Associated Press Writer
Mike Baker in Wilson, N.C., contributed to this report.
