P
PissingOffTheLeft@excite.com
Guest
Barack Hussein Obama Sharpton Farrakan Jeremiah attempts to remove his
black (or is it bi-racial) foot from his mouth!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_el_pr/obama_clinton
MISHAWAKA, Ind. - A political tempest over Barack Obama's comments
about bitter voters in small towns has given rival Hillary Rodham
Clinton a new opening to court working class Democrats 10 days before
Pennsylvanians hold a primary that she must win to keep her
presidential campaign alive.
ADVERTISEMENT
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."
___
Jim Kuhnhenn reported from Muncie, Ind. Associated Press Writer Mike
Baker in Wilson, N.C., contributed to this report.
black (or is it bi-racial) foot from his mouth!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_el_pr/obama_clinton
MISHAWAKA, Ind. - A political tempest over Barack Obama's comments
about bitter voters in small towns has given rival Hillary Rodham
Clinton a new opening to court working class Democrats 10 days before
Pennsylvanians hold a primary that she must win to keep her
presidential campaign alive.
ADVERTISEMENT
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."
___
Jim Kuhnhenn reported from Muncie, Ind. Associated Press Writer Mike
Baker in Wilson, N.C., contributed to this report.
