Clinton Says Obama is "Out of Touch" with Middle Class Americans, Calls Comments "Elitist"

(CBS)

From CBS News' Fernando Suarez:


INDIANAPOLIS -- Hillary Clinton slammed Barack Obama for comments he made at fundraiser last Sunday where he said middle class Americans are "bitter" about the state of the economy. "I was taken aback by the demeaning remarks Senator Obama made about people in small town America," Clinton said. "Senator Obama's remarks are elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans, certainly not the Americans I know, not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I grew up with in Arkansas or the Americans I represent in New York."

Referring to residents of small towns in Pennsylvania, Obama told a small group of fundraisers in San Francisco earlier this week that "it's not surprising 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 setting for Clinton's response seemed perfect. She spoke at a plant that helps build transmission parts for military vehicles, a primarily working class crowd. Clinton found an opening in Obama's comments to paint him as an elitist liberal who is out of touch with middle class American values, thereby hoping to position herself as the candidate who will help middle class Americans.

"I am the granddaughter of a factory worker," Clinton said. "My grandfather went to work at the age of 11, before there were child labor laws, and worked in the lace mills in Scranton, Pennsylvania."

She added, "I grew up in the Midwest, born in Chicago, raised outside of that great city, and I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in America and its promise."

Clinton took the stage to John Cougar Mellencamp's "Small Town," a song that was used primarily by former presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards prided himself in being the candidate for working class Americans, often reminding the crowds that he was the son of a mill worker. With Edwards now out of the race, Clinton is hoping to take the reigns. "When my dad grew up, it was a working class family in Scranton," Clinton told the audience. "I grew up in a churchgoing family, a family that believed in living out and expressing our faith."

[txkang]

Shame on Obama. He is SO full of himself. We small town people makeup a large part of the population and have a big voice. He is attacking Hillary for calling him on those hurtful comments. Is she suppose to be quiet now and let him spew his divisiveness all over smalltown religious people who don''t agree with him. Who does he think he is? If I don''t agree with his platform, I am wrong??? WOW. America is not deaf for stupid. We hear you Obama and take note, We Will Not Forget!!!! Apologize for your mistakes, don''t blame Hillary.

[fourthsign]

obama needs to answer to the allegations made by Larry Sinclair; which say obama smoked crack and let larry perform mouth to you know WHAT ***... This is not going away and it is getting a lot of attention on the web but news media will not touch this... whitehouse.com did a polygraph on larry and whitehouse.com said they would publish results but they NEVER did..hmmm; all they said was that larry failed it??? if larry failed it then WHY haven''''t they published results?????? FISHY, FISHY!

[omaar-101]

1. 109 MILLION

2. THE OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS (ELITIST) NEED ONLY APPLY.

3. BILL CLINTON''S DUBAI PORTS DEAL WITH DUBAI (THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES)

4. THE BILL CLINTON KHAZATSTAN UNRANIUM DEALINGS.

5. THE OVER 500 MILLION BILL CLINTON LIBRARY, WITH (SAUDI ARABIA) CHAIRING THE BOARD.

NOTE: YET HILLARY SAYS "SHE WON''T WALK HAND IN HAND WITH THE ARABS" WHEN SHE & BILL ARE SLEEPING WITH THEM !!

6. 10 MILLION FROM THE ROYAL SAUDI ARABIAN FAMILY PER YEAR, MULTIPLE MILLIONS FROM QATAR, KUWAIT AND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

NOTE: AND HILLARY CLINTON IS TRYING TO PASS HERSELF OFF AS A MIDDLE CLASS PERSON...

PUH-LEASE

PS: GOOGLE & YOU TUBE JAMES WILLIAM FULBRIGHT, BILL CLINTON & HILLARY''S MENTOR.

[liberty4you]

110 Million dollars since America has lost over 3 Million jobs.

Who are the elitists? Hillary is NOT entitled to the Whitehouse.

She is not our queen.

[ruthieja]

Hillary joining league with the Republicans to talk about "liberal elitists" is just plain shameful. I hope people see thru this wedge issue BS. Obama should just keep speaking the truth and standing up for common sense and reality.

[lordmi]

Ohm yes, Hillary was very much "in touch" with middle cluss on her fancy party with English singe(no more Americans for help?) , with pockets all full of personal tax-free donations.

She better keep silence "in touch".
More better - Get Lost from election .

[vincan-2009]

Clinton has been as ruthless as Karl Rove and lying just like a republican. She and Bill should not get back in the whitehouse because it won''t be good for the country. It will be more republican hell.

[sjbj2322]

jaybs3...."What real hard physical work has Hillary ever done, just lived the High Life, The Dynasty, no idea of what suffering and struggling is, only Embellishing Truth to make her stories sound good!"

Your need to do some research. If the truth be told, everything you said is what is the truth of Obama. Hard work!! I don''t recall Obama ever having worked as a waitress to get by but Hillary did. Tough life....read a book - try A Woman in Charge by Bernstein and you might learn that Hillary''s life was anything but the cushy fascade you infer. It is Obama who managed to take the light road on the back of funding available to students, etc., that made it possible for him to truly escape any "hard work".

[kenbomc]

Obama is real. Hillary has to try and talk people into believing she is. This of course happens while her campaign has private meetings with Columbia to send more PA jobs over seas.

[juliekay44]

Hillary forgot to mention that her father was a successful businessman and her mother did not work outside of the home. Hillary never knew poverty or even struggling middle class. Obama saw poverty up-close during his childhood. Obama lived a lower middle class life style in Hawaii. I would guess that Hillary''s father paid for her college.

There are many bitter and angry Americans in all states that have suffered at the hands of political decisions made by many in power, including Hillary Clinton that has a long history of unethical business deals that have made her rich.

CBS Poll: Views On Economy At All-Time Low, Apr 4, 2008

81% in Poll Say Nation Is Headed on Wrong Track http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/us/04poll.html?em&ex=1207627200&en=824e89eaa8c1414a&ei=5070

Hillary''s father, Hugh E. Rodham, attended college on a football scholarship. He was a "very successful career in the textile supply industry. %u2026 In 1950, they moved to the more affluent Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Ellsworth_Rodham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Ellsworth_Rodham