MISHAWAKA, Ind., April 12, 2008
Rivals Pounce On Obama's "Bitter" Remarks
Clinton And McCain Campaigns Spin Illinois Senator's Comments As Elitist And Out-Of-Touch
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Obama's 'Bitter' Remark
Barack Obama touched off a political firestorm when he called blue-collar voters "bitter." Opponents in both parties were quick to attack his remarks as "elitist." Randall Pinkston reports.
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Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., addresses employees during a campaign stop as Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., right, listens at AM General Assembly Plant, in Mishawaka, Ind., April 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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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.
"This helps both his opponents," Politico.com's Mike Allen told CBS News. "It lets Senator Clinton off the mat, gives her basically a club to hit him with. And it helps Senator McCain because it makes it easy for him to cast this as a race against a snob."
The Clinton campaign 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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See all 2159 CommentsAmerica cannot afford to enact another AMNESTY? The ramifications are unthinkable on each states economy? Taxpayers will have to support even more illegal immigrants as the word gets out and millions more will pour into our nation.
Keep calling your Democratic Congressmen today to co-author THE SAVE ACT! Toll free numbers include 18778516437 and 18662200044, or call toll 12022243121 AND REGISTER YOUR OUTRAGE at ongoing efforts to keep our country from enforcing its immigration laws!
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YOU CAN PETITION TO COMPLETE THE BORDER FENCE HERE grassfire
Just like you should be more understanding of an elder in Wright''s Church who tells Sean Hannity that he needs to read Cone''s book to understand the theology of his church...Cone says the ''white enemy needs to be destroyed''....Now...why would any white working person be bitter that unions he pays to represent him...a party that claims to represent the working man would support an Elder of that Church?
Sad, stupid small town trash! In love with your guns and your religion an'' ain''t got no time for the likes of the SU-PEER-RE-OR Mr. Obama an'' the "swank Morehouse crowd." As, an ATLANTA JOURNAL columnist once dubbed them. Why would the "white enemy" be bitter?
In her senior thesis at Princeton, Michele Obama, stated that America was a nation founded on %u201Ccrime and hatred%u201D. She stated that whites in America were %u201Cineradicably racist%u201D. The 1985 thesis, titled %u201CPrinceton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community%u201D was written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson.
Michelle Obama stated in her thesis that to %u201CWhites at Princeton , it often seems as if, to them, she will always be Black first%u2026%u201D However, it was reported by a fellow black classmate, %u201CIf those %u201CWhites at Princeton %u201D really saw Michelle as one who always would %u201Cbe Black first,%u201D it seems that she gave them that impression%u201D.
Most alarming is Michele Obama%u2019s use of the terms %u201Cseparationist%u201D and %u201Cintegrationist%u201D when describing the views of black people.
Mrs. Obama clearly identifies herself with a %u201Cseparationist%u201D view of race.
%u201CBy actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desperation of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to their plight.%u201D
It is Clinton and McCain that are totally out of touch with reality.
Neither Clinton or McCain can understand that because Congress did nothing when the subprime problem was clearly visable and could have easily been corrected by Congress before millions of "little" people lost their homes some of us are bitter.
Anyone who is not "bitter" about the illegal war Congress is paying for with our money, not "bitter" that Congress has better healthcare than the rest of us, are not "bitter" because the government bails out banks while we struggle with bankrupt laws Congress passed that the credit card companies wanted, and not "bitter" that Congress could not even pass a bill that would let farmers legally hire Mexicans for one year while things got sorted out and not "bitter'' that our sons and daughters are dying in a war while the sons of the people we are fighting for are not drafted and have the time and energy to fight and riot against us has to be seeing something I am not.
And yes I am a Republican!
Obama writes that the path she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to
her "further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social
structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never
becoming a full participant."
Michele Obama clearly has a chip on her shoulder.
Not only does she see separate black and white societies in America , but she
elevates black over white in her world.
Here is another passage that is uncomfortable and ominous in meaning:
"There was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I am
obligated to this community and will utilize all of my present and future
resources to benefit the black community first and foremost. "
What is Michelle Obama planning to do with her future resources if she''s first
lady that will elevate black over white in America ?
The following passage appears to be a call to arms for affirmative action
policies that could be the hallmark of an Obama administration.
"Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically
designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of
their enrollments."
The conclusion of her thesis is alarming.
Michelle Obama''s poll of black alumni concludes that other black students at
Princeton do not share her obsession with blackness. But rather than celebrate,
she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture
more than they value the color of their skin. "I hoped that these findings would
help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a
result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni
follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with
the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility."
Is it no wonder that most black alumni ignored her racist questionnaire? Only 89
students responded out of 400 who were asked for input.
Michelle Obama does not look into a crowd of Obama supporters and see Americans.
She sees black people and white people eternally conflicted with one another.
The thesis provides a trove of Mrs. Obama''s thoughts and world view seen through
a race-based prism.
This is a very divisive view for a potential first lady that would do untold
damage to race relations in this country in a Barack Obama administration.
Michelle Obama''s intellectually refined racism should give American''s a pause
for deep concern.
Now maybe she''s changed, but she sure sounds like someone with an axe to grind
with America . Will the press let Michelle get a free pass over her obviously
racist comment about American whites? I am sure that it will.
And, all we have to measure Obama are words as his personal accomplisments are rather thin.
So, yes, the comments in San Francisco are indicative of the man and what he believes.
BTW, where is his wife lately...? No speeches, no media interviews and just disappeared.
Now I am a "Biblethumpingbeerdrinkinguntotintypicalwhiteperson"
"Hussein Obama is a Muslim. He has not renounced his Muslim birth, at which
time, he received his Allah-inspired name. He must become an apostate to Islam
for him to truly not be Muslim -- and publicly announce this apostasy. This is
what he MUST do....but he will never do this. This Muslim can claim to be of ANY
religion, but as long as he does not become an apostate, he REMAINS Muslim"
!JERUSALEM - Sen. Barack Obama''s Chicago church reprinted a manifesto by
Hamas...} This comes to show you why people still believe Obama is a muslim and
that his so-called church has nothing to do with christianity. The following
facts cannot be denied: #1 he was born to a muslim father which automatically
makes him a muslim. #2 he was raised by his muslim step-father. #3 he attended
mosques and madrasas from his childhood. #4 he is a member of a church that
sympathizes with Hamas and hates America. #5 he is endorsed by Farrakhan and the new Black Panther Party...
IT''S WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT SMALL TOWNS, RURAL AMERICA,
THE WORKING CLASS, GUNS AND RELIGION!!
....but Obama''s minister - not Obama himself, but his minister - says something and look at everyone jumping at it a month later.
It must be nice to be an untouchable christian. (Obviously - NOT one of the kids. They''re touched all the time.)
Sorta like: once a Jew, always a Jew, during WWII.
Which makes you...
Somehow, I think you would be offended whatever came out of his mouth.
I guess America should embrace a compulsive liar and a warmonger, but WAIT---with all their experience why havent things changed? I guess if Clinton or McSame gets elected we can look forward to smoke being blown up our butts, 100 years in Iraq and riding bicycles to work!
Obama 2008
I do not want Clinton but Obama appears to have more baggage than the Clintons - unbelievably.
I guess obama didn''t read either..
Sen. Barack Obama%u2019s Chicago church reprinted a manifesto by Hamas that defended terrorism as legitimate resistance, refused to recognize the right of Israel to exist and compared the terror group%u2019s official charter - which
calls for the murder of Jews - to America%u2019s Declaration of Independence.
The Hamas piece was published on the %u201CPastor%u2019s Page%u201D of the Trinity United
Church of Christ newsletter reserved for Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.
The revelation follows a recent WND article quoting Israeli security officials
who expressed %u201Cconcern%u201D about Robert Malley, an adviser to Obama who has
advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the
terrorist group.
In his July 22, 2007, church bulletin, Wright reprinted an article by Mousa
Abu Marzook, identified in the newsletter as a %u201Cdeputy of the political bureau
of Hamas.%u201D
Seriously, get an education. Read some books, ANY books, (even ones by Ann Coulter). Stop watching TV, which can only feed you sound-bites. America is being led off a cliff, its happening in slow motion and its horrible to watch.
According to senior Israeli security officials, Marzook, who resides in Syria
alongside Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal, is considered the %u201Cbrains%u201D behind
Hamas, designing much of the terror group%u2019s policies and ideology. Israel
possesses what it says is a large volume of specific evidence that Marzook has
been directly involved in calling for or planning scores of Hamas terrorist
offensives, including deadly suicide bombings, & also accused of attempting
to set up a Hamas network in the U.S.
book "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming The American Dream", over
here in Southeast Asia I was completely taken aback not only by the violent
imagery in new title of the book, "Menerjang Harapan: Dari Jakarta Menuju Gedung
Putih", but by the fact that it was not really a translation at all, but rather
a completely different title than the original book. For the native Indonesian
speaker, this figurative language creates a mental image whereas the translation
of the book''s title can actually come to mean "Jihad: From Jakarta To The
Whitehouse". Why would the publishers drastically change the title of the book
for the Indonesian translation and make use of such figurative language? Your
guess is as good as mine, but it would seem that Barack Obama is quite
interested with promoting himself in Southeast Asia as a crusader for the cause
of Indonesia''s Muslims.
Yes, every little petty thing is a big deal. Apparently this election is not about the issues.
1) The Clintons and McCain pushed NAFTA and China trade deals through Congress and are multi-millionaires, hence it sounds absurd when they try to call somebody elitist, and
2) People are in fact very bitter, not just about job losses, but about Government being corrupt and out of touch, spending on the war, the growing debt, the weakening dollar, increased global competition, etc . . . it''s creepy to see the Clintons try and spread their dysfunctional coping mechanisms throughout the culture with an ''everything''s fine'' plastic smile when in fact everything''s not fine. Only the top .1% think everything''s fine . . .
After the dust settles, my prediction is that Barack''s going to have a net gain for having weathered another ''controversy'' better than the other two candidates . . .
-Obama
Can any of you Obama people clarify what he means about the guns??
I only see 3 possibilitys here;
Small town people collect guns
Small town people hunt with guns
or Small town people shoot at Black people who wander out of the city onto their property.
don''t have any idea what being a muslim is. In the muslim world, anyone born to
a muslim father is automatically a muslim. Sure Obama attends some so-called
christian church, but as revealed recently, the church has very little to do
with christianity, and it is preocuppied with hating America. The sermons in
there don''t sound much different than those in mosques where some of the most
radical islamists clerics preach. With these facts in mind, I am still not
certain that Hussein Obama is not a muslim. And just because he says he isnt''t,
that doesn''t make it true. He will say anything to take the nomination away from
Hillary. Since when did we start believing politicians?
%u201CHis repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me; the blunt poetry of his words,
his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order,
martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will.%u201D
While working as a community organizer for a group of churches in Chicago, Obama
was repeatedly asked to join Christian congregations, but begged off.
MALCOLM X !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it was equally candid about his youthful struggles: pot, booze and %u201Cmaybe a
little blow,%u201D he wrote, could %u201Cpush questions of who I was out of my mind,%u201D
flatten %u201Cout the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory.%u201D Most
memorably, the book gave the reader a heartfelt sense of what it was like to
grow up in the 1960%u2019s and 70%u2019s, straddling America%u2019s color lines: the sense of
knowing two worlds and belonging to neither, the sense of having to forge an
identity of his own.
It''s quite clear when you actually read the WHOLE quote, instead of taking out the MEAT of it and replacing it with three dots.
The most recent polls show he has no margin of error and this might be enough to push him below Clinton.
Obama says that rather than advising him on strategy, Wright helps keep his
priorities straight and his moral compass calibrated.
%u201CWhat I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice,%u201D
Obama said. %u201CHe%u2019s 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%u2019m not losing
myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that%u2019s involved in national
politics.%u201D
SCARY ???
Its about what he said about small towns , rural America, the working class, guns and religion.
Now back to the guns....Just what is he saying about the guns??? Come on Obama people...you must have some kind of explanation!!!
In his 1993 memoir %u201CDreams from My Father,%u201D Obama recounts in vivid detail his
first meeting with Wright in 1985. The pastor warned the community activist that
getting involved with Trinity might turn off other black clergy because of the
church%u2019s radical reputation.
..and a wife who is a racist and is not proud of our country my husband died for!!
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