Hillary:
“Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them,” she said. “They need a president who stands up for them.”
Obama hit for saying some voters ‘bitter’ – Barack Obama News- msnbc.com
Oh yeah, right, Mrs. 109 million dollars
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for McCain, said Friday: “Only an elitist would say that people vote their values only out of frustration. … You can’t be more out of touch than that.”
WHO’s out of touch? It (the “bitter” comment)certainly doesn’t play well, but it is certainly true. No doubt. Obama is the only one with the courage to even try anything slightly nuanced.
Of course, the ever sensitive Hillary, who exudes NONE of this, lays on the political platitudes to contrast herself:
“I saw in the media it’s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter. Well, that’s not my experience.”As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive, who are rolling up their sleeves. They are working hard everyday for a better future, for themselves and their children.
“Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them, they need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families.”
And McCain jumps in:
“It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking,” Schmidt said. “It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans.”
I thought the same thing. But “bitter” is a word too often taken to connote some sort of vindictiveness, when it is often just a synonymn for “frustration over a long period of time to the point of losing hope”, which is what I understood him to be saying. So “bitter” was not a word that would play well, like you said, in the inevitable spotlight.
Obama was speaking to an audience in San Francisco where his remarks would have been well received. It was unwise of him not to consider that these same remarks would be replayed in a less than flattering manner. One need only think of Howard Dean.