Obama's Disdain for the Middle America

Much has been written in the blogosphere about Obama's "Bitter" comments (some have said the more appropriate title for the comments is "Clingy") so I will try not to rehash what has already been said. For those who have not read his comments, he said to a group of wealthy contributors in San Francisco that:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And 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."

Note that he is not only speaking about folks in the Keystone state but small towns all over the Midwest (and I would suggest all over America). His explanations for his comments have made them sound worse than they did originally. I also think that the comments about how these "bitter" people cling to religion will come back to bite him more than the comment about guns.

I have to give him credit though. Hillary Clinton pounced on the comments and started sounding like the best friend of gun owners. Obama's retort was pretty good. Obama noted that Clinton seemed much more interested in guns since he made his comments than she had in the past.

"She is running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment. She's talking like she's Annie Oakley. Hillary Clinton is out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday. She's packing a six-shooter. Come on, she knows better. That's some politics being played by Hillary Clinton."

Clinton has responded with a TV ad.



Rush Limbaugh suggested on his program today that for most of the last couple of months, Obama has been on cruise control but with Clinton picking up steam in Ohio and Texas and at one time leading big in Pennsylvania, he has had to campaign again. And, he has started saying what he really thinks, and he has a very elitist view (similar to what the last two Ivy League graduates that the Democrats nominated) - thus his comments about God, guns, and small town America.

I think it is particularly striking that he made these comments on "Billionaire Avenue" in San Francisco.