SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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. And it fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration and each successive administration has said that these communities are going to regenerate but they have not.
And it's not surprising that then they get bitter, they cling to their 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.
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Since Obama made these statements, the pundits have had a field day.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, uproar and fury after stunning remark by Senator Obama. Senator Obama blasts small town America in front of wealthy donors.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Obama refusing to apologize for calling small town Pennsylvania voters "bitter people who cling to their guns and religion."
Journalist Jeff Zeleny wrote for the New York Times 12 April 2008: "The remarks touched off a torrent of criticism from Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain and Republican activists and party officials, all accusing Mr. Obama of elitism and belittling the working class."
Markos Moulitsas, on the Real Time program with Bill Maher, 18 April 2008, said it best: "You know, Obama talked about class, which is really the third rail of American politics. They say Social Security is; I think it's class: inequality; middle class... And so, the bitter comments come out. And Obama was really talking about, when he talks about clinging to religion and guns, he was talking about the political context. He wasn't talking about life. He's not saying "You're poor therefore you're religious", he's saying you're voting on those issues because you're poor. And you don't feel that government can do anything to improve your life. Now, what did McCain and what did Hillary Clinton say. They said No, these people who are economically downtrodden; they're resilient; they're optimistic; they're happy being screwed over. So, you know, you're talking about out of touch and elitist, right, you got these patronizing politicians saying Oh no, you're totally happy that you've been screwed over and dicked over by the system.
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