What is the last thing a candidate wants to do before an upcoming primary that could potentially win them thier parties’ nomination, and possibly the presidency?
Say something that could be interpreted as offensive to a demographic that your’re trying to win over.
Oh, Obama, what did you say? The comments by Obama all the talking heads are referring to were made April 6th at a fundraiser in San Francisco, CA according to a blog post from The Huffington Post. He said:
You go into some of 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 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. So it’s not surprising then that 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 thier frusterations.”
Obama continues to trail Clinton in Pennsylvania, and a comment like this doesn’t help. But at least it’s a late Friday afternoon, right? To apologize or not, that is the question. If he apologizes, than that is an admission like he has done something wrong. I think his best bet is to let this story die out over the weekend. Of course, Clinton was quick to jump all over this, and she should, strategically. She is fighting for her life in PA. Clinton released a statement today about it:
From CNN: “It’s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who face hard times are bitter…Well that’s not my experience. As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, optimist postive who are rolling up thier sleeves.”
Each day, things are said in this hi-tech world we live in, and the candidates cannot forget this. They are being watched and recorded at all times. Controversial comments can spread like wildfire. The Obama campaign is hoping this one dies out over the weekend, or better yet, overshadowed by another Clinton tall tale.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Barack Obama News » Blog Archive » Obama’s Small Town “Bitter” Remarks: To Apologize or Not // Apr 11, 2008 at 5:42 pm
[…] Read the rest of this great post here […]
2 John Austin TX Personal trainers // Apr 11, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I just heard Karl Rove say that with these small town comments BHO just lost any chance he had of winning in PA. As one who grew up in small town PA, I think this will not sit well with those “typical small town folks”. It comes off condescending and elitist.
3 mikel // Apr 12, 2008 at 6:04 am
It is stunning how many people he manages to insult with this statement. His comments about “clinging to religion,” are insulting to people of faith with sincere convictions. His discussion of small town pennsylvania and guns and xenophobia all in the same breath make it seem like he has stereotyped people from rural areas as racist gun nuts.
It’s bad enough we have to be bombarded by this sort of stereotyping by Hollywood, now we get it from our presidential candidate.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer had four people on all agreeing with Obama, criticizing Clinton and McCain’s comments as unfair to Obama. So, we know what CNN thinks about Pennsylvania. We’re just a bunch of bitter, ignorant, xenophobic, religious gun nuts.
4 Obama talks about “being bitter” // Apr 12, 2008 at 3:30 pm
[…] information about that and the uproar resulting check out an article over on TPM as well as another nice piece over on […]
5 Amy // Apr 12, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I’m an Obama supporter, or trying to be one. It’s very hard in light of his recent “bitter” comments. People don’t go to church, own guns, protest NAFTA, because they are bitter, but rather they do these things out of conviction. I just hope that Obama finds the strength to recant. I am still shocked by his comments. I even had to wonder if he was attempting to commit political suicide. He took Pennsylvanians to the psychiatrist’s couch but maybe he should spend some time there. Does he really want to be the next President? Maybe he just decided to take a dive. I am so disappointed in him, my candidate!
6 Todays News: All about bitter Obama // Apr 14, 2008 at 9:13 am
[…] the story started showing up SeattlePoliticore was right there weighing in on the importance of Obama’s […]
7 So many jokes, so little time. // May 27, 2008 at 12:05 am
[…] Senator Obama’s “bitter” comments, to last weeks comments by Senator Clinton on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy; everyone […]
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