Web Watch: Bitter Battle
The warning shot of all of this came across my desk Friday afternoon: A press release from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign repeating Sen. Barack Obama’s characterization of some blue collar folks in Pennsylvania.
Most of us have heard this by now, but I’ll set the stage: At a private fundraiser on Thursday, Obama said some of those people were “bitter” over repeated job cuts and tough times; hence, they “cling” to guns or their faith or their antipathy at outsiders or their anti-immigrant fears. Everything started to heat up late over the weekend.
One newspaper wrote that Clinton activated her entire campaign apparatus to make sure everyone got the message. The controversy over those words and audio captured and posted — originally by the Huffington Post — is now burning up the blogosphere.
Obama’s people have to be afraid of how this will play in people in Pennsylvania, when they vote in eight days. Consider that he was speaking to a private fundraiser in California (think West Coast elite). When pulled out in soundbyte, his words could easily sound like slams on those voters; he’s dismissing them and talking down to them.
Both Clinton and Obama got the chance to addressed the matter last night at a forum at Messiah College. Sen. John McCain has used to to take aim at Obama as an elitist. The story has generated enough back-and-forth that WashPo’s The Fix dedicated repeated posts to it.
Obama spent the weekend, including last night, trying to defuse. “That was in no way a demeaning of a faith that I myself embrace,” Obama said. “When economic hardship hits, they have faith, they have family, they have traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation. Those are not bad things. Those are the things that are left.”
He has actually gotten praise and defense from the liberal intelligentsia (check HuffPo’s commentators, for example) and even from Fox News’ centrist Alan Colmes.
So you understand just how this one is kicking around: An 11:33 a.m. e-mail this morning from Clinton’s campaign contains a link to a YouTube clip of Clinton responding again today at a rally in PA. This story is now likely to last through and color Wednesday night’s debate on ABC.
Below, I’m posting first Obama’s take on this blowup from Sunday. The clip is in the Top 10 most watched on YouTube right now.
Next I’ve got Clinton’s own words, in brand-new video, from this morning’s event referenced above.



“When pulled out in soundbyte, his words could easily sound like slams on those voters; he’s dismissing them and talking down to them.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s funny!