More candidate foot-in-mouth

[Heisenberg]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/11/clinton-hits-obama-over-reported-bitter-comment/

Clinton hits Obama over reported 'bitter' comment
Posted: 05:57 PM ET

(CNN) — Democrat Hillary Clinton is seizing on comments Barack Obama recently made in which he reportedly said some Pennsylvanians who have lost their jobs are "bitter."

"It's being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who face hard times are bitter," Clinton said during a campaign event in Philadelphia. "Well that's not my experience. As I travel around Pennsylvania. I meet people who are resilient, optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves."

"Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them," she said. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights hard for your future, your jobs, your families."

Obama's comments were reported earlier Friday by the Web site Huffingtonpost.com. The Web site says he made that at a fundraising event in San Francisco last Sunday.

"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 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," he reportedly said.

"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," he also said, according to the Web site.

McCain's campaign also criticized the comment Friday, saying "It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking."

"It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans," Steve Schmidt, a senior advisor to McCain, said.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki would not confirm Obama made the comments.

"No one from our press office was there — we don't have a campaign recording–we are neither confirming nor refuting."

[Heisenberg]

Don't think what he said was inaccurate, but it didn't come off well. That's for sure.

[iceberg]

Don't think what he said was inaccurate, but it didn't come off well. That's for sure.

yea, but to actually come out and fuss over a word?

and then act all pompous and arse-kissy?

lord i hate her.

[Heisenberg]

yea, but to actually come out and fuss over a word?

and then act all pompous and arse-kissy?

lord i hate her.

This is really the first election I've paid THIS much attention to. It seems par for the course for everyone.

Grab onto a word that someone somewhere might potentially find offensive and draw as much attention to it as possible to make your opponent look bad. It seems to be the name of the game.

[ZeroClub]

yea, but to actually come out and fuss over a word?

and then act all pompous and arse-kissy?

lord i hate her.

That sums it up perfectly. :)

I have the same reaction.

[hairic]

Someone think of a politically correct replacement for bitter.

Since I'm in too much of a hurry, all I got is 'insufficiently satisfied', or 'insufficiently optimistic'.

Rewritten work:

Clinton hits Obama over reported 'insufficiently satisfied' comment
Posted: 05:57 PM ET

(CNN) — Democrat Hillary Clinton is seizing on comments Barack Obama recently made in which he reportedly said some Pennsylvanians who have lost their jobs are "insufficiently satisfied."

"It's being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who face hard times are insufficiently satisfied," Clinton said during a campaign event in Philadelphia. "Well that's not my experience. As I travel around Pennsylvania. I meet people who are resilient, optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves."

"Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them," she said. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights hard for your future, your jobs, your families."

Obama's comments were reported earlier Friday by the Web site Huffingtonpost.com. The Web site says he made that at a fundraising event in San Francisco last Sunday.

"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 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," he reportedly said.

"And it's not surprising then they get insufficiently satisfied, 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," he also said, according to the Web site.

McCain's campaign also criticized the comment Friday, saying "It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking."

"It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans," Steve Schmidt, a senior advisor to McCain, said.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki would not confirm Obama made the comments.

"No one from our press office was there — we don't have a campaign recording–we are neither confirming nor refuting."

[StanleySpadowski]

Don't think what he said was inaccurate, but it didn't come off well. That's for sure.


Yea, it's entirely accurate that small town Pennsylvanians like are bitter, racist, freaks who sleep with our shotguns.:rolleyes:


He was making inroads in the PA "T" and then he had to go and call us a bunch of redneck hicks.

My parents are in town this weekend for the Odyssey of the Mind State Finals. My mother was watching the Price is Right million dollar show. When the fifth Obama commercial came on, my father turned to me and said "I think I'm voting McCain this time around".

I damn near fell off the chair. He's a lifelong Dem, union officer, drives the elderly to their polling place...

[Heisenberg]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/11/obama-defends-bitter-remarks/#more-6388

April 11, 2008
Obama defends 'bitter' remarks
Posted: 10:03 PM ET

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana (CNN) –- Barack Obama was forced Friday to defend comments he made at a recent fundraiser where he described some Pennsylvanians as "bitter."

Obama came under fire from Hillary Clinton and John McCain for his remarks just weeks before the Pennsylvania primary.

"When I go around and I talk to people, there is frustration, and there is anger, and there is bitterness," Obama began. "I want to make a point here."

"[Pennsylvanians are] frustrated and for good reason, because for the last 25 years they’ve seen jobs shipped overseas, they’ve seen their economies collapse. They have lost their jobs, they’ve lost their pensions. They’ve lost their health care."

Obama then said that politicians from both sides of the aisle have promised answers but that "nothing ever happens."

"So…they don’t vote on economic because they don’t expect anybody’s going to help them," Obama said, adding that they end up voting on issues that include gun rights, gay marriage, and faith.

He then directly hit Clinton and McCain, mocking their earlier attacks.

"Here’s what’s rich," Obama said. "Sen. Clinton says, 'Well I don’t think people are bitter in Pennsylvania. I think Barack’s being condescending.' John McCain says, 'Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? He’s obviously out of touch with people. '"

"Out of touch?" Obama said. "I mean, John McCain, it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he’s saying I’m out of touch?"

"Sen. Clinton voted for a credit card sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I’m out of touch?"

He concluded his argument by telling the audience that it is, in fact, the opposite.

"No. I’m in touch. I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on in Pennsylvania, I know what’s going on in Indiana, [and] I know what’s going on in Illinois. People are fed up."


Clinton spokesman Phil Singer has since responded to Obama's words on his remarks.

“Instead of apologizing for offending small town America, Sen. Obama chose to repeat and embrace the comments he made earlier this week," Singer wrote in a statement. "It’s unfortunate that Sen. Obama didn’t say he was sorry for what he said. Americans are tired of a President who looks down on them — they want a President who will stand up for them for a change. The Americans who live in small towns are optimistic, hardworking and resilient. They deserve a president who will respect them.”

As has McCain's spokesman, Tucker Bounds.

"Instead of apologizing to small town Americans for dismissing their values, Barack Obama arrogantly tried to spin his way out of his outrageous San Francisco remarks. Only an elitist who attributes religious faith and gun ownership to bitterness would think that tax cuts for the rich include families who make $75,000 per year. Only an elitist would say that people vote their values only out of frustration. Barack Obama thinks he knows your hopes and fears better than you do. You can't be more out of touch than that."

[WoodysGirl]

Honestly, all this mud-slinging is making me lose interest in this election again.

All these erroneous statements, wordplay nitpicking, etc is pitiful.

This politics as usual nonsense bores me...

[Heisenberg]

Honestly, all this mud-slinging is making me lose interest in this election again.

All these erroneous statements, wordplay nitpicking, etc is pitiful.

This politics as usual nonsense bores me...

Same. I'm just going to vote for Obama and leave the day to day election scorekeeping to others.

Jeez I wish it was football season.

[WoodysGirl]

Same. I'm just going to vote for Obama and leave the day to day election scorekeeping to others.

Jeez I wish it was football season.At this point, I don't know who I'd vote for. However, I do wish that we could fully focus on the general election. Pick a Democrat and let's get down to the business at hand.

[hairic]

Video response: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc9PepjyDow

[Heisenberg]

Video response: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc9PepjyDow

I think he did a nice job, but we'll see if the response gets nearly the play that the original quote has tonight.

[Heisenberg]

Strange that Obama finds his defenders at CNN and not MSNBC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G8dRMofHNs&eurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/clinton-mccain-respond-to_n_96318.html

[theogt]

"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," he also said, according to the Web site.Wow. I didn't click on this thread because I'm pretty tired of this type of mess, but this was an incredibly stupid thing to say, particularly after the Reverend Wright mess.

[CanadianCowboysFan]

yea, but to actually come out and fuss over a word?

and then act all pompous and arse-kissy?

lord i hate her.

that is politics in the year 2008

wait for your opponent to misuse a word and boom, there is your sound bite.

[Danny White]

Strange that Obama finds his defenders at CNN and not MSNBC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G8dRMofHNs&eurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/clinton-mccain-respond-to_n_96318.html

They're trying to defend him, but I think they come across as even more elitist in the attempt.

At around the 3 minute mark, the guy in the middle actually makes a ham-fisted comparison of "bitter" midwesterners to Al-Qaeda terrorists. :banghead:

[Heisenberg]

http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2008/04/republicans-tal.html

Oh me. More foot-in-mouth. U.S Rep Geoff Davis in reference to Obama:

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

Nice use of the word "boy".

[Danny White]

http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2008/04/republicans-tal.html

Oh me. More foot-in-mouth. U.S Rep Geoff Davis in reference to Obama:

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

Nice use of the word "boy".

That's gonna leave a mark.

[Danny White]

DAMAGE CONTROL!

Davis apologizes for calling Obama ‘boy’

By Andy Barr
Posted: 04/14/08 03:54 PM [ET]
Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) has apologized for using the word “boy” to describe Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at a Republican fundraiser Saturday night in Kentucky.

“I’m gonna tell you something. That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said, according to an audio recording of the event that was obtained by The Hill. The lawmaker told the crowd that he participated in “closed, highly classified national security simulations" with Obama.

The comment, which was first reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader’s blog Pol Watchers, was met by laughter and applause.

In the written apology to Obama, which he personally delivered to his Senate office, Davis wrote “my poor choice of words is regrettable and was in no way meant to impugn you or your integrity. I offer my sincere apology to you and ask for your forgiveness.”

“It’s hard to tell what is more outrageous - Rep. Davis’s condescending and personal attack, or his absurd and offensive claim that Barack Obama is not prepared to defend America,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

Davis also called Obama a “snake oil salesman” whom he considers “unqualified to be president” and then touched on the “bitter” comment that has haunted Obama over the last few days.

“If you go to the most expensive private school in Hawaii and then you go to Columbia University and Harvard Law School, you probably don’t understand normal Americans and I don’t think he does,” Davis said, noting Obama’s comments were recorded at a private fundraiser.

[Heisenberg]

DAMAGE CONTROL!

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2305/outragedqj7.jpg

[speedkilz88]

Yea, it's entirely accurate that small town Pennsylvanians like are bitter, racist, freaks who sleep with our shotguns.:rolleyes:


He was making inroads in the PA "T" and then he had to go and call us a bunch of redneck hicks.

My parents are in town this weekend for the Odyssey of the Mind State Finals. My mother was watching the Price is Right million dollar show. When the fifth Obama commercial came on, my father turned to me and said "I think I'm voting McCain this time around".

I damn near fell off the chair. He's a lifelong Dem, union officer, drives the elderly to their polling place...I hope you gave your dad a hug. :grouphug:

[Heisenberg]

http://redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/talk_about_no_class_barack_obama_gives_hillary_the _middle_finger

Despite the fact he is scratching his face with two fingers, read the comments. They actually think he flipped her off.

It really makes my head hurt.

[Danny White]

http://redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/talk_about_no_class_barack_obama_gives_hillary_the _middle_finger

Despite the fact he is scratching his face with two fingers, read the comments. They actually think he flipped her off.

It really makes my head hurt.

In defense of Redstate, the comments seem pretty well divided on whether or not it was intentional.

I don't think it was... but if it was, all the better, it'd probably raise my opinion of him. :D

[trickblue]

I wouldn't apologize... it is ridiculous...

I didn't see it as racist. Jesse Jackson can say Jaime Town... Rev Al can spew his ****...

I regularly call people younger than me "boy"...

I don't get the problem here...

[iceberg]

I wouldn't apologize... it is ridiculous...

I didn't see it as racist. Jesse Jackson can say Jaime Town... Rev Al can spew his ****...

I regularly call people younger than me "boy"...

I don't get the problem here...

someone needed it to be and somewhere along the line we were guilted into catering to the weak.