The "Bitter" Pennsylvania Battleground

Like many Pennsylvanian's, I was a bit affronted when I first read Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's "bitter" words about the people of Pennsylvania.

"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."

Like many, however, I also first read these words without the context - which does help to, perhaps, explain them a little. While the words were clumsy and do come off a bit conceited and condescending, Barack Obama was responding to a group of supporters at a closed-door fund-raiser in San Francisco after being asked why he was not doing better in Pennsylvania. In attempting to later explain his remarks, Obama told audiences on Saturday that "there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter." He further went on to explain that this bitterness led these individuals to turn to what they could count on - "So people, they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community." A public letter from 21 Pennsylvania "elected officials and community leaders from small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania" posted on Obama's Web site supports this defense. "What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and that politicians in Washington haven't been looking out for them. He also said that, as a result, many people have become frustrated, angry and even bitter about all the broken promises. He was right."

Pennsylvania residents do have reason to be bitter. Over 8,200 people in the state of Pennsylvania filed new unemployment claims in February according to Federal labor statistics, the highest number in the nation after California. But are we clinging to guns and religion? I think not. While Obama supporters are focusing on the bitterness and frustration that he was trying to express in his remark, they appear to be trying to push the stereotypical comments about clinging to guns and religion under the rug. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said that's because the words show "a pretty significant lack of understanding of the people in Pennsylvania."

"People in rural Pennsylvania don’t turn to guns and religion as an escape,” Mr. Rendell said. “Hunting and sportsmanship are long-established traditions here, and people of faith founded the commonwealth and continue to live here. What the senator has done is essentially misread what is actually happening in Pennsylvania."

Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain, as you would expect, are also denouncing the remarks, separately criticizing Sen. Obama as being out of touch with the middle class.

"It's a remarkable statement and extremely revealing," McCain adviser Steve Schmidt said in a statement. "It shows an elitism and condescension towards hard-working 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."

The Associated Press reports that Sen. Clinton told attendees at a campaign rally at Drexel University that The Associated Press reported she told a campaign rally at Drexel University that "Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them," she said. "They need a president who stands up for them."

The "bitter" flap doesn't appear to be hurting Obama's campaign here in Pennsylvania very much, however. Despite Pennsylvania's deep family roots in Scranton going back to the 1880s, the Scranton Times-Tribune endorsed Obama today.