Could This Be The "Bitter" End to Obama's Campaign

The self-demolition derby continues in the Dem party. As soon as one person does something dumb (see Clinton, Hillary - Sniper Fire) the other candidate bails them out (see Obama, Barack - Bitter Small Town America). Since it's currently Obama's turn in the crosshairs, he's having a very hard time explaining his comments to a skeptical press, fellow Democrats, and of course, Republicans:

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) - A political tempest over Barack Obama's comments about bitter voters in small towns has given rival Hillary Rodham Clinton a new opening to court working class Democrats 10 days before Pennsylvanians hold a primary that she must win to keep her presidential campaign alive.

Obama tried to quell the furor Saturday, explaining his remarks while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly.

"If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," Obama said in an interview with the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal.

But the Clinton campaign fueled the controversy in every place and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are vying for not only in Pennsylvania, but in upcoming primaries in Indiana and North Carolina as well.

Political insiders differed on whether Obama's comments, which came to light Friday, would become a full-blown political disaster that could prompt party leaders to try to steer the nomination to Clinton even though Obama has more pledged delegates. Clinton supporters were eagerly hoping so.

They handed out "I'm not bitter" stickers in North Carolina, and held a conference call of Pennsylvania mayors to denounce the Illinois senator. In Indiana, Clinton did the work herself, telling plant workers in Indianapolis that Obama's comments were "elitist and out of touch."

At issue are comments he made privately at a fundraiser in San Francisco last Sunday. He was trying to explain his troubles winning over some working-class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions:

"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."

The problem Obama has is that he was caught saying what he really believes, and now he has to try and explain it. I'm sure the Marin County crowd that heard the original comments nodded their empty heads in full agreement and joint condescension as he explained all those bitter Americans in flyover country. However, there are a lot more of those small town Americans than there are arrogant liberals, and that's going to come back to bite him, in Pennsylvania first, and later in the general election (assuming he survives this little act of arrogance).

Unfortunately for Obama, his defenders aren't helping much. Jack Cafferty at CNN made this comparison in his defense:

The people are frustrated. The people have no economic opportunity. What happens to folks like that in the Middle East, you ask? Well, take a look. They go to places like al Qaeda training camps.

I guess that means there will be an uptick in registrations at the local right-wing militia headquarters around middle America.

Lisa Schiffren at The Corner connects the dots between Obama's "bitter America" statement and his association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

I now feel fully vindicated in my suspicion that Obama's attendance at Wright's church was entirely political and expedient. No one who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ — or even moderate respect for other people's religious views — thinks in these terms about why working class people might believe in God. Or believes that a more enlightened government will supplant that.

This little brouhaha is not going away anytime soon.