By Caren Bohan
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidentialcandidate Barack Obama spent a fourth day on Monday defendinghimself for calling people in small towns with economic blight"bitter" in a controversy that rival Hillary Clinton is tryingto use for a comeback.
Republican John McCain sought political gain from the flap,saying it is the people from small towns in America whosurvived the Great Depression, fought in World War Two andbuilt a strong postwar economy who are the "heart and soul ofthis country."
Democrat Hillary Clinton, who is vying with Obama to faceMcCain in the November presidential election, also pounced onObama's remarks in an effort to revive her struggling bid toovertake Obama's lead in the state-by-state contest for theDemocratic nomination.
With tests looming in Pennsylvania on April 22 and Indianaand North Carolina on May 6, Obama was forced to spend anotherday explaining comments he made at a private fundraiser lastweek that became public on Friday, in which the Illinoissenator said economic problems had led voters in some smalltowns to become "bitter" and "cling to guns or religion."
"Now it may be that I chose my words badly. It wasn't thefirst time and it won't be the last. But when I hear myopponents, both of whom have spent decades in Washington,saying I'm out of touch, it's time to cut through theirrhetoric and look at the reality," Obama told steelworkers inPittsburgh.
CLINTON, MCCAIN KEEP CONTROVERSY ALIVE
Clinton, speaking later to the same steelworkers, tried tokeep the controversy alive.
"I don't think he really gets it that people are lookingfor a president who stands up for you and not looks down onyou," said Clinton, a New York senator and former first ladywho would be the first woman president.
But there was some resistance from the mostly union crowd,which included Obama supporters. Some murmured disagreement andsaid "no, no" when Clinton attacked Obama and remarked theywere probably as disappointed by the comments as she was.
Still, an American Research Group poll conducted over theweekend showed Clinton with a 20-point lead over Obama inPennsylvania, 57 percent to 37 percent. Previous polls hadshowed a closer contest in the state.
Arizona Sen. McCain, speaking to the Associated Press'annual meeting in Washington, said Obama had misread small-townAmericans.
Religious faith, he said, "had given generations of theirfamilies purpose and meaning, as it does today. And theirappreciation of traditions like hunting was based in nothingother than their contribution to the enjoyment of life."
McCain advisor Mark Salter, meanwhile, sent an e-mail toreporters characterizing Obama as "a guy who thinks the wholecountry is worried about the high price of arugula."
Obama told the Associated Press meeting that McCain wastrying to distract voters from his support of Republicaneconomic policies that have hurt moderate-income Americans.
"It's a philosophy that says there's no role for governmentin making the global economy work for working Americans, thatwe have to just sit back, watch those factories close and thosejobs disappear," Obama said.
He also mocked Clinton for an event at an Indiana bar onSaturday.
"Around election time, the candidates can't do enough foryou. They'll promise you anything, give you a long list ofproposals and they'll even come around, with TV crews in tow,to throw back a shot and a beer," he said.
(Additional reporting by John Whitesides, Writing by SteveHolland and Andy Sullivan, editing by David Wiessler)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/ )
