By Caren Bohan
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana (Reuters) - U.S. Democraticpresidential candidate Barack Obama came under fire on Fridayfor saying small-town Pennsylvania residents were "bitter" and"cling to guns or religion," in comments his rivals said showedan elitist view of the middle class.
Obama's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and presumptiveRepublican presidential nominee John McCain both pounced on thecomments Obama made last weekend at a fundraiser in SanFrancisco.
Video of the fundraiser, which was closed to the press,surfaced as Obama was campaigning in Indiana, trying tohighlight issues of concern to working-class voters, such asjob losses and rising mortgage foreclosures.
"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, andlike a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have beengone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama, anIllinois senator, said.
"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they clingto guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like themor anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way toexplain their frustrations," he said.
Clinton, a New York senator who is battling Obama for theDemocratic nomination and the right to face McCain in theNovember presidential election, said in Philadelphia thecomments showed Obama "looks down" on voters in Pennsylvania,which holds a closely watched nominating contest on April 22.
"Pennsylvania doesn't need a president who looks down onthem," she said told a rally. "They need a president who standsup for them, who fights for them, who works hard for yourfutures, your jobs, your families."
Clinton, a former first lady, once led Obama by doubledigits in polls in Pennsylvania, the next big battleground intheir struggle for the right to face McCain in the Novemberpresidential election.
That lead has dwindled to about 4 to 6 points in severalrecent polls in a state that has struggled from job losses andhas a big population of blue-collar voters who have beenClinton's biggest backers.
'NOTHING SHORT OF BREATHTAKING'
An aide to McCain called the fundraiser comments"remarkable and extremely revealing."
"It shows an elitism and condescension toward hard-workingAmericans that is nothing short of breathtaking," said SteveSchmidt, a senior adviser to the Arizona senator. "It is hardto imagine someone running for president who is more out oftouch with average Americans."
The barrage of criticism came after the comments appearedon The Huffington Post blog.
Obama responded by insisting he was not out of touch withvoters and by trying to turn the tables on both Clinton andMcCain.
"When I go around and I talk to people there is frustrationand there is anger and there is bitterness," Obama told a rallyin Terre Haute. "They're frustrated and for good reason. ...They've seen their economies collapse. They have lost theirjobs. They have lost their pensions.
"Out of touch? Out of touch?" he asked, accusing McCain offailing to understand the home mortgage crisis.
"I mean, John McCain -- it took him three tries to finallyfigure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem andto come up with a plan for it."
Obama also suggested Clinton was "out of touch," accusingher of being beholden to lobbyists in the financial servicesindustry and attacking her for supporting a bill on bankruptcyreform that was supported by companies in that sector.
Obama's comments in Indiana in turn sparked another roundof criticism from his rivals. Clinton spokesman Phil Singersaid in a statement that "instead of apologizing for offendingsmall town America, Senator Obama chose to repeat and embracethe comments he made earlier this week."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama "arrogantly triedto spin his way out of his outrageous San Francisco remarks."
(Reporting by Caren Bohan and John Whitesides; Writing byCaren Bohan; Editing by Bill Trott)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
