Clinton brands Obama's words as 'elitist, divisive'

— -- Hillary Rodham Clinton and her supporters on Sunday charged that Barack Obama's comments about working-class Americans being bitter showed him to be elitist and vulnerable to the kind of Republican attacks that have sunk Democratic candidates in the past.

Obama's camp, meanwhile, sought to tamp down an issue that dogged him all weekend.

Clinton, speaking to reporters Sunday in Scranton, Pa., called Obama "a good man," but said his comments were "elitist and divisive."

"You don't have to think back too far to remember that good men running for president were viewed as being elitist and out of touch with the values and the lives of millions of Americans," Clinton said.

In 2004, President Bush's re-election campaign used images of Sen. John Kerry windsurfing while vacationing at Cape Cod in TV ads to brand him as an East Coast liberal.

"I think it's very critical that the Democrats really focus in on this and make it clear that we are not (elitist). We are going to stand up and fight for all Americans," Clinton said.

Republicans could use Obama's comment that "bitter" working-class voters "cling to guns or religion" to portray Democrats as culturally elite and out of touch with their concerns, said Sen. Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat and Clinton supporter.

"I'm afraid that this gives the Republicans a stick to beat us with," Bayh said on CNN's Late Edition.

Sen. Robert Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat and an Obama supporter, acknowledged on the same show that Obama had made a gaffe, but he said voters wouldn't judge Obama by one statement. Pennsylvania voters will respond to his message change, tax relief and hope, Casey said.

Pennsylvania's primary is April 22; Indiana and North Carolina follow on May 6.

Obama made the comments at a fundraiser in San Francisco on April 6. He said some working-class voters have grown frustrated with the economy. "It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or anti-pathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."