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."
The comments were posted online Friday on The Huffington Post. Obama told the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal on Saturday that he regretted his choice of words. "But the underlying truth of what I said remains, which is simply that people who have seen their way of life upended because of economic distress are frustrated and rightfully so," he told the Journal.
Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., said Obama's comments, and his attempt to explain them, tend to alienate people, particularly working-class voters who may be crucial the election. "The problem is comments like these put distance between the candidate and the voter," Schier said. "When you condescend to people, you don't bind them to you."
Both Clinton and Obama described their religious faith at a forum at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pa., televised by CNN.
"I have ever since I was a little girl felt the presence of God in my life," Clinton said. "It's been a gift of grace."
Asked to describe specific examples of feeling closeness with God, she said that on "many, many occasions I felt like the holy spirit was there with me." She declined to be more specific.
"I have tried to take my faith, my belief, and put it to work my entire life," Clinton said.
Obama said, "I am a devout Christian," and said criticism of his previous remarks are an example "of how the political debate can distract us from what is really at issue, that is how can we create a just and fair society where people are getting a fair shake."
Obama said no one can know God's plan for human life: "I believe God intervenes, but his means are a little too mysterious for me to grasp." He said what is important is for people to act in ways consistent "with values that we cherish."
"I try as best I can to be an instrument of his work … to act in accordance with what I think are the precepts of my faith," Obama said.
Contributing: William M. Welch