Obama's Comments About Pennsylvania

The latest political firestorm is erupting into flames at a time when Barack Obama doesn't need it. On April 6, in San Francisco at a fundraiser, Obama, speaking about the reaction of Pennsylvania residents to the U.S. economy, said:

"And 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."

And that's only part of it.

The comments and video were posted on a liberal blog site with the poster warning that Obama shouldn't talk that way about what the poster referred to as "working class Americans."

The blogosophere is erupting and the consensus is that is a major mistake by the Obama campaign, perhaps even worse than the Jeremiah Wright videos. As has been pointed out, this was not said by Obama's preacher but by the man himself. It was also said to a group of San Francisco political types whose image across the country is that of an elite liberal community who, fairly or unfairly, are tagged as holding those not like them in contempt.

Politically, it damages Obama heavily in Pennsylvania especially among those who:

a) own guns and like to hunt
b) are religious
c) have questions about illegal immigration
d) question US free trade policies

Obama is saying the downturn in the US economy is so bad that it is driving people to those awful behaviors described above. This has been described as the typical view of the upscale liberals who have flocked to Senator Obama's campaign. You can also read it in books like "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank, which wonders why voters like these haven't been voting Democratic, and ascribes at least some of the reasons to the very sentiments expressed by Obama in San Francisco.

It makes Obama comes across as an elitist who disparages people who hunt, go to church, and believe that drivers licenses should not be issued to illegal immigrants (for example) or that NAFTA may not be such a great deal...in other words, people who make up a good deal of voters in Pennsylvania and other industrial states. And by the way, hasn't Senator Obama himself questioned NAFTA?

He has attempted to amend his comments saying he could have put the sentiment better, but that's the problem. If this is what he truly believes, he is going to run into some major trouble ahead.

Already the Clinton and McCain campaigns are jumping on this (as is the press) and rightly so. One comment here said that Obama's two rivals shouldn't have jumped on this and have taken it out of context. When you read the whole thing, it's not out of context (at least not to me). This is what the guy (and obviously millions who support him) thinks.

It gives Senator Hillary Clinton an opening in Pennsylvania and could conceivably lead her to a crushing win in the Keystone State instead of a narrow victory. Other analysts say it also may give pause to superdelegates who could see more of this type of behavior ahead.

So far, Senator Obama's campaign and the senator himself have rarely made mistakes. The biggest controversy in his camp so far has been over his preacher and the preacher's incindiary comments. Now, the spotlight has shifted to Obama himself.

If Senator Clinton wins the Pennsylvania primary by high double digits and causes some tightening in other races (like Indiana) it could keep the race going right up to the convention.

The campaign staff of Senator Obama says this won't affect the delegate totals so far. Perhaps, but I wouldn't dismiss the possbility that it could in the future.

Big mistake here IMHO.