So THAT's why she's so bitter!

In 1999, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton came to my home town in Delaware County to announce her "listening tour" as she explored a run for the U.S. Senate in New York.  As New York State goes, it doesn't get much more rural and small town than Delaware County, bordering on northeastern PA.

8 years later, I can assure everyone that folks in Delaware County are indeed the kind of bitter Obama was talking about.  And the bitterness, it turns out, results from exactly what Obama blames it on.

I was in San Francisco talking to a group at a fundraiser and somebody asked how’re you going to get votes in Pennsylvania? What’s going on there?  We hear that’s its hard for some working class people to get behind your campaign. I said, "Well look, they’re frustrated and for good reason.  Because for the last 25 years they’ve seen jobs shipped overseas.  They’ve seen their economies collapse.  They have lost their jobs.  They have lost their pensions.  They have lost their healthcare.  

"And for 25, 30 years Democrats and Republicans have come before them and said we’re going to make your community better.  We’re going to make it right and nothing ever happens.  And of course they’re bitter.  Of course they’re frustrated.

I wonder if there are any examples out there of a politician who made promises regarding a collapsing economy...

As I travel across the state, from the Capital District to the North Country, from the Mohawk Valley to the Southern Tier, and from Niagara Falls to Oneonta, I recognize in the people I meet a deep desire to see upstate New York enjoy the benefits of a growing and vibrant economy. In coffee shops and diners, in classrooms and on factory floors, people have shared with me their concerns about the financial challenges they face...

That is why I decided to make the focus of my first legislation in the United States Senate the economy of upstate New York...

...to build the kind of coordinated effort that will turn the upstate economy around... combining the efforts of the Capital District, the North Country, Central New York, and the Southern Tier to benefit all of our ailing communities.

With a proud place in the economic history of our country, upstate New York deserves its place in the economic future of our country. That is why I am doing all that I can to bring all of New York to the forefront of the 21st century economy.

- Hillary Rodham Clinton, March 28, 2001

So, how did she do with her "New Jobs for New York" promise?

No wonder Hillary is bitter about Obama's "bitter" remarks.  When he was talking about politicians who pander to we simple "small town" folk, he was cutting close to home - my home.  Hillary knows PA's "small town" voters.  She knows how to pull the wool over their eyes, because she's had practice, right across the border here in upstate NY.

And for 25, 30 years Democrats and Republicans have come before them and said we’re going to make your community better.  We’re going to make it right and nothing ever happens.  And of course they’re bitter.

•  Tips for small town bitterness?

  At least she flew over in a helicopter after the summer floods of 2006.

  by bogbud on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 07:57:43 PM PDT

  •  Well done.

    Facts with graphs!

    And a pretty good example...

    by spotDawa on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:01:00 PM PDT

    •  Thanks!

      I imagine there are a few more examples out there.

      I can't believe I fell for her pandering... twice!

      Nevermore.

      by bogbud on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:03:41 PM PDT

  •  it really is all about her isn't it

    Obama attacked her (and Bill).  If he'd stuck to republican administrations in his comments, maybe none of us would have heard about this.

    by jfromga on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:03:06 PM PDT

    •  I hadn't thought about that...

      ... You're probably right.

      by bogbud on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:06:16 PM PDT

  •  the more I see the facts and figures arising

    out of all of these diaries, and blogs, and anecdotes from people all over small town America, the more I am convinced that Clinton's seizure of and overplaying the umbrage to Obama's comments has recoiled on her much harder.  Ken Olbermann said tonight that it could be Obama actually gets a BUMP out of the lashback.  It just goes to show just what a difference Obama's approach to the presidential campaign is.  Is he the FIRST candidate for president who has said this without  flinching in front of the assembled media?

    by louisev on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:10:17 PM PDT

    •  What's really ironic...

      is that it seems to be the "elitists" who are criticizing Obama and see the sky falling.  Most of the response from small-town and rural folk seems to be "Yeah.  He's right.  So?"

      by bogbud on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:28:20 PM PDT

•  As an Obama supporter

  I really don't think a U.S. Senator is going to have much impact on job creation in her state, particularly when she is not of the party of the president, or for most of her term, in the majority in the Senate.

  This is not a fair attack on her. There are many far better ones.

  by seanflynn on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:06:06 PM PDT

  •  She promised...

    then failed to deliver.  She told us it was a priority!

    Obviously, in hindsight, it was a priority to get upstate votes.

    What's not fair?

    by bogbud on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:08:06 PM PDT

•  Promising Ponies and Delivering Horse Shit

  Instead. That's why so many people do not believe Obama is any different. All politicians make the claims every election. We know they are serving up shit sandwiches. How do you cut through the cynicism when the MSM is slathering the sweet relish on so thick the shit is unrecognizable to the untrained palate? We know Obama is genuine but how do you get other people to know it too?

  by barbybuddy on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 08:52:55 PM PDT

  •  Kind of hard to explain,

    but I'll try.  People hear it and feel it, or they don't.  It's a vibe thing of the heart, and a mystery.  We don't hear the cynicism, we ignore the relish, and we laugh at the shit.  Like Obama says, it ain't a party, it's a movement.  A low rumbling, like a tectonic shift.  You can't talk anybody into listening or feeling.  Some of the Hispanic kids have been able to reach their parents, though.

    by slithytove on Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 09:18:53 PM PDT