I'm no Obama supporter: I'll state that right up front. But if this story is true, and Obama really said what he said in California, I'm likely going to be joined by a lot more people who don't support him.
Here's the scoop; though it's been on Politico and Drudge, I didn't find anything here on Daily Kos.
Obama was speaking to a fundraiser in San Fransisco, and among other things, he said this:
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
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.
Let's look at that again: "they cling to guns or religion or anti antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
What is Obama saying? That guns, religion, and anti-trade and anti-immigrant stands are just frustrations over job loss?
Is he saying that if people were happily employed, they wouldn't be religious, or own guns?
Obama just basically trashed most of the values of Middle Class Americans. I'm religious, and I go to church both when I have a job and when I don't. I go to church because I am religious, not because I'm "frustrated."
McCain is hammering Obama as a liberal Elitist, who is out of touch with American Values. Obama can pretty much kiss off any small town votes with this little ditty, including in Pennsylvania.
Now, let me give the sources for all of the above. The original report was found on Huffpo.
It was more widely publicized by Politico. It's on Drudge, so it will now receive widespread airplay, and the right wing blogs are starting to find it. You can bet it will be on Fox tonight.
McCain has pounced already.
Here's a representative comment from a poster on Politico of how this is coming across.
Hey, blue collar workers of America Obama wants to help you, not because he can empathize with you, since nothing in his life experience compares to yours, no, he wants to help you because he pities your angry, bible-thumping violent inability to change your lot in life for lo this last quarter century. You poor ignorant slobs need Barack to lift you up and out of the muck that is your life.
If Obama doesn't really think this, he needs to get out in front of this fast. Saying that people only seek religion or "cling to guns" because they don't have a job, quite frankly, is pretty much saying that religion and gun rights are crutches. Does Obama really think that religion is a crutch? We know he is pretty anti-gun rights, so that's not a real surprise, but there are a whole heck of a lot of religious people in this country who probably are going to think a lot less of Obama if he thinks they don't really have faith in God. And isn't that what he means here?
If he doesn't--that's how it is being interpreted. And that's the meme that will stick without some fast work and groveling. Good luck, Barack!