Barack needs to come out and say, simply, "Aren't you pissed? Aren't you mad as hell and not taking it anymore?"
We have CEOs making millions per month with families unable to pull in enough for health insurance and prescriptions.
We have defense companies making billions while the actual soldiers have piss-poor conditions in Walter Reed and VA hospitals around the country.
When I said people were bitter - I'm sorry. Bitter isn't the right word. Angry, fed up, tired, struggling, pissed off - that's better.
I didn't mean that people cling to religion or guns as though it's problematic. It was the wrong word, and I'm sorry. What I meant was that we need something, something that reminds us of tradition, of family, of a bond that won't be broken even when the bills can't be paid.
I don't think Pennsylvanians, North Carolinians or Hoosiers are simple minded or anything like that. My grandparents worked hard on the war front, my mother struggled to provide for me and I worked as an organizer in Chicago so that I and others could do better in life.
If you thought I truly meant that you were bitter, that you kept to your traditions out of anything but sincerity - I apologize. Those are words you don't hear from a politician often, but they're sincere. However, if you are using this as a way to attack me - if you're a pundit or politician who sees this only as a way to continue the false line that democrats are elitist or that I shouldn't be President, know this: The American people need more from their leaders than they've been given. I understand that the people I meet expect their leaders to be fair, honest, trustworthy and to struggle along with them - to form a more perfect union.