Obama- Small town people "cling" to guns and religion

[Guest aBRG2far]

Obama: 'I didn't say it as well as I should have'

• <LI class=cnnhiliteheader>Story Highlights
  
• Obama tells paper if he offended anyone, he deeply regrets it
  
• Obama last week said some Pennsylvanians are bitter and cling to guns, religion
  
• McCain, Clinton have accused him of being elitist, out of touch
  

MUNCIE, Indiana (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday tried to clarify what he meant when he said some small-town Pennsylvanians are "bitter" people who "cling to guns and religion."

"I didn't say it as well as I should have," Obama admitted in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday, the day after he first defended his comments, "because the truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation -- those are important."

The Illinois senator made the controversial comments at a California event that was closed to the media last Sunday.

Obama defended his point of view amid intensified criticism from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain that's he's elitist and out of touch.

"Obviously, if I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," Obama said Saturday in an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal, according to a transcript provided by his campaign. Watch how the 'bitter' battle is playing out on the trail »

"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 North Carolina newspaper. "And I hear it all the time when I visit these communities."

Clinton, speaking in Indianapolis, said she was "taken back" by what she referred as "demeaning remarks" about "small-town" Americans.

"Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of values and beliefs of Americans, certainly not the Americans I know, not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York," the senator from New York said.

She said Americans who believe in the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, "believe it's a matter of constitutional right." And she said "Americans who believe in God believe it's a matter of personal faith."

Tucker Bounds -- spokesman for McCain, the senator from Arizona -- also said that the reverence for faith and the Second Amendment in the United States are "cornerstone customs" and that Obama's "dismissal of those values is revealing."

"Barack Obama's elitism allows him to believe that the American traditions that have contributed to the identity and greatness of this country are actually just frustrations and bitterness."

Obama told the Muncie audience that the back-and-forth between him and his rivals is "typical."

His campaign emphasized that the "traditions" Obama referred to in his remarks are those of gun ownership and religion. Obama added that those traditions are "what sustains us."

Obama also labeled the dust-up that's developed as "a little typical sort of political flare-up" because, as he contends, he said something that "everybody knows is true."

The Democratic candidate continued to maintain -- as he did Friday night after the initial story began to circulate -- that people are frustrated because Washington isn't listening to the average American.

"There are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my home town in Illinois who are bitter. They are angry."

"When you're bitter, you turn to what you can count on," Obama said, adding that they then turn to voting "about guns" and "taking comfort" in their faith and family.

"That's a natural response."

Obama's original comments were posted Friday on the Web site Huffingtonpost.com. Watch how the firestorm started »

"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 going to regenerate and they have not," he 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," he also said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/13/obama.clinton/

[strickj]

It boggles my mind to no end how people could see this man as a good person to run a country he has repeatedly demoralized.Now he says this!

This guy makes me so sick it literally hurts

[memphismason]

Obama is a joke, Clinton is a joke, and McCain is a joke. We are screwed. I really wished we had a strong third party.

[Ricochet]

To think that there are people out there that want this man in, I hope to God we don't see this man elected to run our country. I think we are in trouble this go round.

[Guest GLOCKGUY]

To think that there are people out there that want this man in, I hope to God we don't see this man elected to run our country. I think we are in trouble this go round.

i agree with you 100%..if this guy gets in we all better stock up on ammo and guns

[memphismason]

I cry sometimes, just thinking about it.

[Mike.357]

this might sound like it is way out there but if he gets in I bet we will hear the war cry for "reperations".

[towerclimber37]

more importantly, he'll sell out this country and its founding ideals so fast your head will spin!

[creeky]

more importantly, he'll sell out this country and its founding ideals so fast your head will spin!

Yup.

[The Rabbi]

Sorry to disagree.

He is an exceptionally weak candidate. He is a nobody. And you can't beat someone with no one.

If by some freak he is actually elected he wont be able to do much. He has very few allies in Congress and he will have his hands full dealing with Iraq and Afghanistan--for which he is woefully unprepared anyway.

He will be the Jimmy Carter of the 21st century.

[Mark@Sea]

Yeah, and Jimmuh still gripes my hindparts every time he pops up in the news.

[creeky]

He will be the Jimmy Carter of the 21st century.

Hope you are right Rabbi...

[Guest clownsdd]

Now, I am in NO WAY a fan of his but....

If you look close at what he said, he makes sense on this issue. The American People have virtually given up on their government, whether it be local, regional or national.

Government is running itself and the majority of the people have no input that matters. The politicians and government bureaucrats have made a dynasty among themselves be it repubs or demos.

What this means is that the majority of the people are saying that there is nothing I can do, so if they will just leave me alone to go about my business and it doesn't affect me, let them do what they want.

[Mark@Sea]

clownsdd, in an odd way, you hit the nail right on the head. I WANT the federal government to butt out of my business and leave me alone. That'd make me happy. What've I got instead? Buy a gun lately? Fly somewhere? Buy a gallon of gas? - You know, don't you, the fed makes more than twice what the oil companies do, per gallon of gas, in taxes. Sheeyoot, Hillary wants to fix that by taxing the oil companies more - now who do you suppose will end up paying in the end?

In a couple years, my taxes are gonna take a big hit. Hillary and Obama BOTH want to tell me how to handle my health care. Every time I turn around I find the fed regulating something new, generally taxing it, and turning what was good to bad, bad to worse, and worse to frigging hopeless.

So yeah, I'd be ecstatic if the federales would leave me alone, but somehow I don't think Obama and I have the same thing in mind.

[Guest clownsdd]

mark,

that's what I'm saying, I first read it and had all the negative ideas etc, but the more I thought about it and read between the lines, he made sense with the statement.

[towerclimber37]

I understand what you're saying clowns. I read between the lines too. pretty much he said that we're too stupid to run the country through votes, also I read in between the lines that he meant "I'll be just like those other guys when you vote for me, except I'll do it a different way!"

I don't know that guy. I don't trust that guy. All I can do is judge the man by what he's already said...so far he's said that owning a firearm is "bad", he's also intimated that because I don't trust the government I'm going to turn to my faith in God or my firearms...I hate to disillusion that fella, but I've done that all my life anyhow. I also value the truth a bit more than he does too...but thats because I "cling to my faith" and actually believe that it's wrong to lie.

I believe that firearms do 2 things. 1.Keep me and my family safe and 2. give me power to destroy the government should it become a tyranny. Its the 2nd thing that worries ALL politicians in the current government.

For this, I'm denigrated and it's intimated that I and my fellow countrymen don't have the mental horsepower to make our own decisions concerning the governance of our own lives.

Something that most of us have done since before we were adults in the eyes of the law.

Make no mistake, I read between the lines also...and I didn't like what I read.

[Guest clownsdd]

Didn't like it either, but the point is the American public is getting to be more like sheep, leave me alone to eat my grass and you won't hear anything from me. That is what has got to change.

[Marswolf]

Obama is basically an over-achiever college kid who doesn't have even a glimpse of reality.

He doesn't know it yet, but he's going nowhere.

[strickj]

I saw on the news this morning interviewing people in the town he's referring to(although we all know hes referring to every American)and only one person,ONE PERSON disliked his comments,WTF!Are people really as stupid to not realize what he has said?

Apart from this comment,I,myself,and most of us with rational thought,have read as much as possible on all three candidates,so I understand what he stands for(which is hard to see)and this guy is an infidel.But what really scares me is that the only media coverage he,and Hillary gets is them bickering at each other.No real issues are spoken in the media,but will still vote for the ones they know absolutely nothing about

Remember that compound....its starting to look kinda nice bout now,lol

[towerclimber37]

Didn't like it either, but the point is the American public is getting to be more like sheep, leave me alone to eat my grass and you won't hear anything from me. That is what has got to change.

Now THAT I agree with, but....you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think...

I myself vote...still we seem to be getting nowhere. since I regularly contact my duly elected representatives, vote and keep an eye on the legislation that gets voted on, there's not much else I CAN do....until the stupidity goes so far as to incite open revolt.

[ZenDog]

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

Whoops- was I clinging again?

[Guest jth_3s]

Its hard to believe it coud possibly get any worse than the last eight years but out of those three its a strong possibility

[Guest db99wj]

I saw on the news this morning interviewing people in the town he's referring to(although we all know hes referring to every American)and only one person,ONE PERSON disliked his comments,WTF!Are people really as stupid to not realize what he has said?

Apart from this comment,I,myself,and most of us with rational thought,have read as much as possible on all three candidates,so I understand what he stands for(which is hard to see)and this guy is an infidel.But what really scares me is that the only media coverage he,and Hillary gets is them bickering at each other.No real issues are spoken in the media,but will still vote for the ones they know absolutely nothing about

Remember that compound....its starting to look kinda nice bout now,lol

yes, but you are assuming that the media is reporting both sides of the story, and we all know how balanced the news media is.

I heard on the local am talk radio, Ben Furgurson, this morning that the polls show a 20 point swing away from Obama and over to Hilary in the state of PA.

Ben Fergurson also said he clinged to his gun last night when he went to bed, a Ruger 10/22, and it was not all that it was cracked up to be, it was kinda cold. A listener emailed in and said that a .45 1911 is much better to snuggle up with!

[The Rabbi]

Its hard to believe it coud possibly get any worse than the last eight years but out of those three its a strong possibility

You're joking, right? The last 8 years have been golden, at least compared with the Carter years.

[HanSolo]

I agree with Rabbi. I have been saying for a year that Obama was trying to get into office the same way peanut-head Carter did. Don't stand for anything but "change" (what we still do not know) and hopefully everyone hates the others enough to elect you. The only problem for Obama is that Carter waited until he was in the White House to open his mouth and how much of an idiot he was, Obama started about 10 months early.

As far as people still liking him, it does not surprise me. A poll by Ramussen showed asked people "do you think America is a good country?" 100% of Republicans said yes while only 50% of democrats said yes. So if you hate America and think it is a bad country, of course you are going to support that moron no matter what he says. He could campaign on turning the entire country Muslim and outlaw all other religions and these people would still vote for him.