Clinton Plays Elitist Card Against Obama

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was again forced to defend himself against charges he is an "elitist" and out of touch with ordinary Americans today, as his opponents sought in speeches to keep attention on the issue.

At a meeting of the alliance for American manufacturing this morning, Obama responded to an attack from his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton who has sought to portray Obama as a posh elitist separated by a cultural gulf from most Americans following comments he made last week about small town America.

"Now it may be that I chose my words badly. It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last. But when I hear my opponents, both of whom have spent decades in Washington, saying I'm out of touch, it's time to cut through their rhetoric and look at the reality," he said in Pittsburgh.

"After all, you've heard this kind of rhetoric before. Around election time, the candidates can't do enough for you. They'll promise you anything, give you a long list of proposals and even come around, with TV crews in tow, to throw back a shot and a beer. But if those same candidates are taking millions of dollars in contributions from the PACs and lobbyists, ask yourself, who are they going to be toasting once the election is over?"

Before the same group, Clinton this morning reiterated her weekend attacks on the Illinois senator.

"I don't think he really gets it that people are looking for a president who stands up for you and not looks down on you," she said, shortly after her campaign sent an e-mail saying Obama has "condescending views of Americans living in small towns."

The row began with a report of remarks Obama made at a fund raising event in San Francisco.

Speaking of working-class voters in old industrial towns decimated by job losses, Obama said: "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."

Sensing an opening, the Clinton campaign has leapt at the chance to sully the Harvard-educated former law professor. Obama has responded forcefully, and this morning sought to defend his remarks.

Over the weekend Republican presidential nominee John McCain seemed content to let the Democrats squabble, but at a meeting with Associated Press editors in Washington today, he raised the issue anew.

He phrased his comments, delivered during a talk on press freedom, not as an attack on Obama but as a paean to small-town America.

"They were not born with the advantages others in our country enjoyed. They suffered the worst during the Depression. But it had not shaken their faith in and fidelity to America and its founding political ideals," he said.

"Nor had it destroyed their confidence that America and their own lives could be made better. Nor did they turn to their religious faith and cultural traditions out of resentment and a feeling of powerlessness to affect the course of government or pursue prosperity. On the contrary, their faith had given generations of their families purpose and meaning, as it does today. And their appreciation of traditions like hunting was based in nothing other than their contribution to the enjoyment of life."

Obama's comments are potentially volatile in the Pennsylvania rust belt, especially if Clinton succeeds in framing them as illustrative of an elitist attitude. A similar tactic helped the Republicans sink Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

Analysts speculated that the remarks could give white working class voters the excuse they needed not to vote for Obama, whose candidacy has been regarded with skepticism in the state but had shown some signs of growing momentum.

Clinton hopes the controversy will provide her with the break she desperately needs in Pennsylvania. She requires a substantial win to sustain her campaign but recent polls have suggested Obama had eroded some of her advantage.

Obama is ahead in the popular vote and the delegate count. Clinton is ahead in polling in Pennsylvania, although Obama has narrowed her lead in recent weeks.

Clinton hopes that by sullying Obama and portraying him as an elitist, she can persuade super delegates - the party insiders and elected officials who can cast votes at the nominating convention - to abandon Obama.