here's part of what he said:
Obama's comments came at the end of a lengthy answer in which he rejected the notion that voters were passing him over simply for racial reasons, saying instead that his campaign of hope and change was having difficulty in "places where people feel most cynical about government."
"Everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class . . . don't want to vote for the black guy,' " Obama said at the fundraiser.
"Here's how it is: In a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long. They feel so betrayed by government that when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama, then that adds another layer of skepticism."
but obama called both of them out for what they are, panderers and suck ups, trying to win at the cost of their own integrity. obama has more sense and character than the two of them put together. obama gets the working class worker.
whereas someone like myself gets angry about people who wouldn't vote for someone because he's black, obama is ever patient and understands the thinking behind their ugly thoughts. he never blankets anything in racism.
this episode proved exactly the opposite of what clinton and mccain tried to accomplish. it proves who the real leader is.
video of his response to mccain and clinton during an indiana town hall.
wash post:
But before a raucous crowd in Terre Haute, Ind., Friday night, Obama not only repeated many of the same lines, he expanded on them.
"When I go around and talk to people, there is frustration and there is anger and there is bitterness. And what's worse is when people are expressing their anger, and politicians try to say, 'What are you angry about?' "
"Of course they're bitter. Of course they're frustrated. You would be, too -- in fact, many of you are," Obama said.
He also addressed the same social hot-button issues that Clinton and McCain pointed to as evidence of elitism. "And so people don't vote on economic issues, because they don't expect anybody's going to help them. People are voting on issues like guns, are they going to have the right to bear arms. They vote on issues like gay marriage. They take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and the things they can count on. But they don't believe they can count on Washington."
Obama also returned fire on both his critics. "Here's what's rich: Senator Clinton says, 'I don't think people are bitter in Pennsylvania. I think Barack's being condescending.' John McCain says, 'He's obviously out of touch with people.' Out of touch? John McCain, it took him three tries to figure out the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he's saying I'm out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit-card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt -- after taking money from the financial services companies -- and she says I'm out of touch?
"No, I'm in touch. I know exactly what's going on. . . . People are fed up. They're angry and they're frustrated and they're bitter, and they want to see a change in Washington."
