cnn: After spending a day talking with Coaldale voters, it seems to me the anger Obama described in his now controversial comments might not have been too far off the mark.
"It's time for the politicians to come down to our level," said Ruth Weiss during the lunch hour at Tommy's, Coaldale's only casual eatery among a row of shuttered shops and next to a 60-year-old movie theater that has survived.
"People can't afford food. I'm paying for oil for the restaurant out of my own Social Security check."
Ruth and her husband, Tommy, describe their small pizza and sub restaurant on East Phillips Street as a "country store," a place where the regulars can gather to talk, share a meal or -- as is the case lately -- sip a cup of coffee.
"This is my business, but people can't afford it," said Ruth. She detailed the myriad of problems she and others are facing -- rising gas prices, increased taxes, out of control food and prescription costs. It is no wonder, she said, people can't afford lunch or dinner at the restaurant they've owned for 25 years.
obama on the working class
