Obama’s San Francisco remarks, attributing the Keystone state’s small town residents’ religious faith and enthusiasm for hunting to bitterness over economic failure, are not winning him a lot of friends in Pennsylvania.
Scranton mayor Chris Doherty responded with an impromptu press conference in Lackawanna County’s Courthouse Square, accompanied by his predecessor in office, local union officials, the mayors of four nearby boroughs, and a visiting New Hampshire state senator, denouncing Obama’s contemptuous analysis.
(Scranton) Times-Tribune:
Former Scranton Mayor Jim Connors said the remarks demean people here as hicks. Mr. Obama wants to transcend stereotypes, but then he stereotyped others, Mr. Connors said.
Standing in front of the John Mitchell statue, Mr. Doherty called hunting a tradition, borne not out of spite but culture and pride. The area’s churches, he said, were built on hopes of improving life and fostering families, not because the population here is downtrodden.
Mr. Doherty pointed to economic growth and investment. He said it’s necessary to combat that negative image.
“That’s not the truth,†he said.
At Mr. Doherty’s side were Mr. Connors and the mayors from Jessup, Taylor, Freeland and Moosic, along with New Hampshire state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro.
Taylor Mayor Richard Bowen said Mr. Obama’s comments hit home beyond Pennsylvania, and he predicts it will cost the senator voters who are on the fence.
Mr. Connors said what most offends him is that Mr. Obama said these things on the other side of the country behind closed doors. Mr. Connors bet Mr. Obama wouldn’t have made such remarks in Altoona.
6:03 video
AP reports that Obama tried apologizing in Winston-Salem:
Obama tried to quell the furor Saturday, explaining his remarks while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly.
“If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that,” Obama said in an interview with the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal.
Those condescending San Francisco remarks were a major misstep. They are going to assure a Clinton victory in Pennsylvania.
I happened to be speaking to a Pennsylvania hunter from Berks County on the telephone yesterday. “Who would ever have imagined,” she marveled, “that Hillary Clinton would become the working man’s candidate in this state? But that’s the way it is. Only rich people and the college professors are for Obama.”
Meanwhile in Indiana, that redneck Hillary, proudly notes her own Scrantonian roots, brandishes her deer rifle, and fondly remembers granddad heading off to work at the mill (just before he gave her a childhood shooting lesson behind the fishing cabin he built with his own hands!). 2:55 video
Scott D
Eventually one’s character comes out. Hillary’s has always been obvious. Obama has, with the support of the media, tried to hide his. What is emerging is an angry black man, very tuned to class, race and status, who hides behind a mask of conflict-avoidance. He is a “typical” elite liberal who looks down at the less sophisticated and privately scoffs at their strange habits and superstitions. They are sad victims of The Rich and themselves. How very much they need the direction of the Very Wise like Obama.
Glynn Young
Any “apology” that begins with the word “If” is not an apology, as in “If I worded things in a way that made people offended…” Contrast that with “I said something stupid, something I didn’t mean. I offended people. I’m sorry.”
Hillary Clinton » Pennsylvania Angry  Obama Apologizes
[…] Original Signal – Transmitting Buzz wrote an interesting post today on Pennsylvania Angry — Obama ApologizesHere’s a quick excerpt“Who would ever have imagined,†she marveled, “that Hillary Clinton would become the working man’s candidate in this state? […]
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