Guns and/or Religion: Golden Boy Tarnished; He Who Can Do No Wrong Sticks Foot In Mouth

Bitter Business
By Susan Daniels for the almighty Slate

Bloggers are debating Barack Obama's "bitter" words and wondering about Texan polygamists.

Bitter business: Barack Obama struggled to explain himself this weekend after comments he made about small-town Pennsylvania voters ignited a flap promptly dubbed "Bittergate." (See the original Huffington Post item here.) At issue is Obama's comment that when faced with economic hardship, small-town Americans "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."

Hillary Clinton and McCain immediately responded, with Clinton calling the comments "elitist," "demeaning," and "out of touch."