The Aftertaste of a Bitter Campaign Speech

There's been a lot of hoo-hah over Senator Barack Obama's comments at a San Francisco fund-raiser (no media allowed--not that it matters in the YouTube age), in which he laid out his take on the voters of small-town Pennsylvania.

For the few of you who missed it, Obama characterized the people he needs to defeat Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination as " . . . 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 express their frustrations".

Clinton and apparent GOP nominee Senator John McCain jumped all over Obama for being an "elitist" liberal who's out of touch with the rest of society. Which is ridiculous when you consider that Clinton, McCain and their sycophants aren't exactly common folk.

In a clumsy way, Obama may have a point about how the rank-and-file feel about the country these days. They do have reasons to be bitter.

Bitter is . . . being played for fools by both parties who promise more than they deliver, and then refusing to compromise..

Bitter is . . . listening to another dog-and-pony show with General David Petraeus making excuses before the three presidential candidates as to why American soldiers should continue to fight a losing battle in Iraq.

Bitter is . . . yet another televised debate (this one on ABC from Philadelphia) between Obama and Clinton, where the most important questions are why Obama doesn't wear a flag lapel pin, why Clinton "misspoke" about what really happened on that tarmac in Bosnia ten years ago, and whether one candidate would take the other as a running mate if they won the nomination.

Bitter is . . . an economy with high gas prices (which affects the price of everything else), people losing their homes and jobs, and the lack of affordable health insurance.

Bitter is . . . no real policy on combating climate change, other than hoping for a break in the weather.

There's lots more, but you get the idea. Now all America needs is for someone to "cling" to for a better future.