It least in the church that I bitterly cling to, I haven't had to listen to racist, idiotic ranting from the pulpit for the last 20 years.

TRANSCRIPT:
OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it’s fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people are most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre…they’re misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to ‘white working-class don’t wanna work [!]— don’t wanna vote for the black guy.’ That’s…there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it’s sort of a race thing.

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 — so the questions you’re most likely to get about me, ‘Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What is the concrete thing?’ What they [the “white working-class”] wanna hear is so we’ll give you talking points about what we’re proposing — to close tax loopholes, uh you know uh roll back the tax cuts for the top 1%, Obama’s gonna give tax breaks to uh middle-class folks and we’re gonna provide healthcare for every American.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people [the “white working-class”] persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest [which are still predominantly “white”], the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they 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.

[Now you can virtually hear Obama thinking: OOPS!!! I just F***ED up!!! I’d better “change” what I just said!!! I just repeatedly characterized, throughout the last four paragraphs, “a lot” of the “white working-class” folks across the country as “bitter” people whose resentment—apparently toward non-whites, who else could he mean? . . . “it’s . . . a race thing”— compels them to “cling” to such crutches as “religion” or the Second Amendment, i.e., “guns,” “anti-immigrant sentiment,” etc.]

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you’ll find is, is that people of every background — there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you’ll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I’d be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you’re doing what you’re doing.

***

Let's see.

Senator Obama begins by contextualizing his remarks as referring to the “white working-class.”

Senator Obama then appears to begin attacking the implication in “the Sunday New York Times today” that his lack of support among the “white working-class” is a “sort of a race thing.”

So far so good.

However, Senator Obama then separates himself from the “white working-class” by using polarizing pronoun and adjective references 15 consecutive times: “they,” 7 times; “them,” 2 times; “their,” 2 times; “these,” 2 times; “a lot,” 2 times.

After referring to the “white working-class” 15 consecutive times in four consecutive paragraphs, Senator Obama then tries to insinuate that he is referring to “people of every background . . . a mix of people, . . . you know working-class lunch-pail folks.”

But the damage is done.

Senator Obama was trying to bridge a gap with those comments, but instead he “changed” it into an unbridgable chasm.

Another arrogant phony liberal...if he speaks in the deep south does he put on a phony homey black accent?

Why doesnt he just stand at the foot of the freeway ramp with a sign around his neck that says "Will say or do anything for power."?

Doug

by using phraseology as "where we have to do the most work" he's pretty much giving away the whole sham: he knows he is going to have to straight up lie to get a single vote out of these "bitter" people.

Have you heard the older interview snippet now? I think they intended it to rehabilitate him, but he just keeps digging.

As near as I can come to verbatim, he tells a CBS interviewer that rural people don't know where their health care will come from, they don't have jobs because big business laid them off, they have no real hope for the future, but at least they can grab their rifles and go hunting and there's some camaraderie there, between friends and fathers and sons, and he understands that, he really does.

I don't usually advise Democrats, but I couldn't help but yell "STOP DIGGING!" at the radio.

When did Americans become so dependant on the Feds? Can't we do for ourselves. If I were to lose my job, I certainly wouldn't go crying to the president for help. I wouldn't be blaming them either.

It's kinda funny (sad?) that he thinks that it's bitterness that drives us to exercise our 1st (religion) & 2nd (guns) amendment rights. He speaks as if they're crutches rather than unalienable American birth-rights!

It seems to me that nearly 40 years ago, shortly after taking the oath of office, a Democrat uttered the words, "Ask not what your country can do for you...". What ever happened to that idea?

Sorry. That should be nearly 50, not 40.

The 'good' blue collar jobs just are NOT coming back. Affirmative action has gone over the top and reparations are now owed the other way.