Clinton promises to help small town voters, not insult them

[OzarkDem]

Reuters, April 11, 2008

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton criticized presidential rival Barack Obama on Friday for describing small-town Pennsylvania residents as bitter and said she would help economically struggling communities, not look down on them.

...

"Pennsylvania doesn't need a president who looks down on them," she said at a rally in Philadelphia. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families."

..

"It's being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter. Well, that's not my experience," she said.

"As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive, who are rolling up their sleeves. They are working hard everyday for a better future, for themselves and their children," she said.



http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1139439220080411

[Gore1FL]

1. Wow--she said the same thing he did

only differently.

[OzarkDem]

16. No, she didn't insult them

big difference.

[Gore1FL]

28. Neither did Obama

No difference.

Of course her so called experience comes from a range of 2-3 decades where they were ignored.

[rodeodance]

37. he called them bitter-hillary said they were:are resilient, optimistic, positive. hard working

"As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive, who are rolling up their sleeves. They are working hard everyday for a better future, for themselves and their children," she said.

[Gore1FL]

66. And that is an insult?

I thought recognizing people's feelings was a good thing?

Or are they not bitter at being left out? They are not bitter about being abandoned as unimportant? They vote against the Democrats because they are joyful about the way they are treated, remembered?

In a Dr. Suess metaphore, Obama is Horton, and Hillary is the animals who tell him he is crazy to care about a particle of dust... because it seems insignificant.

[rodeodance]

106. Hillary's recognition is one of hope, Obama's is one of despair

[Gore1FL]

113. How so?

Recognizing a problem is a step towards fixing it. That seems more like hope than ignoring it and hoping it goes away. I guess one could say hers is a message of false hope.

[DemBones DemBones]

85. He said they were "bitter" and so "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."


With one sentence, Obama insulted everyone who fits any one or more of his stereotypical categories:

1) owns a gun

2) is religious

3) is uneasy around new people

4) thinks it's wrong to enter the US illegally

5) thinks outsourcing is a raw deal and we should have fair trade


He also insulted anybody who doesn't fit in one of his stereotypical categories but does have family or friends who do.

For example, I'm not uneasy around new people because I have lived in many different places, including a third-world country, and also traveled a lot, but I don't ASSume that people who are uneasy around new people are showing "antipathy to people who aren't like them."

I know that they usually are just uneasy, often because they've always lived in the same place, and that it's up to newcomers to be friendly, and to avoid criticizing their town, regional foods, local activities, etc. A lot of people provoke antipathy by doing one of those things when they move to a new place.

I have cousins who have lived in the same town all their lives and I'm sure they'd get annoyed if someone new went there and immediately criticized the town, asked them how they could stay in one place all their lives, said the local fair was a waste of time, etc. And people actually do say such things in real life. One asshole can make an entire small town's population wary of outsiders.

[Gore1FL]

90. Well let's think about it...

People in distress find things as part of human nature to make them feel comfort, security, while causing them to build walls around themselves to keep what they have. That's psychology 101.

It is probably safe to say that many disaffected people fall into these categories after watching their part of the American dream slipping through their fingers. Those same people are the ones Bush's scare tactics have been aimed at, with quite a lot of effect.

They are right to be afraid. The are right to feel left out. Their jobs slip away, their schools suck, their children go off to war, etc. They are told by the Democrats (since the DLC strategy of writing off votes as unachievable, or unimportant) that they don;t matter. It doesn't take too much for the GOP machine to come in and direct their fears, towards Gays, to foreigners, towards outsiders, towards whatever.

Why do people vote against their own interests? Because the GOP has controlled the talking points. That have taken the bitter and rejected and found ways to manipulate them.

Part of the 50 state strategy was to reach out to such people in all states. The winning strategy of Democratic statewide office holders has been to reach out to these people. Because with that kind of out reach, without recognizing how abandoned they feel, and in fact are, the door is open for natural Democrats to vote Republican, because at least someone gives them issues to care about.

Is it an insult to tell people the Democrats have fucked them over, ignored them, and foregotten about them, and that it is time for that to stop?

Hardly!

To spin this in any other way either ignores the plight of the people affected, or somehow discounts them as unimportant.

I only know of one Democratic candidate who thinks of people as unimportant, and it isn't Obama.

[Eric Condon]

31. No, she just prefers to insult Obama supporters for believing in his message.

But of course, Obama supporters don't matter, so there you go.

[rodeodance]

45. poor wittle folk. she said nothing about you folks . stop crying and lying

[Gore1FL]

69. Not sure what you are talking about... but

isn't that the point? She says nothing and does nothing for a large majority of disaffected people. Instead of reaching out across this vast nation, she reaches to votes in a select few areas. Those who do not support her are wedged away. Those she can do without are wedged away. It is the failed DNC strategy that fails us constantly. It is the failed strategy that lost us congress in 1994 and stopped us from havingf it until 2006, when the party changed course.

To fail to see--to refuse to see fellow Americans in trouble, wanting their share of the American dream, and somehow consider recognzing them and their feelings an insult is the very crux of the prolem, and why Hillary lost the nomination.

[rodeodance]

73. I am sure of one thing--You do not know Hillary's polices and do NOT know what you are talking about

[Gore1FL]

78. Then please be specific.

Otherwise, We'll have to do this dance for a long time. Usually, you argue with me until you give up. So, make your specific points so I can refute them, as you seem unwilling to refute what I say other than saying a multi-worded equivalent oh "nuh-uh".

The floor is yours. Make your case.

[rodeodance]

79. do your own work.

[Gore1FL]

87. I have

You seem to have a contrary view that you are unable or unwilling to express in an adequate manner.

I will take that as a concession to this argument, unless you decide you'd like to adress what I said in a meaningful way, decide to make your own points with specifics, or a combination of both.

I assume I just won again.

[rodeodance]

108. you ASSume wrong

[Gore1FL]

114. Then meet the challege

or nothing else can be ASSessed.

[Eric Condon]

112. Oh, how quickly we forget.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/24/hillary-clinton-mocks-bar_n_88194.html

Remember this? Real presidential.


The fact is, when Obama says things like the "bitter" comment, much like when Wright says the things he said that have caused so much controversy, it's spot-on. They're right, but the problem is, for most Americans to REALIZE they're right, they'd have to use .000000000000001% of their brain power to recognize the subtlety of their arguments, and as we all know, doing just that is far outside of the reach of most Americans' capabilities.

By the way, I live in Indiana, amongst exactly the kind of people Obama was talking about, and he is 100% correct in his assessment.

[roguevalley]

123. this is interesting. they have been dead for 25 years. that includes

the clinton admin. why should anyone believe her now? and what the HELL would she know about bitterness over opportunity.

[Ilithiad]

81. There is no comparison...

she did not call them gun toting fundamentalis christian xenophobes...Obama did that. I actually liked Obama because of his eloquence but did not support his nomination as president, but this...these statements towards small town people. I am from a small town and they would be offended by these comments and angry.

[Gore1FL]

93. She believe them to be so

and doesn't try for their vote.

Obama, on the other hand, said they have turn towards the lies the GOP has been feeding them because the Democrats have abandonned them, and feels they are important enough to address their needs.

Hillary's actions in this case speak far louder than Obama's words.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Remind Us Again: How Many States Don't Count?

Bonus question: why is it not insulting to say a state "doesn't count"?

[otohara]

95. Touche

nice one :toast:

[rodeodance]

107. SPAM

[NJmaverick]

3. yeah, just like her husband didn't help them

she is going to do the same. No wonder why they are bitter

[OzarkDem]

20. Showing your ignorance again

People who know so little about the economy during the Clinton years can't really make a qualified judgement about a political candidate.

Simply repeating discredited and easily debunked right wing talking points about the economy of the 1990's is a pretty lame way to support your candidate.

Unfortunately for you, most voters do remember the economic expansion of the 90's. Your candidate is going to have to come up with some new talking points - those make him look ridiculous. And bitter.

[blm]

29. And how did the HUGE economic matter Bill deep-sixed called BCCI end up effecting America, O D?

You know - the LONGTERM effect of Bill's decision on BCCI matters - what happened, O D?

[susankh4]

101. What happened?

GWB's spending spree. Followed by GWB's war.

That's what!

[blm]

128. Really? So you think deep-sixing BCCI matters was the right move to make for Bill?

We wouldn't HAVE this 'war on terror' at all if BCCI matters hadn't been swept under the rug by Bill - and we certainly wouldn't have had any POSSIBILITY of a Bush2 if the BCCI dealings of BushInc had received the further scrutiny the report called for. GWBush wouldn't have been able to run for gov of Texas with BCCI revelations putting his dad and cronies' crimes of office in the spotlight.

[Gore1FL]

30. If they were helped so much then

why have they been perpetually voting Republican?

[galloglas]

67. Show ME !!!

I am from Missouri, too. And the only huge economic expansion came from the one that occurred quite naturally from the "Internet bubble". This while Bubba bartered away our futures whoring NAFTA and anything else that would set him up for life.

I well remember fishing below Bull Shoals in 1980, and asking a local about their "new governor", mentioning that he was on a short list to be President some day. The young lady, the local, I was dancing with had left the dance floor to return to our table when I asked her about the young Arkansawer Lawyer and his Presidential abilities.

She had been taking a sip from her glass when the question was asked. She spewed foam from the glass and looked at me as if I was meanly pulling her leg. I saw her eyes narrow and remember her answer to this day.

"The only person that would make a worse President would be that tight-assed Chicago carpetbagger he married. If either ever make it, I'm gone from this country!"

(and, I haven't seen her around since. So, maybe she did go)

[Gore1FL]

94. Show me too

I am from the Great State of Missouri as well, and have seen many of dissaffected people not vote or vote GOP because of stupid-assed non-issues the GOP has fed them because the Dems have ignored them.

[NJmaverick]

70. Nice try there spanky, but my easily knowledge dwarfs your own puny offering

Still the poor did get poorer, even in the Clinton years. For the last 20 years we have seen an ever growing divide between the haves and the have nots (that started with Reagan). As for right wing talking points you and your candidate are pretty much lock step with them, these days.

[uponit7771]

4. Hillary going to get a 'response' for her stupid ass'd retort. Her NAFTA support didn't help those

...small towns

[BeyondGeography]

5. Help them by voting to send their kids to war and making it harder for them to save their homes

by voting for the bankruptcy bill? Maybe follow that up with a little paycheck garnishing when they can't afford health insurance? :thumbsup:

[azmouse]

6. $109 million worth of help?

Yeah, she understands the average American... :eyes:

[Yavin4]

7. By Shipping Their Jobs To Colombia?

Wow, that would help a great deal would it not?

[OzarkDem]

21. Wrong again, aren't you.

I'm starting to feel sorry for all of you, the house of cards is falling down.

[Gore1FL]

96. yeah...

Coming from a man whose candidate only uses cards of 10 and higher to build a much smaller, and much more fragile house that crumbled after the Wisconsin primary...

[galloglas]

125. Faulty Construction is the answer

That "House of Cards" falls only because that the cards get bent from having been stuffed up Bubba's sleeves. Kinda like Hillary's virtually endless variations and re-iterations of The Truth "get bent" from endless misuse.

[cali]

8. gad, she has no dignity or integrity

left at all. none.

[rodeodance]

50. Obama calls them bitter: while hillary says they are hardworking, positive. --

which would you choose?

[cali]

89. the person who was honest

and that's Obama. He said people are understandably bitter because they've been screwed over. Hill offered empty bullshit pandering bromides, and then she did something disgusting even for her; she sent out bashes by Grover Norquist and other wingnuts to back up her critism. How much lower can she sink?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

9. Clinton supporters promise to misrepresent truth as something defamatory!

:bounce: :bounce:

[Imagevision]

10. Clinton promises to return to her job in New York...but will she?

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. why is it that Hillary and McSame work together? Odd their advisors work for same firm

yes, hillary, let the people be proud and endure their grinding poverty, lack
of healthcare, loss of financial security, while you have made at least $109 million since
leaving the White House, all thanks to "words, just words". Your books ghost written for you,
bills speeches and favor making for friends.

NAFTA.
Columbia free trade.
Messing up Universal health care - twice!

You pair up with the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife, Rush Limbaugh.

Your bloggers are working in tandem with with Fox and Michelle Malkin

[OhioChick]

12. She'll help those small town voters, I'm sure...

Ask Hershey PA voters how it felt to get shafted by NAFTA.


Hershey’s Chocolate Moves to Mexico

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/20022-hershey-s-chocolate-moves-mexico

[ShortnFiery]

13. The only "insult" is HRC and her surrogates underestimation of the American Voters' Intelligence.

We all know that this was a SMARMY attempt at a smear on Obama's character. Something wholly taken out of context to play "gotcha."

Most Americans are SICK of these asinine "gotcha" tactics that prove nothing outside of a Junior High Clique. :thumbsdown:

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. by setting back Universal health care again? 2 times wasnt' enough in the 90's?

thanks Hillary. You f'd up UHC.

[OzarkDem]

23. Poor things, I really feel sorry for you

Baying at the moon with your sad little talking points.

You may want to have a future without access to health care, but the rest of us want to make progress, not retreat.

[rodeodance]

74. Newt said the same. You are using RW talking points.

[thevoiceofreason]

15. Hey sound-biter, here's the full story

This was just added to the Huffington Post article that started this mess:

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 wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- to close tax loopholes, you know, roll back the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people 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, 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.

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.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-s...

[C_U_L8R]

17. Start with the truth Hillary

You are insulting all of us.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bigleaf]

18. Too bad she won't get the chance, the fucking no-good liar. Bwaaahhaaaaaaa!!

Fuck Hillary!

[NJSecularist]

19. She is a complete disgrace.

Everything is politically collateral to her. She has no shame, no conscience at all. She makes me fucking sick.

[City Lights]

24. Ha! She's been insulting not just voters, but entire states, from day one.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and Hillary has realized that those are the ones she needs to concentrate on.

[KAZ]

25. What a waste. To think I've defended them. Live & learn I guess.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

26. Unless they live in a state that doesn't count.

[lander]

27. asdf

"Pennsylvania doesn't need a president who looks down on them," she said at a rally in Philadelphia. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families."

"...and that's why I've decided to concede the race."

No, I made that last part up. One can hope, though!

[Hutzpa]

32. She should be giving those folks

some of that $109 million her and Bill have created if she wants to help them.
The question they should be asking themselves is, if she is worth that much,
would she be able to seek our interest?

Thats what sensible folks should be asking themselves, not buying in to
these lies and more lies from politicians.

[OzarkDem]

33. And Obama can give them some of the billions he made

from Rezko and his corporate masters.

[Forkboy]

34. LOL...insane much?

:crazy:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

72. Nuh uh, he made a ja-jillion dollars

Fascist.

[Hutzpa]

35. You really can be annoying

you know that, why don't you try again, go on.... you can do it.

Give it go and see what happens.

[onenote]

39. don't bogart that joint.

[JeffR]

46. Stop mixing your prescriptions, please.

It can't be good for you.

[KAZ]

48. Billions? Now you're trying to make yourself look stupid.

Hint. You don't need to try.

[madrchsod]

52. wow! got some proof to back that up?

[City Lights]

56. If your comedy routine ever comes to Chicago please PM me.

I'd love to see your live act.

:rofl:

[NanceGreggs]

59. Link?

You have just flatly stated - not as surmise, but as a fact - that Obama made "billions from Rezko and his corporate masters."

Could you kindly provide all of us here with the details?

Thanks in advance!

:hi:

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[laylah]

104. I don't usually jump into

the "pit", preferring to watch the cicular firing squad from the sidelines; however, I must call "bullshit" to that accusation. Please provide a linky supporting that accusation.

[JoFerret]

36. THAT'S how to do it

Quit with the divisive politics.

[onenote]

38. i meet so many "optimistic" "positive" people who are paying $3.75 for gas

seeing the value of their homes fall, see the price of necessities increase, see their jobs disappearing as the airlines and other industries tighten their belts.

Yep, it la dolce vida out there in the small towns.

[madrchsod]

44. 4 in chicago today

cabbies are going to get a gas surcharge...everything is coming up roses

[madrchsod]

40. it`s a yellow brick road!

[TLM]

Not bitter?

How exactly is saying someone is bitter about being economically fucked over, insulting them?

Hillary supported, and continues to support policies that fucked a lot of these middle american folks over... for fuck's sake she sat on the board of wal*mart.

It is as if Hillary stabbed someone, then when Obama says that guy is angry over being stabbed, she accuses Obama of insulting the victim by calling him angry.

It is a ploy to distract attention for the fact that she openly and actively supported most of the policy that caused this situation in the first place.

And THAT is insulting.

[rodeodance]

41. Right on Hillary---they are not bitter-! they are hard working, resilient. positive!

[onenote]

53. YEAH!!! HRC should stand up and tear this little document to shreds

to prove to the nation just how upbeat everyone really is

http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerConfidence.cfm

[rodeodance]

57. because people are having rough times does not mean they are bitter.

[onenote]

58. HRC says people are "optimistic" "positive" --

Yet consumer confidence is at a record low. When you finish doing the limbo, please reconcile those thoughts.

[TLM]

64. Do you know what the word bitter means?

7. resentful or cynical: bitter words.



Can you show me a working class person from a rural american town who is not resentful or cynical towards the government to some degree?


Can you.... even one?


I'll wait.


:popcorn:

[rodeodance]

71. eat your popcorn--your post is silly

[rodeodance]

42. REC

[kevinmc]

43. Checkmate for Obama

Senator Obama’s comments in response to the Clinton and McCain campaign’s attacks -

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA – At a town hall meeting in Indiana, U.S. Senator Barack Obama made the following comments in response to the Clinton and McCain campaign’s attacks:

“When I go around and I talk to people there is frustration and there is anger and there is bitterness. And what’s worse is when people are expressing their anger then politicians try to say what are you angry about? This just happened – I want to make a point here today.

“I was in San Francisco talking to a group at a fundraiser and somebody asked how’re you going to get votes in Pennsylvania? What’s going on there? We hear that’s its hard for some working class people to get behind you’re campaign. I said, “Well look, they’re frustrated and for good reason. Because for the last 25 years they’ve seen jobs shipped overseas. They’ve seen their economies collapse. They have lost their jobs. They have lost their pensions. They have lost their healthcare.

“And for 25, 30 years Democrats and Republicans have come before them and said we’re going to make your community better. We’re going to make it right and nothing ever happens. And of course they’re bitter. Of course they’re frustrated. You would be too. In fact many of you are. Because the same thing has happened here in Indiana. The same thing happened across the border in Decatur.

The same thing has happened all across the country. Nobody is looking out for you. Nobody is thinking about you. And so people end up- they don’t vote on economic issues because they don’t expect anybody’s going to help them. So people end up, you know, voting on issues like guns, and are they going to have the right to bear arms.

They vote on issues like gay marriage. And they take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and things they can count on. But they don’t believe they can count on Washington. So I made this statement-- so, here’s what rich. Senator Clinton says ‘No, I don’t think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack’s being condescending.’ John McCain says, ‘Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he’s obviously out of touch with people.’

“Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain—it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he’s saying I’m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I’m out of touch?

No, I’m in touch. I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what’s going on in Indiana. I know what’s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They’re angry and they’re frustrated and they’re bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.”

[TLM]

60. DAMN! This guy doesn't miss a beat...

Clinton again shows she and mcsame are playing the same snide old politics game... and obama is thrashing them because of it.

They try to slime on the same pandering condescending phony fake smile bullshit, and Obama cut right through it with the truth.


That's why the man has my vote... and why he's winning.

[Danger Mouse]

98. BRUTAL comeback.

Obama is fast, he is on point, and he doesn't take smears and distortions lying down.
Powerful.

[mkultra]

47. im small town

and hes right. Clinton's brand of hope is no hope at all.

[BlueIdaho]

49. Listen to her clip

Its dripping with condescension.

[rodeodance]

55. It's Obama who is full of condescension-for the voters of PA.

[TLM]

62. How exactly were his comments condescending?

I've lived in the midwest in rural towns, and saw nothing condescending in what he said.

I found it honest and perceptive.


You're reaching....

[scheming daemons]

80. They weren't.... rodeo and other Clintonistas are manufacturing outrage again..

...

[NYCGirl]

97. If we could harness the energy they use for faux outrage, we could wean the US

off oil and get rid of global warming!

[rodeodance]

109. We certainly could do the faux outrage about tears and bookbags alone!

[NYCGirl]

111. When your candidate chooses to play the victim of the big bad boys, them's

the breaks.

[onenote]

51. Hey, OD -- if you're close to anyone in the HRC campaign, you might send them this

Maybe HRC should take a look at it before she talks about how optimistic folks are --

http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerConfidence.cfm

[PerfectSage]

54. Your insulting my intelligence.

[AX10]

61. K & R!

I will be in PA to help her!

[ima_sinnic]

103. send her some money so she can pay her bills in those small towns she cares about so much, OK?

on second thought, she WON'T use the money to pay those towns, she'll use it to pay Mark Penn to front for her with a fascist death-squad murderer in Colombia--she SAYS she doesn't approve of a trade deal with him, but she's lying as usual, because she has never turned down a dollar no matter how many people had to suffer for her to get it.


so go help your bullshitting candidate.

[thevoiceofreason]

63. I promise that I might oppose the Columbian deal

Right after Bill gets paid.

[PVnRT]

68. We need a president who blows sunshine up our asses, apparently.

[rodeodance]

76. Immature comment

[PVnRT]

82. Uh-huh

"Immature," coming from you, has no meaning.

[Forkboy]

88. It's like Cheney telling us about peace.

;)

[OzarkDem]

118. No, just someone who can get the job done

and who wants to do it for everyone in the US, not just a selected few.

[AtomicKitten]

75. And Obama will lift up small town voters by not insulting their intelligence with this nonsense.

[scheming daemons]

77. You miss the entire point... they HAVE been promised help for decades....

...including from Hillary's husband.


They've been lied to by successive Presidents since the 1970s......


Hillary's promises mean NOTHING, because they are just her parroting the promises of the last half-dozen Presidents.


I live in Western PA... have my whole life. The steel industry left here in the 1970s and never came back... despite "promises" from the likes of Hillary Clinton's husband and the Repuke Presidents before and after him.


Obama hit the nail on the head.... and Hillary's response is to pander. That's exactly the shit that Pennsylvanians aren't buying any more.


....and you just don't get it.

[GoldieAZ49]

83. Absolutely!!!

She also doesn't insult their faith and religion by telling them they cling to it because they are frustrated. She knows people of faith are stronger for it, in good times and bad.

The rest is so outrageous to even address, anti-immigrant... asinine.

[jefferson_dem]

84. That woman can say whatever she wants.

Nobody believes her anyway.

[Thrill]

86. The way she way gets sonething and runs with it

Is a turnoff. And isn't the way Democrats are supposed to act towards each other

[Danger Mouse]

91. She just insults their...and our...intelligence.

[anonymous171]

92. lol. She totally proved Obama's point.

Politicians always promise to help but never will. Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. all promised rural voters growth but never delivered.

[OneBlueSky]

99. if Hillary doesn't understand that people ARE bitter . . .

and that acknowledging that truth in no way denigrates them, then she doesn't have enough common sense to be president of anything . . .

[susankh4]

100. Nice article.

K&R

Hillary grew up in a working class family. In PA, then IL. She knows this demographic pretty well. And seems to be hitting home with them.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

102. She insults the electorate like Chimpy insulted them. She marginalizes their concerns

and tells them they aren't working hard enough. C'mon you lazy Pennsylvanians, roll up your sleeves and stop lolli-gagging about!

[rodeodance]

110. LYER...

and tells them they aren't working hard enough.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

124. IGNORAMUS...

[pecwae]

105. K&R

[Hepburn]

115. So....

...the specifics on this alleged promise are...??? :shrug:

More NAFTA???? That worked so well in the past...NOT!

[pdxmom]

116. I think Hillary's comments show that she is totally out of touch with

the realities of the electorate. I think Obama's wording was poor, but he was closer to correct than she is with her response.

When 81% of the country think we're heading in the wrong direction, that does not indicate optimistic or positive. It indicates dissatisfaction. Yes, everyone realizes that people are working hard every day, but nowhere does this statement indicate that they are having to work longer and harder than ever before to make ends meet, due to the policies of their government.

I don't think her response indicates she is "in touch" with middle America or rural America. She's painting a rosy picture and spouting pablum to pander for votes, despite the obvious facts that smack us all in the face.

[OzarkDem]

117. So helping bring jobs to people is "out of touch"?

She's talkig directly to those 81% of people who are dissatisfied with the Bush administration. She's not insulting them.

[Hepburn]

119. Nice words....

...but how the hell is she gonna deliver on that promise to bring jobs?

Got any specifics...or is this just more bullshit from HilLIARy?

[pdxmom]

120. And exactly how is she doing that? By supporting NAFTA? Or maybe

by not supporting NAFTA? I don't know where she actually stands on that these days.

Sorry, but what she said is a rose-colored glasses view of how people feel about what is going on in this country. And I don't want or need someone else blowing smoke up my ass, all the while working against my own economic interests.

Like I said, Obama's wording was inartful, but the message was correct. People are angry and bitter about what the government has done to this country and they are voting based on those wedge issues such as gay rights, religion in schools, immigration policy, etc, instead of voting on things like economics that they think they have no control over, due to the government and their corporate cronies screwing them at every turn.

[madrchsod]

121. They are working hard everyday for a better future, for themselves and their children," she said.

what about the millions who do`t have a job or are working 50+ hours a week at 7-10 dollars an hour?

we are just treading water while we watch another business go across our borders....

maybe in her world everything is coming up roses but the rest of us unemployed and under employed there are no roses...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

122. Right.

"As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive, who are rolling up their sleeves. They are working hard everyday for a better future, for themselves and their children,"


No thanks to you or anyone else in Washington, thank you very much.

[Citizen Kang]

126. As she actively campaigned to ship their jobs out of the county in the 90's

and while she was on the board of Walmart which supports shipping jobs to China and while here husband currently actively campaigns for another free trade agreement that will ship more jobs overseas.

If you honestly believe what Hillary says about protecting small town America, I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona you might be interested in.

[City Lights]

127. Promises, promises, she knows she'll never keep. BFD.

Upstate New Yorkers are still waiting for the 200,000 jobs she promised them. What gall she has to then blame her failure on Gore because he never became president.

Hillary excels at passing the buck. Just like Bush.

Promises are just words, Hillary.