Obama Rips Clinton, Mocks Gun Rights Support
Steelton, PA (AP) ~ Accused of being elitist, a defiant Sen. Barack Obama lashed out at rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying "Shame on her" and mocking her vocal support for gun rights as their political tempest threatened to consume the Democratic presidential race.
It was a startling twist Sunday to the three-day controversy that erupted after the publication of comments the Illinois senator made at a San Francisco fundraiser a week earlier. At that event, Obama said some working-class voters are bitter over their economic circumstances and "cling to guns and religion" as a result.
Campaigning Sunday in Pennsylvania, Clinton derided the comments as "elitist and divisive" and suggested they could doom Democrats' chances for recapturing the White House in November if Obama were the nominee.
At a union hall outside Harrisburg, Obama said he'd expected blowback from GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain but said he'd been "a little disappointed" to be criticized by Clinton.
Laughing, the Illinois senator noted Clinton seemed much more interested in guns since he made his comments than she had been in the past. On Saturday, the former first lady reminisced about learning to shoot on summer vacations in Scranton, where her father grew up.
"She is running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment. She's talking like she's Annie Oakley," Obama said.
Clinton has told campaign audiences that she supports the rights of hunters. She's also said she once shot a duck in Arkansas, where she served as first lady.
Clinton, who is trailing Obama in the popular vote and pledged delegates, has pounded Obama since audio from his San Francisco appearance was posted on The Huffington Post Web site. She hoped the comments might give her a new opening to court working-class Democrats less than 10 days before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, which she needs win to keep her campaign going.
At the San Francisco fundraiser, Obama tried to explain his troubles in winning over some blue-collar voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions: "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."
It was a startling twist Sunday to the three-day controversy that erupted after the publication of comments the Illinois senator made at a San Francisco fundraiser a week earlier. At that event, Obama said some working-class voters are bitter over their economic circumstances and "cling to guns and religion" as a result.
Campaigning Sunday in Pennsylvania, Clinton derided the comments as "elitist and divisive" and suggested they could doom Democrats' chances for recapturing the White House in November if Obama were the nominee.
At a union hall outside Harrisburg, Obama said he'd expected blowback from GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain but said he'd been "a little disappointed" to be criticized by Clinton.
Laughing, the Illinois senator noted Clinton seemed much more interested in guns since he made his comments than she had been in the past. On Saturday, the former first lady reminisced about learning to shoot on summer vacations in Scranton, where her father grew up.
"She is running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment. She's talking like she's Annie Oakley," Obama said.
Clinton has told campaign audiences that she supports the rights of hunters. She's also said she once shot a duck in Arkansas, where she served as first lady.
Clinton, who is trailing Obama in the popular vote and pledged delegates, has pounded Obama since audio from his San Francisco appearance was posted on The Huffington Post Web site. She hoped the comments might give her a new opening to court working-class Democrats less than 10 days before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, which she needs win to keep her campaign going.
At the San Francisco fundraiser, Obama tried to explain his troubles in winning over some blue-collar voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions: "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."
Labels: 2008 Presidential Race
posted by Mike McCarville @ 9:06 AM
<< Home