Obama's Remarks

Recently Presidential Candidate Barack Obama made some comments that have made people in the Clinton camp claim that he was "out of touch" with America.

Here is exactly what he said, according to the Huffington Post and CNN.com:

"You go into 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 going to regenerate and they have not," he said.
"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," he also said.
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First off, I do not believe that he said these people were wrong to cling to anything, but rather that people cling to what they know and understand. Sticking to what we were raised to belive and to what we are used to comforts us, right? Common sense here, right?

Is it not true that people get bitter from job loss and financial insecurity? Especially when it lasts for a long period of time?
I know that I am upset and bitter about my dad's joblessness and our overall family situation.

Additionally, it is pretty common for people to say negative things about others, or not trust things that they do not understand. I hear white kids make black jokes and vice versa. I hear many people make homophobic comments and jokes. I hear men make sexist comments/jokes and vice versa. I hear religious people trash and disregard other religions because they are different, which apparently means "wrong." People tend to stay loyal to others who they can relate to. It makes sense.

So I do not think that he said anything that wasn't already pretty obvious.