Obama's "bitterness" remark in full context maybe reflects his mother's anthropological influence

[merbex]

in that he was attempting to explain a sociological phenomenon/atmosphere of present day life in the "Rust Belt"

That being said, the statement will probably haunt him, in that no-one likes to be discussed like something under a microscope or as being the subject of a dissertation because those people are living that life, and doing the best they can too.

There were other ways to phrase it besides "bitterness": gotten out of the habit of civic engagement perhaps because people have to work so hard and cram in family time( kids schedules) combined with the sloppy job that the MSM has done in providing news that people actually need rather than the info-tainment that is fed to us.

That would have gone down a lot better than "bitterness"