All that noise just for this: Pa. voters divided over Obama remarks

[EFerrari]

Pa. voters divided over Obama remarks


By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 15, 2:15 AM ET

SHENANDOAH, Pa. - Yes, some Democrats in Pennsylvania's Rust Belt communities were upset by Barack Obama's suggestion that voters there "cling to guns or religion" because of bitterness about their economic lot. But many more seem to think it was no big deal — and if there's a problem it's with the political slapfest that has followed.

Obama's comment, which the Illinois senator made during a San Francisco fundraiser last week, set off an exchange of insults between the final contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination as they vie for blue-collar support in the state's April 22 primary. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has criticized the comment as "elitist," while Obama has mocked the New York senator's own recent emphasis on support for gun owners' rights.

In interviews Monday in Pennsylvania communities like the ones to which Obama referred, Democrats on both sides of the race were divided over the controversy.

"It's so difficult to watch every word," said Mary Ellen Matunis, a Clinton backer from Shenandoah.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080415/ap_on_el_pr/pennsylvania_bitter_voters_7