In Labor Speech, Obama Revisits Bitterness

[Omaha Steve]

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/in-labor-speech-obama-revisits-bitterness/

April 15, 2008, 11:40 am

By Jeff Zeleny

WASHINGTON – First, a forceful rebuttal. Then, an explanation. And then, an apology. Yet in a speech here today, Senator Barack Obama seemed to offer another rationale for the self-inflicted brouhaha that has dominated the political debate for four days running.

In a speech at the Building Trades Legislative Conference, a coalition of blue-collar labor unions, Mr. Obama seemed as though he was going to bypass his remarks about Americans who are “bitter” over their economic circumstances and cling to God and guns. It was not included in his prepared speech text, but near the end of the 30-minute address he broached the subject.

“I know that there’s been a lot of fuss over the last couple of days because I said that people were bitter. People seemed to misunderstand what that means,” he said. “Yes, people are angry. If you’ve been filling up your gas tank you’re angry. If you’ve watched your entire community decimated because a steel plant is closed, that will make you mad. You’ve got to feel some frustration.”

As Mr. Obama spoke about the controversy, the crowd largely listened in silence. When he concluded, applause broke out, but it was far from the standing ovation Mr. Obama received when he addressed the matter to voters late last week in Indiana.


Barack Obama at the Building Trades And Legislative Conference on Tuesday in Washington. (Photo: Melissa Golden/Getty Images)

Yesterday, as he continued to offer his contrition, he told the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News: “The problem was that I just mangled it, which happens sometimes.”

A sentiment of regret was absent from his remarks today. Instead, he suggested to a crowd of a few thousand labor union members that his remarks were misunderstood. He made no mention of what his advisers viewed as the most problematic line – “they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” – and sought to simply tap into people’s anger.

FULL story at link.