Why Barack Obama's "Bitter" Remark Will Not Affect My Vote

On April 6, Senator Barack Obama made what many consider a political faux pas. During a speech given in San Francisco, Obama spoke of small-town voters who become "bitter" over job losses and "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."

The comments were met with an immediate barrage of criticisms from both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain. Both McCain and Clinton said the comments made Obama sound elitist. Senator Clinton said it made him appear "out of touch" with Americans.

Many speculate that Senator Obama's remarks will result in a loss of votes. I can't speak for the rest of America, but I can say that despite agreeing the words were ill-chosen, they will not affect my vote in the April 22 primary.

First of all, when we look at what Obama admits he was trying to say, most voters will notice that while fury erupted regarding the statement as a whole, feelings were cooled once he broke the statement down. When suggesting that small-town voters are frustrated and bitter because the government fails to listen to them, I find it hard to disagree.

That he even took this much time-it's been over a week, and Obama still defends and explains his statements-to explain what he meant by his words speaks good things to me about the candidate.

Secondly, while examining the issue, there's one thing I'm more "bitter" about than Obama's statements. It's the way Senator Clinton has used it as a mobilizing statement to garner more supporters before the Primary. Many other Pennsylvania voters seem to agree that what we're most bitter about is that this is still news!

Along the same lines as the Clinton errors in her statements about visiting Bosnia, I feel it is poor form to continue beating a dead horse. As Senator Obama stated himself, "[My] words may have been clumsy, which happens surprisingly often on a presidential campaign." He apologized; he explained himself; he broke the issue down again and again. Let's move on.