As Clinton releases 'bitter' ad, spokeman claims campaign has been 'civil' Nick Juliano

Published: Tuesday April 15, 2008



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Print This Email This Hillary Clinton's campaign team rarely passes up an opportunity to remind reporters how badly they are being outspent in the ad wars leading up to next week's Pennsylvania primary. For the last few days, Clinton and her supporters have taken just about every opportunity they can to criticize Barack Obama's remark that small-town voters "cling to" cultural issues because they are "bitter." Team Clinton is taking that message to the airwaves now, with a new television ad it is purchasing in the Keystone State featuring supporters criticizing Obama over the remarks. Although they are being outspent two-to-one by Obama, his remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser, which were reported last week, have become an "an important issue in this race because he said them," campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said Tuesday. The new ad features five Clinton supporters saying they were "insulted" by an "out of touch" Obama. At an April 6 fundraiser, Obama was speaking about the challenges of reaching voters who have fallen on hard times over the last 25 years. "So it's not surprising then that 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 said. Since the comments were reported, Obama has apologized if his phrasing offended anyone, but he's stood by the general sentiment, which has been much explored in Democratic circles. Clinton has criticized Obama at length over the comments before unveiling the new ad Tuesday. "The issues raised in the ad are important issues," Wolfson said. "They believe Sen. Obama condescended to them." Clinton's ad buy follows a similar effort from Obama, who unveiled his own ad Monday featuring Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a prominent Obama supporter. Although the Obama ad doesn't mention his comments directly, Casey decries the "political games and division that stops anything from getting done," in an indirect jab at Clinton's incessant criticism. Asked by one reporter whether the latest Clinton effort would spark a "death spiral" that could damage the Democratic party, Wolfson predicted Democrats would be able to come together to support the eventual nominee. "This has been a relatively mild campaign," he said. "Both candidates have focused on issues; it has been relatively civil." While the flap over Obama's comments nearly monopolized campaign coverage since they were first reported, indicators are beginning to emerge that the criticism is doing little to damage his standing in the state primary. A Quinnipiac pool showed no change in voters opinion after the comments were reported, and a Survey USA poll conducted since the flap showed similar results. Clinton continues to lead in both polls, and the numbers seem to have stabilized since Obama began to gain ground about a week ago. This ad was unveiled Tuesday from Clinton's campaign: