The Battle Over “Bittergate”

The latest round of infighting kicked off last week, with Obama’s now-notorious judgment on working-class voters in economically depressed communities. Enlightening an affluent San Francisco audience about why these ostensibly benighted souls withheld their vote from the Democratic Party, Obama proffered the following explanation: “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.” True, the words “gun-toting, Bible-thumping hicks” never feartured in Obama’s remarks. But in every particular, the candidate seemed to share the senimtent.

Unsurprisingly, the statement touched off a firestorm. Aside from its obvious condescension – as if bitterness were the only possible explanation for why voters might attend church, favor gun rights or support the enforcement of immigration laws – it was noticeably inconsistent. Obama, after all, has made skepticism of free-trade a pillar of his campaign. Earlier this month, for example, he declared against the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. One might well wonder, borrowing Obama’s reasoning, whether something more sinister than pandering to unions informed his position.

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