Obama's quote:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then 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."

This is a surprise? What are the issues that RW politicians have used to GOTV?

gay marriage amendment
illegal immigrants
gun bans -- real or alleged
abortion

All celebrated wedge issues guaranteed to get knee-jerk reactions from their base.

What doesn't get addressed when wedge issues are the only parameter are the more prosaic but also more vital concerns, like the economy.

So this week we see "Bittergate" spun as the "elitist" comments from that "uppity" black fella. Now he hasn't said anything different than a brazillion talking heads on TV or other candidates in analyzing the electorate (including Bill Clinton), but somehow the fact that he deigned to comment on what moves voters is described as "elitist."

Meanwhile, once again economic concerns are being sidelined. Hillary Clinton's campaign strategist and husband have been shown to have strong ties to the Colombian free trade agreement with its negative consequences for American workers, but "antipathy to those who are not like them" -- read "elitist" Obama -- is being shoved down PA voters' throats.

The question remains, will the PA voters buy this crap, or will they join millions of their fellow Americans and say, "Not this time."