Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said her rival, Barack Obama, was repeating the mistakes of the party's last two losing presidential campaigns by describing some voters as “bitter” over their economic status.

Obama responded that while his phrasing was “clumsy” and furor over them a distraction, many voters are angry because they “don't think that government is listening to them.”
The two candidates appeared separately last night during a forum on faith in Pennsylvania, where an April 22 primary is the next stop in the Democratic presidential campaign.
The event continued a weekend war of words between the two candidates over remarks Obama made April 6 to donors in San Francisco. His statement -- that some voters have “gotten bitter and cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them” -- became public on April 11 and Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain immediately used them to attack him.
Clinton has said the comments showed Obama was out of touch with some segments of the U.S. population and expanded that last night to a larger electoral issue.
“You know, the Democratic Party, to be very blunt about it, has been viewed as a party that didn't understand and respect the values and the way of life of so many of our fellow Americans,” Clinton said. “We had two very good men and men of faith run for president in 2000 and 2004. But large segments of the electorate concluded that they did not really understand or relate to or frankly respect their ways of life.”
Past Campaigns
Clinton was referring to former Vice President Al Gore, who lost to President George W. Bush in 2000, and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who failed to beat Bush four years later.
Obama, who spoke at the forum after Clinton, said his words had been twisted. His reference to religion was meant to convey that when people are despondent, they go back to the basics, such as their faith, Obama said.
“My words may have been clumsy, which happens surprisingly often on a presidential campaign,” Obama said. “This is an example of, frankly, how the political debate can distract us from what is really at issue. We try to tear each other down instead of lifting the country up.”
Earlier yesterday, the 46-year-old Illinois senator went after Clinton, saying that he expected such attacks from McCain, 71, an Arizona senator.
Responding to Clinton during the forum broadcast by CNN, Obama said that he believed Gore won the 2000 election. The U.S. Supreme Court halted a contested recount in Florida that many Democrats contend would have changed the result that year.
Clinton said she believed “that the potential for life begins at conception,” and noted that the Methodist church, of which she is a member, has “struggled” with the issue.
Obama said he hasn't come to a firm answer.
“I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins,” he said. “So I don't presume to know the answer to that question.”
Obama is leading Clinton in the number of Democratic convention delegates needed to win the presidential nomination, 1,639 to 1,503, according to an unofficial tally by the Associated Press. Clinton has a lead in most polls in Pennsylvania.
(Source: Bloomberg)