RALEIGH--As recorded by a HuffPost writer in attendance, Barack Obama said at a San Francisco fundraiser last week:

"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," Obama said. "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."

(“Obama: No Surprise That Hard-Pressed Pennsylvanians Turn Bitter” The Huffington Post, April 11, 2008 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-surprise-that-ha_b_96188.html)

Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, made the following statement:

“It is hard to imagine that Barack Obama could offend hardworking Americans any worse than he did by his statements at a fundraiser last week.  Barack Obama has promised us the politics of hope, but he has only offered the same, tired rhetoric of liberal elitism.  Senator Obama’s condescending and elitist comments offend the very values that North Carolinians believe in.  As hardworking citizens, we embrace our constitutional rights to bear arms and worship freely.  The rights guaranteed by the First and Second Amendment are not something to be scoffed at.  Obama’s comments are just one more example of how out of touch he is with North Carolina.  We deserve better.”

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