US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama came under fire last night for saying small-town Pennsylvania residents were "bitter" and "cling to guns or religion," in comments his rivals said showed an elitist view of the middle class.
Mr Obama's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain both pounced on the comments Mr Obama made last weekend at a fundraiser in San Francisco.
Video of the fundraiser, which was closed to the press, surfaced as Mr Obama was campaigning in Indiana, trying to highlight issues of concern to working-class voters, such as job losses and rising mortgage foreclosures.
"You go into some of 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," Mr Obama, an Illinois senator, said.
"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," he said.
Ms Clinton, a New York senator who is battling Mr Obama for the Democratic nomination and the right to face Mr McCain in the November presidential election, said in Philadelphia the comments showed Mr Obama "looks down" on voters in Pennsylvania, which holds a closely watched nominating contest on April 22nd.
"Pennsylvania doesn't need a president who looks down on them," she said told a rally. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families."
Ms Clinton, a former first lady, once led Mr Obama by double digits in polls in Pennsylvania, the next big battleground in their struggle for the right to face Mr McCain in the November presidential election.
That lead has dwindled to about 4 to 6 points in several recent polls in a state that has struggled from job losses and has a big population of blue-collar voters who have been Ms Clinton's biggest backers.