by Mark Silva
It didn’t take long for the word du jour in the presidential campaign – bitter – to become a fundraising opportunity.
In his email — “a bitter America?” – John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis says of Barack Obama’s words about the bitterness of many small-town voters: “We’ve all said things that we’ve regretted. Sometimes they result from a mere slip of the tongue and sometimes they reveal deeply held beliefs that you’d rather not communicate to the world. ”
And in his email – about “the latest dust-up in the Democratic race” – Obama campaign manager David Plouffe insists that: “Barack spoke about the frustrations that working people in this country are feeling and said what we all know is true: that many people are bitter and angry because they believe their government isn’t listening to them.”
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They’re both looking for money. The Obama camapign fundraising appeal from Plouffe says: “You and I both know that the hope of changing that reality is what drives the unprecedented support for this campaign from ordinary people in every part of the country. But our opponents have been spinning the media and peddling fake outrage around the clock.
“John McCain’s campaign, which will continue the George Bush economic policies that have devastated the middle class, called Barack out of touch and elitist. And Hillary Clinton, who is the candidate who said lobbyists represent real people, didn’t just echo the Republican candidate’s talking points: she actually used the very same words to pile on with more attacks.
“These comments show just how out of touch Senator McCain and Senator Clinton are with the reality of what’s happening in this election.”
People can do something about that, says a campaign setting a goal of reaching a level of 1.5 million donors to the campaign by May 6th, the day of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.
The McCain campaign fundraising appeal from Davis recounts Obama’s words as well as McCain’s.
“These hard working men and women aren’t “bitter”. They love their country, their faith, their family and their traditions. They are the heart and soul of this country, the foundation of our strength and the primary authors of its essential goodness – Barack Obama should get to know them,” Davis writes.
“If Barack Obama is the Democrat nominee in the general election, the American people will have a clear choice between two different visions – Senator Obama’s liberal, elitist philosophy and John McCain’s faith in the small town values that continue to make America great. John McCain will not forget them or write them off. Neither should Barack Obama.
“We are up against a large fundraising hurdle if Barack Obama is the nominee and we need your help now. Even before the general election begins, the differences are clear, we must do everything we can to make sure these beliefs don’t make it into the White House”
And people can do something about that, too, the McCain campaign notes.