It seems to me that there are two debates about Bitter-gate; the first is whether it is substantively accurate; the second is whether it is electorally disastrous. The first question can be debated ad infinitum. The second we will find out soon enough when Pennsylvania votes. My suspicion is that this reader is more accurate than, say, John Judis or John Fund:
Thank God for Obama's speech. I live in rural Kentucky and yes, many, many people here have nothing: no job, no money, and no future. Ironically, people on the coasts call him elitist for saying something that most here agree with. Maybe that's why nobody is talking about it around here--old news.
Something that he was trying to point out was that in spite of their Arkansas roots, the Clintons did nothing for rural America. Good jobs here have been vaporized or sent abroad. Now, people can work at Wal-Mart or McDonald's with no health insurance. And that is why they are bitter.
It is interesting (ironic?) that the only major candidate to mention the anger of the white poor is black.
We will find out. If I'm proven wrong, I'll unhappily concede. But my gut tells me it isn't 2004 any longer.