The controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s recent speech at a San Francisco fundraiser highlights his most glaring weaknesses as a presidential candidate. To the well-heeled and sophisticated audience, Obama spoke about working class Americans and their hardships under both the Clinton and Bush administrations. He then commented, “So it’s not surprising then that 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.” Under criticism from both Senators Clinton and McCain, Obama responded by defending his conclusion that voters are, indeed, bitter. “No, I’m in touch,” he commented. “I know exactly what’s going on…. People are fed up, they’re angry, they’re frustrated, they’re bitter and they want to see a change in Washington.” 

Of course, this line ignores the most serious questions about his previous statement. 

The right way to pose a challenge to Obama would be to ask: 

“Senator, do you really believe that religion is something people ‘cling to’ in bitterness, or is it something they embrace in joy? 

“Senator, do people cling to guns out of bitterness, or own them proudly as a means to protect their families, in celebration of a Constitutional right? 

“Senator, is ‘anti-trade sentiment’ merely a product of bitterness for struggling blue collar Americans or is it, I’ve you’ve suggested elsewhere, a sentiment you actually share?” 

The truth is, there’s no good way to answer these questions for Obama. He ought to admit he misspoke and expressed himself poorly. His unwillingness to do so—and insistence on defending indefensible remarks-- demonstrates one of his obvious weaknesses as a candidate.  

The fact that Obama delivered his original remarks at a San Francisco fundraising makes them all the more damning and damaging. 

The episode also demonstrates that for all his polish and charm and self-assurance when reading a carefully scripted speech, Obama simply isn’t that great when speaking off the cuff. In debates, Hillary Clinton frequently outperformed him. In interviews he can sound awkward and stilted – if never quite inarticulate. 

Aside from revealing his condescending attitude toward working class voters, Obama’s words in “Bitter-Gate” reveal a candidate whose political skills may not prove as formidable as his adoring minions in mainstream media would have us believe.