Presidential politics and the rust belt

It's old news by now that Obama thinks small-town voters in Pennsylvania are bitter.
Even previous Obama cheerleaders Maureen Dowd and David Brooks seemed upset by his comments.

The past week seems to be filled with debate over whether the key word in Obama's phrase was "bitter" or "cling."

Regardless, I'd like to make two points.

First, Obama's words were almost certainly ill-suited for his cause. I personally agree with his statement, but I'm not running for office. I'm also not a political consultant, but it seems that it would be difficult to win votes if voters suspect that you despise them.

Second, Hillary's response is worse than the comments themselves. One of her Pennsylvania commercial slots shows Clinton during a summer camping trip, circa 1950, without "heat or indoor shower." Bitch please. Does anyone actually believe that Clinton is just a small-time girl who happened to make $109 million over the past eight years?

I didn't think so.

Obama graduated from Columbia and Harvard; Clinton from Wellesley and Yale. Both candidates have impressive resumes and intellectual ability. Both would certainly be considered to be part of America's elite class. My question is this: why is this elitism considered to be a liability for presidential candidates? In no other field I can think of are candidates selected based on their ability to associate with the average Tom, Dick, or Harry. Can you picture a corporate board selecting a CEO by saying "well, we hear that he can bowl a 120 after two rounds of miller!"

Frankly, the thing that bothers me most about Clinton and Obama is that neither one grew up on the Upper East Side.

Maybe someday Americans will not look at education as a liability for presidential prospects. I'd like to think that, but it seems that the educated class continually flocks to Manhattan. That's why our rent is so high. It also leaves swing states in the hands of uneducated bitter small-town Americans. We can only hope that the democratic presidential hopeful hides his/her elitism well. This could at least save us from four more years of hell. And 100 more years of Iraqi occupation.