The people whom Barack Obama described as "bitter" and "clinging" to guns and religion and disdain for immigrants and non-whites out of frustration for their hardships are my people.  For better or for worse, they helped shape me.  They are a part of me.  I love them, their guns, their faith, and their eccentricities.  Yes, some of them are a bit racist.  And many of them are homophobic.  Still, it is unfair for anyone to suggest that their disproportionate support for Hillary Clinton is rooted in bigotry, as Bob Herbert has today:

He was asked at a fund-raiser in San Francisco about his campaign's experiences in the run-up to next week's Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. One of the main problems, of course, is that he hasn't generated as much support as he'd like among white working-class voters.

There is no mystery here. Except for people who have been hiding in caves or living in denial, it's pretty widely understood that a substantial number of those voters -- in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and elsewhere -- will not vote for a black candidate for president.

I freely acknowledge that there are racists who would not vote for Barack Obama.  But these blue-collar voters also value something else--experience.  Poll after poll has shown that voters perceive Hillary Clinton as more experienced.  In addition, Barack Obama's rhetoric about hope and change has fallen on deaf ears.  They've heard it before, over and over again.  Hillary talks specifics, she has a strong record on health care, and with Hillary, in part because of Bill, people know what they are getting.  They have a level of confidence and comfort with Hillary that they do not have with Barack.  

Barack Obama's message just isn't resonating with these voters.  It's not because they're racist.  It's because they like Hillary more.

Now it's no secret that Bob Herbert is an undeclared--yet hardly closet--Obama supporter.  Like his colleagues Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd, and Roger Cohen, Herbert seems to suffer from Clinton Derangement Sydrome, with the opinion page of the NY Times often indistinguishable from National Review.

Yet Herbert takes his antipathy toward Hillary Clinton to a new low in this op-ed.  Almost as shameful as his blanket stereotype of blue-collar whites as racist was his accusation that the Clinton campaign was pushing that racism as a campaign strategy:

This toxic issue is at the core of the Clinton camp's relentless effort to persuade superdelegates that Senator Obama "can't win" the White House.  It's the only weapon left in the Clintons' depleted armory.

Unfortunately, Mr. Herbert didn't stop at insulting the Hillary Clinton and her supporters.  According to Mr. Herbert, Obama's assertion that the voters are bitter over their economic status is untrue was a clumsy attempt to avoid stating the "obvious":

Senator Obama has spent his campaign trying to dodge the race issue, which in America is like trying to dodge the wind. So when he fielded the question in San Francisco, he didn't say: "A lot of folks are not with me because I'm black -- but I'm trying to make my case and bring as many around as I can."

Instead, he fell back on a tortured response that was demonstrably incorrect. Referring to the long-term economic distress of many working-class voters, Mr. Obama said: "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 antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

He danced all around the truth. Unless you're Fred Astaire, if your dance steps get too intricate you're bound to make a misstep. This was a big one.

I am a proud Clinton partisan, and I still believe, in my heart, that she will be the Democratic Party's nominee.  I very much believe in her campaign.  If, however, Barack Obama legitimately defeats her in the primaries, I will support him as the party's nominee.  

So as a Democrat, I am offended at Herbert's characterization of Barack Obama.  Barack Obama has never behaved in a manner that suggests that he is facing widespread racism from these voters.  I would hope that the Obama people would agree with me on this.  Barack Obama has only spoken positively of racial reconciliation.  If anything, in his speech on race relations last month, he empathized with these white, blue-collar workers:

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense.

Herbert's words should be an outrage to all Democrats, Clinton and Obama partisans alike.  These voters are angry because they believe that their government has abandoned them and that politicians are taking them for granted.  For someone to suggest that their reluctance to support a politician is based on racism is condescending and elitist.  

This editorial reminded of  something that James Carville said on Meet the Press on Sunday:

There's a large segment of the Democratic Party that would like to win an election without these kind of white, working-class voters...

Bob Herbert, I'd tell you this myself, but unlike your colleagues, who aren't afraid of facing their adversaries and responding to criticism, you don't allow comments on your op-eds and you don't have a blog at the New York Times:

These voters may be inconvenient for Democrats such as yourself, but they are still Democrats, and just as important, they are still Americans.  They are Americans who are angry and confused because they have been left behind by globalization and ignored by their government.  Your angry, dismissive rhetoric only sets Democrats back in their quest to bring these voters back into the fold.