This BBC page does a quick and easy job of summing up some of the election dialogue of the past few days.
It seems to me that the more Clinton challenges Obama, the worse she ends up looking in the end. If this situation were completely reversed--if she had commented that Pennsylvania voters were bitter and he had called her out on it, she would have definitely come off seeming "out of touch," and "elitist". I think Obama has built such a cohesive image for himself as the antithesis of these things that "misspeaking" a couple of words doesn't really threaten to shake public opinion of him.
I think that Clinton and Obama are two very strong democratic candidates. I've heard discussion of voters simply picking the underdog in previous primaries, just to give that candidate the opportunity to move forward in the race and continue to be heard. I think this contributes to the reason that Obama's "bitter" comment is unlikely to hurt him too much in the primary. I believe that whether subconsciously or consciously the fact that Clinton is a woman and Obama is a black man, strongly contributes to the image of him or her as the "underdog" when trailing behind in polls or facing criticism. Our cultural stereotypes (often historically-based) of both women and blacks as underdogs who have to fight to pull ahead are deeply-rooted.
Another part of me figures that Mrs. Clinton is picking away at (arguably) Obama's greatest strength--his rhetoric. She is using his diction against him. But doing that only seems to give him the floor to talk even more to the media. The more I listen to Obama, the more I start to believe that any opportunity for him to speak is going to lead to huge cheering crowds and an increase in support.
Additionally, as a photo major, I have to share a quick rant about this AP photo that BBC picked as "weekly picture," because it seems to me that it's no better than a still pulled from digital video of the debate. Photography should use the advantage of smaller still cameras to capture interesting and intimate moments! Still cameras are small and don't necessarily need to fight for tripod space on the media platform like video cameras. Couldn't they have chosen a more interesting picture from another angle?
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