I'm not sure who Hillary has been talking to in Pennsylvania, but I've knocked on plenty of doors here and spoken with a lot of voters over the past couple weeks, and I can tell you that it's hard to find one who isn't angry about the the war or home foreclosures or the cost of college or health care or gas or food or all of the above.

I'll tell you what. We're all pissed about something.

That look on my neighbors' faces when I see them at the gas station isn't optimism, it's anger. When they drive through towns in Pennsylvania with boarded up storefronts, or past the plants where they used to pull in a decent paycheck, they're discouraged. Even the lucky among us who have good jobs are dodging potholes big enough to break an axle as we bemoan our crumbling infrastructure. Sure, you're going to find people at political events who are optimistic. They're there because they're looking for change. They're there because they're looking for someone to help fix the things that are making them them angry and discouraged. Take a drive through PA, Hillary, and you'll find plenty of bitter.

Maybe the people Hillary is talking to are OK with her connection to NAFTA that has taken so many jobs from Pennsylvania, and feel that the Columbian trade deal, that will take even more, is something to be optimistic about. Her husband seems happy. Of course, he's made a ton of money from it. Her 'former' campaign guy, too. But the people who realize that Bill Clinton had a lot to do with shipping their jobs out of the country and making a bundle from it in the process are none too happy.

Pennsylvanians are a lot smarter than either Hillary or McCain give us credit for, although I have to admit she was right about one thing.

"Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them, they need a president who stands up for them.’’

That's exactly what we need. So stop with the sound byte gotchas, Hillary. Stop misleading the American people, and stop treating Pennsylvanians like we're a bunch of backwater hicks who don't understand the truth when we hear it. Pennsylvanians can see through your weak attempts to distort Sen. Obama's words. We really are mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more.

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA – At a town hall meeting in Indiana, U.S. Senator Barack Obama made the following comments in response to the Clinton and McCain campaign's attacks:

“When I go around and I talk to people there is frustration and there is anger and there is bitterness. And what’s worse is when people are expressing their anger then politicians try to say what are you angry about? This just happened – I want to make a point here today.

“I was in San Francisco talking to a group at a fundraiser and somebody asked how’re you going to get votes in Pennsylvania? What’s going on there? We hear that’s its hard for some working class people to get behind your campaign. I said, “Well look, they’re frustrated and for good reason. Because for the last 25 years they’ve seen jobs shipped overseas. They’ve seen their economies collapse. They have lost their jobs. They have lost their pensions. They have lost their healthcare.

“And for 25, 30 years Democrats and Republicans have come before them and said we're going to make your community better. We're going to make it right and nothing ever happens. And of course they’re bitter. Of course they’re frustrated. You would be too. In fact many of you are. Because the same thing has happened here in Indiana. The same thing happened across the border in Decatur. The same thing has happened all across the country. Nobody is looking out for you. Nobody is thinking about you. And so people end up- they don't vote on economic issues because they don't expect anybody’s going to help them. So people end up, you know, voting on issues like guns, and are they going to have the right to bear arms. They vote on issues like gay marriage. And they take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and things they can count on. But they don’t believe they can count on Washington. So I made this statement-- so, here’s what rich. Senator Clinton says ‘No, I don't think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack’s being condescending.’ John McCain says, ‘Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he's obviously out of touch with people.’

“Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain—it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he's saying I’m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I'm out of touch? No, I'm in touch. I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what’s going on in Indiana. I know what’s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They're angry and they're frustrated and they're bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that's why I'm running for President of the United States of America.”

Shame on you, Hillary Clinton. The kind of disingenuous attack on the truth you displayed yesterday is just one more example of why we're bitter. It's the reason we ended up with four more years of Bush, and we're too smart to be fooled again. Are you really so out of touch that you can't see the anger of people who are struggling in this dreadful economy? Are you really that disconnected?

Pennsylvanians can handle the truth, Hillary, and it's refreshing to find a politician who isn't afraid to tell it. And not just easy, sound byte friendly truths, but the hard ones that we don't necessarily want to hear. We've had enough of Washington double-speak, enough of politicians who say only what they think will garner them a few votes, and enough of condescending baloney from Washington insiders.

We want the truth, Hillary. When you and McSame start telling it, maybe we'll be just a little less bitter.