Today's "Bitter" Spin

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's reframed his "bitter" comments today, arguing that anger can help motivate people to bring about change.

"I know that there's been a lot of fuss over the last couple of days because I said that people were bitter," he said in addressing the Buildings and Trade Unions Conference this morning. "People seemed to misunderstand what that means."

He added: "Yes people are angry. If you've been filling up your gas tank, you're angry. If you've watched your entire community decimated because a steel plant has closed, that'll make you mad. You've got to feel some frustration. You've got to feel some anger, when you get a sense that the American way of life for so many people feels like it's slipping away."

Obama cautioned, however, that hope should be abandoned, even in difficult times.

"Just because you're mad, just because it seems like nobody's listening to ordinary Americans, that's not a reason to give up hope," he said. "You get mad, and then you decide you're gonna change it. If you're not angry about something, then you're gonna sit back and let it happen to you. But if you're only angry, and you don't feel hopeful, then you're not gonna get the energy to change it."

His comments echoed statements he made last night in Philadelphia, speaking to the City Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

MO Sen. Claire McCaskill, who introduced Obama, put her own spin on the charge by rivals that Obama is "elitist" -- pointing to the perception that many voters had of President Bush as a man who someone could have a beer with and relate to as a regular guy.

"I remember the dog days right after Al Gore won that election, and I remember one of your members coming up for me, and he said well you know I guess it could be worse, that guys seems like he'd be a good guy to have a beer with," McCaskill said. "You know I know something about drinking beer, because I'm from St. Louis – we drink a lot of beer in St. Louis and not just for the TV cameras – we drink a lot of beer in St. Louis. But I'll tell you, his beer that we've had with George Bush has been the most expensive beer in the world's history. This is a beer we can't afford to drink anymore."

McCain's camp said Obama's latest comments represent an "old-style political makeover."

"In an unscripted moment, Barack Obama revealed his true belief that small town Americans cling to traditions of faith and their Second Amendment rights out of bitterness, and his newest version is an old-style political makeover," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.

(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)