'Bitter' Is a Hard Pill For Obama to Swallow

Sen. Barack Obama, at a rally in Muncie, Ind., said he meant what he said about bitterness, though he might have phrased it differently. (By Alex Brandon -- Associated Press)

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), a Clinton backer who was traveling his state with her, said, "I don't think Senator Obama is an elitist." He added, however, that voters and the Democratic officials known as superdelegates who also get to vote on the party's nominee should consider whether his remarks would allow Republicans to paint him that way.

"But we do have economic hard times," Bayh said, "and that does lead to some frustration and some anger."

In Indiana, many voters had not heard of Obama's remarks, which appeared on the front page of the Indianapolis Star. Among those who had, feelings were sometimes mixed.

Tom Hair, an undecided voter who works at a manufacturing plant in Indianapolis that Clinton visited on Saturday, said Obama's remarks about people from small towns were "condescending."

"He seems like he meant what he said," Hair said of Obama.

But he added that he and other workers at Allison Transmission, which makes transmissions for military vehicles, are frustrated by trade deals and the influx of illegal immigrants.

"You have to be realistic about it," Hair said. "There are a lot of angry people."

Murray reported from Terre Haute, Ind. Staff writer Dan Balz in Chicago contributed to this report.