Obama continues to defend ‘bitter’ faux pas

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Barack Obama spent a fourth day yesterday defending himself for calling people in small towns with economic blight “bitter” in a controversy that rival Hillary Clinton is trying to use for a comeback.

Republican John McCain sought political gain from the flap, saying it is the people from small towns in America who survived the Great Depression, fought in the second world war, built a strong post-war economy and are the “heart and soul of this country”.

Speaking to steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Obama vowed to get tough on China for its “dumping” of cheap products into the US market, but said some US jobs lost to foreign trade are gone forever.