A bitter place? Iron Rangers aren't so sure

DULUTH - When presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke of struggling small towns steeped in bitterness, it struck a chord -- or rather discord -- on Minnesota's Iron Range.

In Virginia, Minn., part of a region that has seen two-thirds of its high-paying mining jobs disappear since the 1970s, Millie Wells didn't appreciate Obama's suggestion that rural Pennsylvanians and other small-town Midwesterners "cling" to guns, religion and xenophobia because they're bitter over economic woes.

"I don't think there's any truth to it," said Wells, 44, an office manager for a steel fabrication firm. "I grew up in rural Kentucky, and there, just like here, people's faith and their guns are mainstays, regardless of where the economy is or isn't."

Others doubt that the comments, clumsy by Obama's own admission, would undermine his strong support in the region, in part because they don't think a few awkward remarks reflected his true feelings.

Obama supporter Nancy Barnes, a lab manager at Virginia Regional Medical Center, said she hopes the controversy doesn't blur what she sees as the big picture.

For her, that is Obama's "heart is with lower- and middle-class Americans."

"I can look beyond [the remarks]," said Barnes, "because I've read a lot and I know what his intentions are and what he stands for. Unfortunately, people just grab onto a few words and spin them."

Though northeastern Minnesota has a strong DFL heritage, its voters tend toward social conservatism. The Eighth Congressional District's pro-gun, anti-abortion congressman, Democrat James Oberstar from Chisholm, has been reelected 16 times so far.

In 1994, the district's voters narrowly rejected U.S. Senate candidate Ann Wynia, a liberal DFLer, in favor of conservative Republican Rod Grams, after he hammered Wynia on taxes, guns and land use.

Obama made his now-controversial comments April 6 at a private fundraiser in San Francisco while attempting to explain why he wasn't outpolling Clinton in Pennsylvania.

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years, and nothing's replaced them," Obama said, according to a transcript published by the Huffington Post.

"And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not.

Obama outpolled Hillary Clinton by nearly 2-1 in St. Louis County in the Minnesota caucuses on Feb. 5. But Bill Hanna, the longtime editor of the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia, said he thought Obama will take a hit among conservative Democrats and union workers, especially on the gun issue.

That's not to say Obama's remarks were completely off base, he said.

"There is bitterness in rust-belt areas, and there has been bitterness in this area [the Iron Range] on trade issues," Hanna said. "When you ride the roller coaster, the downs leave you not feeling so good."

But Hanna said that tying that bitterness to gun ownership was "a poor choice -- it's a way of life here."

Virginia resident Carol Jean Hanson, 57, a retired elementary school teacher, said that Obama wrongly connected the economy to guns and religion.

Another resident, Joe Simich, a construction worker who gets laid off every winter, said he hunts deer and goes to church twice a week.

"Yeah, we struggle a little bit in the winter," said Simich, 45, but they manage and he said the struggle has little to do with hunting or faith.

"I don't know what he means when he says we cling to guns," Simich said, adding that Obama's words won't affect his choice because he's already decided to back John McCain for president.

"I've always voted Republican because of their morals," Simich said.

Elitism -- or petty politics?

Said Oberstar, an Obama supporter: "Iron Rangers are too smart to let political rhetoric divert them from real issues like health care, education and fixing our Social Security system."

Comparing Obama's comments to McCain's recent mix-up of Sunnis and Shiites, Oberstar lamented that slip-ups and gaffes get so much attention.

"It's too bad," he said, "that the news media is not fixating on how well the candidates understand the cultural and political complexities of this region, instead of taking the easy road of covering the political horse race."

While special-interest groups often can be counted on to make hay on candidates' missteps, Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, said the people "in the circles I run" seem to see the flap over Obama's remarks as all-too-familiar petty politics.

"I haven't seen any overwhelming reaction to the Obama comments," said Johnson, who hasn't decided whom he will vote for.

Craig Grau, a retired professor of political science at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said that he doubts the remarks will prove fatal to Obama's chances, especially for the nomination.

"I don't think we can say right now that one line will be that important," said Grau, of Duluth, who worked for Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses.

After Biden dropped out of the race, Grau listed Obama as his preference at his precinct caucus in February.

"It's too soon to say what the issues will be," said Grau. "We don't know where the war or the economy will be, and issues like guns tend to become more important in the general election."