George's Bottom Line: Dems Clash Over 'Bitter' Voters

ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos on Sen. Barack Obama's, D-Ill., comments on "bitter" small town voters and the Democrats' appeal to church-going Americans following Sunday's faith-based forum.

Diane Sawyer: So, George, where does this end up? It's been playing all weekend. Where does it end up?

Stephanopoulos: Well, this is a big, big problem for Barack Obama, Diane. There is no question about it. When this story broke on Friday afternoon, both the John McCain and Hillary Clinton campaigns pounced immediately. They knew this was a gaffe because it was part of a pattern for Barack Obama, playing off the Reverend Wright controversy, playing off the flag pin lapel pin controversy of last year and they hit very, very hard.

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At first, Senator Obama didn't apologize. He dug in but they realized -- the Obama campaign did -- over the weekend what a big mistake this was. They apologized two or three times on Saturday or Sunday and then as you saw Senator Obama went on the counterattack last night. He's going to continue that today. He is putting out an ad this morning with Senator Bob Casey, working class Catholic senator defending Barack Obama. He'll also counterattack against Senator John McCain in a major speech on the economy this afternoon, but this has done some damage. I think the other question right now is: Did Senator Clinton go a little bit too far talking about hunting, by doing those boilermakers in Indiana? I think she's going to have to back off just a touch, make this about Barack Obama, not about her.

Sawyer: "Okay, and I want to turn to what happened last night because I know you were watching, of course. It was the Compassion Forum. I kept saying to myself this is an extraordinary thing, Democratic candidates sitting there asking detailed questions about the Bible, being asked them and responding, to questions about faith in a very personal way. And I want to play a couple of bites. I'll start with Senator Clinton because she was asked specifically about why God allows suffering in the world. Here's her answer."