There are plenty of pundits out there that can more elloquently than I rack Obama over the coals for his idiotic comment about rural America.  What amazes me is how no one is really discussing the context in which he made those comments.  He was in a very liberal city, San Francisco, speaking in front of a very liberal crowd that cherishes urban values and has no real grasp of rural people.  Obama was doing what candidates have done since the rise of popular politics during the Jackson administration.  Candidates are going to say things targeting what their audience in any given place wants to hear.  Lincon may be the best example.  The evils of slavery was what he was all about when speaking in Boston, but when in Tennessee he was quick to reassure slave owners that he would protect the insitution.  Obama did the same thing.  In a modern election in which everything is being recorded and blogged on, it's impossible for candidates to play that political game.  In my opinion that's a good thing.  Anything that requires candidates to be intellectually honest is wonderful.