The McCain campaign unloaded on Barack Obama today for his remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser last weekend, where the Democrat said “bitter” Pennsylvania voters “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

“It is a remarkable statement and extremely revealing,” McCain advisor Steve Schmidt told reporters on board the McCain campaign plane today. “It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking. It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans.”

Schmidt said Obama’s remarks hit the “heart and soul of this country” and predicted Obama would have difficulty connecting with voters. “I think people will resent it and be very angry about it because that is not how most Americans view themselves. That’s now how most Americans view their lives in terms of practicing their faith or exercising their Second Amendment rights or having a desire to secure the borders in the country,” he explained.

When Obama later defended his remarks to voters in Indiana, a McCain spokesman fired back, “Instead of apologizing to small town Americans for dismissing their values, Barack Obama arrogantly tried to spin his way out of his outrageous San Francisco remarks. Only an elitist who attributes religious faith and gun ownership to bitterness would think that tax cuts for the rich include families who make $75,000 per year. Only an elitist would say that people vote their values only out of frustration. Barack Obama thinks he knows your hopes and fears better than you do. You can’t be more out of touch than that.”