Black political analysts said Monday that the so-called "bitter" debate -- where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is accused of talking down to small-town blue-collar workers -- is a desperate, manufactured attack by Hillary Clinton seven days before a critical primary in Pennsylvania.

Obama has spent four days on the defensive after comments he made at a San Francisco fundraiser were disclosed that suggested working class people are "bitter" about their economic circumstances and "cling to guns and religion" as a result.

And some in the media, Democrats add, have kept the story alive after Clinton labeled Obama as "elitist" who is "out of touch" with the American people.

Initial indications are that Obama’s controversial remarks have not upset voters. A new Gallup Poll shows Obama continuing to hold a solid lead over Clinton in national Democratic voters’ support for the presidential nomination, 50 percent to 41 percent.

"The ‘bitter' debate is much ado about nothing," Bill Murrain, a lawyer and longtime political observer, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday. "The Clintons, the Republicans and some in the media wish to keep it alive in a hope of bloodying Senator Obama and distracting us from the real issues that challenge our lives today."

But is Obama really elitist?

"The last time I checked, Sen. Obama was raised by a single mother who had to resort to accepting food stamps to help take care of and feed his family," Murrain said. "He grew up in less than middle-class settings raised by a strong family who imbued in him the ethics of hard work and a desire to excel. He did not get into Columbia or Harvard because of the family bloodline or pedigree. He got there through desire and hard work. Isn’t that what middle America and working class America is all about?"

One Democratic strategist told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday that Clinton is desperate to win the White House and has strained her relations with some supporters who feel she’s gone too far with her attacks on Obama.

"Hillary Clinton is the drunk at the party who is trying to convince everybody that she can drive home," said one longtime political advisor.

On Monday, Obama questioned Clinton's opposition to free trade agreements that some voters contend have eliminated thousands of U.S. jobs and mocked her weekend visit to an Indiana bar as pandering to the working class.

He reiterated his regret for his choice of words at the fundraiser but suggested they had been twisted and mischaracterized. He said he'd expected blowback from GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain, but had been "a little disappointed" to be criticized by Clinton.

"Around election time, the candidates can't do enough for you. They'll promise you anything, give you a long list of proposals and even come around, with TV crews in tow, to throw back a shot and a beer," Obama told a meeting of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

"I saw in the media it’s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter," Clinton shot back. "Well, that’s not my experience."

The Clinton campaign, pounding away at Obama every day, released a new television ad Monday featuring reactions from "supporters" in Pennsylvania to Obama’s remarks.

"I was very insulted by Barack Obama," says one woman in the ad.

"It just shows how out of touch Barack Obama is," said a man.

Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African-American Policy at the University of Denver, said the controversy is all smoke and mirrors.

"There is a manufactured quality to this controversy, and its timing --right on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary -- creates the impression that it's somewhat engineered," Groff told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "In reality, it is much ado about nothing. Another example of the 24/7 news cycle needing something to clamor about. There is the sense that the political news cycle is slow at the moment, the primary is dragging on and media folks are bored."

"The Clintons are clearly looking for anything to reverse shrinking poll numbers at the moment," Groff said. "But Sen. Clinton should be very careful in pressing forward with the 'elitist' argument. First, Hillary Clinton calling Barack Obama elitist is like Barry Bonds calling Roger Clemens a cheater. She is not in a position to engage in name-calling, nor is John McCain. She's been insulated in a political bubble of the Governor's mansion and the White House for most of her public life, more recently earning $109 million over seven years with her former president husband."

Clinton has told campaign audiences that she supports the rights of hunters. She's also said she once shot a duck in Arkansas, where she served as first lady. Campaigning at a bar in Indiana, Clinton took a shot of Crown Royal whiskey and later joined folks for pizza and beer.

"Being in touch with the 'blue collar' electorate is not about how many shots of whiskey you can drink or how much beer you can swallow or how many guns you own," Groff said. "It's about whether you are truly addressing the serious issues of joblessness, economic despair and disillusionment felt by many in rural America."

Said Ezra Klein, a writer with The American Prospect: "If you’re ever interested in really getting to the bottom of what’s wrong with political journalism, incidentally, spend some time thinking about the fact that most of its leading practitioners came up through campaign reporting, and writing about verbal gaffes and off-the-cuff comments is what they trained to do. The tone of political journalism is set by people who are thrilled -- on a professional level -- that Obama said this thing, and now we can cover this story."

David Coleman, a voter who attended the now-controversial San Francisco fund-raiser, wrote his analysis for The Huffington Post.

"In my view, the way he answered the question was more important than the sociological accuracy or the cause-and-effect hypotheses contained in the answer," Coleman wrote. "It was a moment of authenticity demonstrating informed intelligence, and the speaker's desire to have the audience join him in a deeper understanding of American politics."

Clinton, who is trailing Obama in the popular vote and pledged delegates, has pounded Obama since audio from his San Francisco appearance was posted on The Huffington Post. She hoped the comments might give her a new opening to court working-class Democrats days before the Pennsylvania primary, which she needs win to keep her campaign going passage.

"How does he see people here in this neighborhood, throughout Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, other places in our country?" she asked during an informal news conference. "I think that's what people are looking for, some explanation, and he has simply not provided one."

But David Plouffe, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, sent an e-mail to reporters Monday saying the Clinton attacks are manufactured.

"Our opponents have been spinning the media and peddling fake outrage around the clock," Plouffe said. "There's nothing elitist about a movement of more than a million people standing up for a different kind of politics," he added.

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Associated Press contributed to this story.