Obama camp: Opponents ‘peddling fake outrage’

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign sought to turn the Illinois Democrat’s most recent gaffe and his opponents’ subsequent criticisms into a fundraising boost.

David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, sent a fundraising e-mail to supporters Monday afternoon, accusing Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) of being the candidates who are “out of touch.”

{mosads}After news broke Friday afternoon that Obama, at a fundraiser in San Francisco, had described small-town residents as "bitter" and clinging to religion, guns and anti-immigrant rhetoric out of frustration, Clinton and McCain seized on the remarks to describe Obama as “elitist” and out of touch.

“Both our opponents have been spinning the media and peddling fake outrage around the clock,” Plouffe wrote.

In response, he said, the campaign is making a fundraising push with a goal of lining up 1.5 million donors by May 6.

“The attacks from the Clinton campaign — on Barack Obama himself, and on supporters like you — can be expected to increase as her chances of winning dwindle further,” Plouffe wrote.