Mishawaka, Indiana: A political tempest over Barack Obama's remark about bitter small-town voters who "cling to guns or religion" has given rival Hillary Rodham Clinton a new chance to court working class Democrats 10 days before Pennsylvanians hold a primary that she must win to keep her presidential campaign alive.

Poor choice of words

Obama tried to quell the furore on Saturday, explaining his remarks while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly. "If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," Obama said in an interview with the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal.

But the Clinton campaign fuelled the controversy in every place and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are vying for.

Political insiders differed on whether Obama's comments, which came to light Friday, would become a full-blown political disaster that could prompt party leaders to try to steer the nomination to Clinton even though Obama has more pledged delegates.