How to Get Elected: Make Shit Up

Hey, it worked for George W., it might just work for Hillary. From a campaign stop in Indiana today, as covered by ABC News:

President Clinton, Hillary's number one surrogate, then used O'Bannon's remarks as a springboard to share his own experiences of reactions to Obama's comments at a recent San Francisco fundraiser where he said small town voters were "bitter" and "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."

Over seven stops in North Carolina, Clinton said "Everywhere I go there are all these people with signs, saying I'm not bitter - I'm not bitter."

[...]

The strong sentiments were appreciated by the crowd, but were not entirely accurate. During Clinton's seven stops in North Carolina on Saturday there were no "I'm not bitter" signs. There was a small assortment of people at his later events wearing stickers with the slogan, but many of those sporting the stickers weren't even sure what they meant. Clinton also was a bit confused about his encounter in Pennsylvania. The conversation actually took place at an earlier event in Bloomsburg, PA - or so Clinton told the crowd in Bloomsburg.

Despite the evolving anecdotes, the fact that the Clinton campaign needs this story to stay alive in Indiana and other rural states was crystal clear.