In a meeting with the editorial boards of The Inquirer and Daily News, Obama said he had let several thoughts run together when he said nine days ago that people were "bitter" about lost jobs and "cling to guns or religion."
"The problem was that I just mangled it, which happens sometimes," he said.
The thoughts that ran together, he said, were that people who feel abandoned find stability in their traditions but also are vulnerable to politicians exploiting wedge issues.
"As a wise older woman who was talking to me the other day said, 'You misspoke, but you didn't lie,' " he said.
Obama's comments culminated a day that produced two new television commercials on the subject and additional remarks from Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican John McCain.
At a manufacturing forum in Pittsburgh, at which the two major Democratic candidates spoke back-to-back, Obama mocked Clinton for having downed a shot of whiskey and a mug of beer in Indiana on Saturday, the day after Obama's original comments became public.
"Around election time, the candidates can't do enough for you," Obama said. "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."
Clinton, who followed, began her remarks by referring to the controversy.
"I understand my opponent came this morning and spent a lot of his time attacking me," she said. "Well, you know, I know that many of you, like me, were disappointed by recent remarks that he made."
A few boos were heard, and some in the crowd shouted: "No!"
She pressed on.
"I don't think he really gets it that you are looking for a president who stands up for you and doesn't look down on you," Clinton said.
Both candidates largely agreed on issues of substance, accusing China of manipulating its currency to give a price advantage to its exports, dumping goods in the United States, and stealing intellectual property from U.S. industry.
"China should be a trade partner, not a trade master," Clinton said.
Said Obama: "Trade with China will only be good for you if China itself plays by the rules and acts as a positive force for balanced world growth."
Clinton pledged to exercise U.S. rights in the World Trade Organization to stop unfair trade practices by China and other countries, which she said the Bush administration had refused to do. She was applauded for much of her speech, including when she said her husband was wrong to sign NAFTA, and vowed to fix it.
"As smart as my husband is, he does make mistakes," Clinton said.
Later, her campaign pounced on Obama's attack over Clinton's shot-and-a-beer moment in Indiana, noting that Obama had staged plenty of photogenic moments during his recent bus tour across Pennsylvania, all designed to showcase him as a regular guy.
"This is the same politician who spent six days posing for clichéd camera shots that included bowling gutter-balls, walking around a sports bar, feeding a baby cow, and buying ham at a Philadelphia market (albeit one that costs $99.99 a pound)," Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said.
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