Why are you clinging?

I think he's was trying to point out that they fixate themselves on particular things because other issues aren't addressed adequately for them. For example, if a group of voters care more about their religious morals being legislated by the government, rather than, you know, the government fixing up the economy or doing something that's good for everyone. They don't "cling" as in 'hold on to', they fixate.

"Clinging" can have a negative connotation as it conjures an image of desperation as being why people stick with their religion.

Yours is a good explanation for Obama's comment. My question stems from my own experiences. I have been in church faithfully for over 30 years and I have never seen anyone in those churches clinging to religion out of their bitterness. On the contrary, most bitter people try the church and then leave because they are dedicated to their bitterness and true religious experience requires that people give up their bitternesses and disappointment and dedicate themeseves to something greater. Thanks for your input.

I have seen many people join churches and be faithful and supportive of them. Then something would happen, such as gossip or a church split, and some of those people have left the church as they reacted in disappointment and bitterness to the situation. Some of them are not in church this day. For example, my husband and I were faithful to a church for 10 years. The church was doing good and then the pastor had an affair with one of the pretty young girls who attended. After the church broke up over it, I found another good church to go to, but my husband was so disillusioned he has never been so faithfully involved in a church as he was at that time. He is a good family man who loves his kids, and he just couldn't understand how that pastor could leave his wife with four kids and run off with the girl. He isn't bitter over it, but a lot of people that left there were bitter the pastor has broken up their church like that.