As far as I can tell, there's no video of his remarks about small town bitterness, guns and religion. As Karl Rove puts it, correctly, "We live in a culture of the visual." If John Kerry's for it/against it line hadn't been caught on tape it may never have become an iconic moment.
HuffPost has audio, but it's of terrible quality and probably not usable in an attack ad.
Plus, the quote itself is long and somewhat convoluted. Again, for it/against it had a simple and direct clarity.
And Obama was also very, very fortunate that this all happened on a Friday night.
One thing to watch: Do we see a wave of big-media stories finding other examples where Obama seemed "out of touch"? This quote alone might not change his image , but could push the CW in a troublesome new direction depending on what else is out there. (Stuff like musing about Whole Foods arugula, for instance.)
Update: The Obama campaign has just sent around his latest bid to re-explain--"I didn't say it as well as I should have":
--Michael Crowley