BBC: Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has described Barack Obama's comments about "bitter" working-class voters as "elitist".
Mr McCain told reporters that the cultural and religious traditions of small-town Americans were not a response to economic hardship.
Mr Obama's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, also denounced the comments.
Mr Obama has said his remarks - made at a fundraiser in San Francisco last week - were ill-chosen.
'Cultural traditions'
Mr McCain was talking to journalists assembled for the annual Associated Press meeting.
He said that Americans from "small towns and rural communities" had not "turn[ed] to their religious faith and cultural traditions out of resentment and a feeling of powerlessness to affect the course of government or pursue prosperity".
"Their appreciation of traditions like hunting was based in nothing other than their contribution to the enjoyment of life", he added.
Mr Obama, running against Mrs Clinton to be the Democratic presidential candidate, was accused of taking a condescending view of small-town voters after he was filmed at a private fundraising gathering last week, during which he said he understood why residents of some hard-pressed communities grew angry.
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," he said.
"And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they 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," he added. McCain Enters 'Bitter' Voters Row >>>
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