Panetta ‘Disturbed’ by Clinton Backers’ ‘Sense of Entitlement’

Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, says that supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) are having are hard time getting over the New York senator’s loss to Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.

“There is a sense of entitlement that almost seems to be inbred,” Panetta, who has been tasked by the Obama campain with healing wounds between the two camps, told the British paper The Times. “They are convinced Hillary is the one who should be assuming the mantle and it’s tough to crack that.”

“It’s not something that I would have recommended, but [the Obama campaign is] trying to bend over backwards as far as they can to accommodate her,” the longtime Clinton aide say. “I’m a little disturbed that this keeps playing out.”