Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Phil Gramm excluded John McCain supporters from his description of Americans as ``a nation of whiners,'' the characterization that forced his exit from the Republican presidential candidate's campaign in July.

``If you're sitting here today, you're not economically illiterate and you're not a whiner, so I'm not worried about who you're going to vote for,'' the former Texas senator told attendees at a Financial Services Roundtable event in Minneapolis on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.

Gramm, 66, a vice chairman of UBS Securities LLC, stepped down as a co-chairman of the McCain campaign in July after telling the Washington Times that the U.S. is a ``nation of whiners'' facing a ``mental recession.''

In reaction to today's comments, Democratic nominee Barack Obama's campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said, ``The man who wrote John McCain's economic plan further insulted struggling Americans by suggesting that if they are not attending the Republican Convention, they are not only whiners, but economically illiterate.''

Many of those who attended the event came from the financial community, including representatives of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

Obama's Response

Obama, in his nomination acceptance speech in Denver last week, referred to Gramm's July remarks, and pointed to ``proud auto workers'' in Michigan and military families shouldering the burden of family members deployed to war zones overseas.

``These are not whiners,'' Obama said. ``They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint.''

After Gramm's July comments, McCain said, ``Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me, so I strongly disagree.'' People are not whining, he said, adding that ``America is in great difficulty.''

At today's event, Gramm also defended McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate.

``We went through a process of vetting all possible candidates,'' narrowing it down to three before choosing Palin, he said.

When asked later whether he still has a role in the campaign, Gramm said, ``I'm a supporter.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Benjamin in Minneapolis at mbenjamin2@bloomberg.net; Laura Litvan in Minneapolis at llitvan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 2, 2008 15:36 EDT