Bob Herbert in Reading, PA - A Different Kind of Election

[RamboLiberal]

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The issue of race seemed always in the air. But competing with race as an issue, and perhaps trumping it, was economics. This is an area that’s hurting. Tony Walck, the mayor of the village of Nesquehoning and a big Clinton supporter, talked about the exodus of jobs from the region.

“Bethlehem Steel shut down,” he said. “Mack Motors is downsizing drastically. Even the Republicans in this district are disenchanted.”

Senator Clinton’s supporters are hoping for a miracle, hoping she can win big in Pennsylvania, run the table after that, and somehow seize a nomination that looks more and more like it is going to Mr. Obama. If that doesn’t happen, an awful lot of white working-class voters across the country will be faced with a stark choice: voting for a Democrat who happens to be black, or voting to continue policies that most no longer believe are in their best economic interests.

I had no trouble finding opposition to Mr. Obama’s candidacy. But the most intense hostility, the most passionate, spontaneous, bitter and at times venomous comments were reserved for George W. Bush. And in conversation after conversation, you could see the fallout from that hostility descending on the candidacy of John McCain.

Lisa Luteki may have a problem with Barack Obama’s former pastor, but she shook her head vehemently at the mention of Senator McCain. “I won’t support McCain,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/opinion/08herbert.html?hp

Be interesting if Obama indeed gets the nomination. Will their economic interests and their sense that McCain is McBush overcome that nagging fear of voting for the black candidate?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Racism can't feed your families.

I can't believe this is 2008.

[quakerboy]

4. I believe you mean "put food on our families"

[Skittles]

6. it feels odd to me too

"fear of voting for the black candidate" - WTF - you'd think they were referring to a freaking alien from outer space :o

[anigbrowl]

8. Nicely put

In all honesty, I can see why some people who are stuck in their ways and attitudes have problems bringing themselves to vote for a black person - it's easy to go through life blaming your problems on 'them' whoever 'they' might be. And it's a sadly common thing for people near the bottom of the pile to lift themselves up psychologically by putting someone else down. You know, 'at least I'm not a _______' (fill in the blank).

But I think that what will happen is that even if they don't vote for Obama in this primary, chances are he'll be the candidate in the general, and people will vote for him rather than 4 more years of Republican mismanagement. And once they do, they'll find it wasn't so bad. Like a lot of things, it looks hard or unpleasant until you do it, and then you wonder why you never did it before. It seems to me that a lot of racism that's worried about is more reflexive than anything else, based on habit rather than active opposition.

[CitizenLeft]

2. I've got a lot of faith in people...

Roger Adams, the steelworker, was a Reagan Democrat. He switched his voter registration from Democrat to Republican in the 1980s. Now he’s back with the Democrats. “I hope Hillary gets the nomination,” he said. “But if she doesn’t, I’ll vote for Obama without any trouble. We can’t stand another four years of Bush, and that’s what McCain would be.”

...and in my heart, I believe they will, in the end, come to this guy's conclusion rather than commit economic suicide.

[MidwestTransplant]

3. i agree. Some people vote against their economic self interest in terms of

voting for the candidate that will do less for them and increase their chances of remaining in a menial job with no future for advancement and no health care. The folks in PA are a proud bunch who once had good paying jobs. Theirs isn't a choice of whether to keep the status quo or have the opportunity for advancement. Rather, it's to starve or vote for the guy who is going to do more to give you an opportunity to advance.

[CitizenLeft]

5. the smart/pragmatic ones, like this Adams...

...will have a lot of sway with those who vacillate. :thumbsup:

[Eurobabe]

7. "won't vote for Obama because he's 'colored'"

:banghead: :grr: :mad: :banghead:

I am from PA so I can say this: There are ALOT of STUPID boneheaded people between Pittsburgh and Philly, especially up to the north hinterlands. Ironically a surprising amount of them are stuck hopelessly back in the 1990s and are members of the Clinton camp. :eyes: