But I Want to Think Obama Understands Small Town Concerns

Like many others I was surprised to read Mayhill Fowler's account of the Obama fundraiser last week. But unlike many who read the article it never occurred to me to question her journalistic integrity or why she was at the fundraiser. My initial reaction was as a Democrat: Why was Obama trying to explain Pennsylvania voters to Californians? From my life experience, talking about people behind their backs usually gets you in trouble. And, so it did with Senator Obama.

The problem with Senator Obama's statements is that they made a value judgment about one segment of voters while he discussed them in a seemingly cozy setting with another segment of voters. He seemed to make the assumption that the people he was talking to at the San Francisco fundraiser were more in tune with his own values and that he could, therefore, unburden himself and freely discuss the troubles he was having with "small town" Pennsylvania voters who did not share his own values. You've seen the quote:

"You go into some of 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," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. 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."

These are value judgments. And saying that people "cling" to a way of life that, in fact, pre-dates the loss of jobs, pre-dates these presidential administrations, is to deride them and their culture. And this is exactly why Senator Obama is having a hard time connecting with these voters -- he does not understand their culture or traditions. If he discusses their lifestyle in these terms it shows that he is missing the positive values in their world. Rural, small town life is not all about guns or religion or disliking people who are different. It's certainly not all about bitterness. As someone who lives in a small town I can tell you that there are many positives to life here, even if you don't own a gun or go to church every Sunday.

Don't tell me where Senator Obama lived or what he did. His statements show that he does not understand small town life or rural voters.

Here where I live, in east Tennessee, the electorate is overwhelmingly Republican. George W. Bush won here in my county in 2004 by more than a 2 to 1 margin, even though this area had hundreds of people deploying to Iraq at the time of the election. Perhaps because of that deployment, in fact. Patriotic fervor and support for the "commander-in-chief" was at an all-time high in 2004. It was verboten to speak ill of the Republican administration at that time if you had any connection to a military family. Statewide, Bush won by 57% to 43% in 2004. In fact, Bush won here in 2000 by four points over Al Gore, even though Gore is from Tennessee (it still crushes me that Gore lost the state in 2000). So Bush actually improved his performance in Tennessee in 2004.

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey (April 6, 2008), John McCain is leading both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the state: McCain leads Obama 58%-31%; he leads Clinton 52%-38%.

McCain is viewed favorably by 65% of Volunteer State voters while Clinton earns favorable reviews from 45%. The numbers for Obama are bleak--39% favorable and 59% unfavorable. That latter figure includes 40% with a Very Unfavorable opinion of the Democratic frontrunner.

Tennessee is rated "Safely Republican." I would like to change that.

According to that same Rasmussen Reports survey Tennessee voters consider the economy and the Iraq war top issues. But, speaking as someone who lives here, they don't necessarily want to have their values misunderstood either. Certainly not everyone who lives in Tennessee is in a small town. Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga are all large, sprawling urban areas. But much of the state is still rural and there are plenty of small town voters with small town issues, concerns and values that have much in common with those of small town voters across the country. Here in Tennessee Hillary Clinton won the primary over Barack Obama by 53.8% to 40.5% this year.

If Senator Obama wants to connect with small town voters -- and they are very important to winning in November, even if he can't win Pennsylvania -- then he needs to understand that the Democratic party is not composed solely of young, liberal voters. People also vote Democratic who are older and who are moderate. There are even Reagan Democrats that the party could use. They still exist, though they have gone by different names. If the Democratic party wants to win and be inclusive, it's not just for the young and extremely liberal.

Say what you will, Senator Clinton is connecting with small town voters. She's not the candidate who has now been branded with the title of "elitist." No, it's not about how much money you have. It's not even about where you were raised or where you went to school. It's perception. Working and middle class voters are identifying with Senator Clinton. Senator Obama is appealing to a different segment of the electorate. If he wants to win, he has to broaden his appeal and try to understand small town voters better than he showed at his fundraiser in San Francisco.

Comments

[Veeve]

Whatever..­. The author likes to have people pander to them or has been in the tank for Hillary from day one. Hillary Clinton may get how to 'manipulate' rural voters in PA, but that doesn't mean she gives a crap about them after they give her their vote. I have voted for a Clinton running on a progressive platform twice, and all I got was this lousy 'FMLA' tee shirt.

[westtexasboy]

Let's see now...Bara­ck Obama spent four of his formative years in a village with no electricity, no running water, no sewage. Next he moved to Hawaii and was reared in his maternal grandparent's home. Next he went to a public university, then a prestigious private university, graduating with honors in both. Then he chose to work with poor people in Chicago, taught Constitutional law, ran for and won election to the state senate, then the U.S. senate. Sure looks like a tall ladder to me. Which rung did you fall off of?

[U4IA]

Unbelievable political naivete displayed by the author. Or is it simply bias?

"Why was Obama trying to explain Pennsylvania voters to Californians?"~ Because these closed door fund raisers are the candidates opportunity to give his supporters a small "State of the Union", and the donors turn to ask questions. That you can't see why he would talk about what is happening on the other side of the country is short-sighted; that you choose to condemn his honesty on the matter, disingenuous.

[S1m0n]

"These are value judgments. And saying that people "cling" to a way of life that, in fact, pre-dates the loss of jobs..."

The verb "cling" quite precisely encapsulates the pre-existing nature of the way of life.

[AntonioMaceo]

The culture you describe has little to do with "small town" life. If you think that that right wing Republican culture you describe translates to small towns in PA or anywhere else in the US, you are the one who is out of touch.

[aricogfj]

You are also from the state that would not vote for Harold Ford. I have made endless calls for Obama and I have experienced the wonderful open mind thinking of many in small towns. Not be make generalizations, but we as a country still have a lot of issues to over come: small towns, rural, ruban and yes race. The number of times I have been hung up on when I mention Barack name, been called the N word etc. Do I not think the the B word is used against Hillary, of course I do.

Hillary's" screw them artricle", which is the same issues, has not seen the light of day on TV....yet we have a new word, Bitter gate, for Baracks misstep. I have read two other piece from others at the Fowler event, and I think the full picture is clear. All words are imperfect, and we have become a country who slices and dices everything anyones says. This get us no where

[Jalenth]

Did you get the gist of the whole event? Obviously not. Here's what I've read from people who were actually there. Not just a few sentences of Mayhill. He was asked by two would be volunteers, how they could help and what difficulties he was having.

What should be the message to deliver to the people in PA. Obama explained that the typical talking points weren't going to work, seeing that different parts of PA were demographically different. In that conversation which was neither reported by Mayhill, or captured on audio, were his description of the black youth who feels left out by the system and were prone to gang related activities, small rural communities who were abandoned by previous administration.

I could go on, but you should read the accounts of some of the people in attendance.

You did what you accused Obama of doing. That is failing to understand people and making judgements about them.

Follow your own advice and research a little bit more about the event before you make those kinds of judgement about his feeling toward people.

You blog writers are truly a disgrace to journalism.

[seejake]

It really is a sad truth that a candidate does not have to do what it is that their supporters want them to do, but just merely have to appear as though they are the type of person who does. Hillary Clinton has succeeded in pulling the wool over the eyes of so many people, in a way that the Republicans have done for so many years. Like the Ivy League George Bush pretending to be the Joe next door, or John McCain being the straight-talking maverick, Hillary has got people buying into that most egregious of lies, that in the eyes of her supporters, she is indeed "just like me."

Hillary Clinton, by word and deed throughout her life, with the exception of this current campaign, has in truth done little for those of us in the middle class beyond paying lip service. A master of the craft of lying, she has played the part of the victim so well that the same women who vilified her in the 90s are now gladly supporting her, because they have forgotten how cold and calculating she was then and have bought into her current charade.

One might think in the days of internets and Googles that these people would take a few moments and do a little personal research, inform themselves, then make an honest decision. But just like with Republicans, you can't use the name Clinton and the word honest together. They just don't mix.

[KareninSM]

How about basing your judgment of Senator Obama on more than one statement--which, by the way, you are misconstru­ing--befor­e making your own value judgment? I doubt that the people you are talking about in small towns are fundamentally different from the people Senator Obama spent years working with, connecting with and, yes, understanding as a community organizer.

Senator Clinton "connects" by pretending to be something she is not (or, perhaps more accurately, something that is one of her stories about herself--here today, gone tomorrow) and resting on people's misty memories of her husband in good-old-boy mode. That act only works with people who aren't paying enough attention over time to see through it.