Go figure: Barrackville Trends Obama

First published at WashingtonTimes.com

PHILADELPHIA — Toward the end of our trip through Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, I was looking for a hotel in Fairmont, W.V. on a Google map and noticed in tiny letters the word Barrackville.

 

We got a good laugh out of that but realized it could be a fun stop for our project identifying why these states have moved from solid red into battlegrounds.

 

In this bucolic town we heard many of the same heartbreaking stories I've heard for 20 months on the campaign trail. The people in Barrackville were candid about their worries for the future and the hopes they've placed in Barack Obama.

 

I took a detailed look at the town's voters for the battleground state project that ran in Sunday's print edition.

 

Under a "Hard times in Barrackville hurting McCain" headline:

 

BARRACKVILLE, W.Va. | Even though the name has a different pronunciation, this might just become Obama Town.

Tucked in northern West Virginia's coal country, this town of fewer than 1,300 people is filled with white, working-class voters who provided Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a 41-point primary win and fueled speculation that a black presidential candidate couldn't carry the state despite its historical Democratic tendencies.

Now, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign signs dot the landscape, reflecting a shift that has taken the state from being a lock for Republican Sen. John McCain into a battleground in the final days of the campaign.

Patrick Powell is an unlikely Obama voter, and said he doesn't even like the man. His wife is frustrated that Mrs. Clinton didn't win, and his good friend blasts Mr. Obama as unpatriotic and refusing to recognize the American flag.

But all three of them say they won't be voting for Mr. McCain.

 

Read the full piece here.

 

Joe (the photographer) Eddins captured several of our interviews with Barrackville residents, including Powell, in this riveting video:

 

 

 

 

The Barrackville voters were great examples of what we found everywhere - growing support for Obama as people figure out how to make ends meet.

 

I learned a lot from the trip, and witnessed an especially marked shift toward Obama in North Carolina, a state I've been in many times this year.

 

Here's the opener to the Sunday project:

 

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. | Her family moved south for more affordable living, but can barely pay for health care.

She does not want to see her husband off to another Iraq deployment.

He's more excited about this election than any other, and never thought he'd see a black president in his lifetime.

These voters - hailing from North Carolina and Virginia, two rock-solid Republican "red states" in presidential races for decades, and West Virginia, which twice supported President Bush - are the kinds of voters who are bolstering Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

The Washington Times logged 1,300 miles through the mountains and valleys of these three states that can swing the outcome of the election, finding similar sentiments among this disparate group of voters in states that were thought to be safe for Mr. McCain a few months ago.

In all three states, in every demographic, including Republicans, voters say they are frustrated with the past eight years and view Mr. Obama as a symbol of hope in a time of war and economic hardship. If they show up at the polls and vote accordingly, they likely will deliver the White House for Mr. Obama on Election Day.

 

Read the full story here (click 'print' to view it all on one page). Also, embedded in the story is Joe's excellent photo gallery of images from our trip, which also can be found here.

 

One element that I didn't get a chance to fully explore is the seeming evaporation of social issues as a winner for Republicans. When I covered the Webb-Allen race just two years ago, I heard a lot more about guns, gay marriage and abortion than I have in months.

 

Fuzz LaRue, who I met in West Virginia, summed it up nicely. LaRue, 55, said Republicans for the last few elections were smart to “prey on old-style stuff: guns gays and religion.”

 

“It worked well but they haven't kept their word. Abortion is still legal,” the building trades field representative said while volunteering for Obama in the Mountain State.

 

He said he tells skeptical voters inundated with anti-Obama mailers and ads from the National Rifle Association, that no one will be eliminating the Second Amendment, and, “Besides, people can't afford to buy ammunition anyway.”

He tells people they should be more concerned about the Patriot Act, which allows government officials to come in and “raid your house for weapons.”

 

I'll be folding in with the Obama bubble tonight for the final stretch. Please let me know what you are seeing and hearing in the battlegrounds, and share your early voting stories.

 

— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter,
The Washington Times

 

Please bookmark my blog at
http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/bellantoni

Find my latest stories here and visit my YouTube page

Comments

[MPeter]

This is excellent reporting. Thank you. It is honest and allows the citizen voter to speak their mind. Gosh, the last guy in the clip--Powell--I believe his name is, is brilliant. I mean his analysis is bang-on. It won't be easy but he knows clearly that putting McCain in there will only make matters worse. This little hamlet has smart, engaged citizens. Thank you for the report.

[IndyReader]

I'm sure that Obama realizes that everyone isn't going to go into raptures over him, for whatever reason. But if they hear his words and believe that he can take this country in a better direction than the last 8 years, I think that will be enough for him. I'm glad the last guy in the video is also being eyes-open practical about Obama's term(s) and how long it make take him to right the ship of state. I won't be done in the first 100 days, but I have a feeling that there are plenty of people expecting that to happen.

[hardesty]

This is a powerful report on what the citizens of this country are going through. Even though the people in this video are scraping by, there are others who are in worse shape. The near hopelessness and frankly, the bewilderment of how they got in their condition, is so sad. The people in the video are very cognizant of how they got in their situation and politically savvy; makes me wonder who the "uninformed voters" are the Republicans are talking about. I thank my lucky stars I still have a job and my house; this could quite easily be anyone of us.

[kid5rivers2]

Barrackville? Hmm! Well, Mac, guess there goes your Smallville hopes, huh?

[honestpolitician]

LISTEN PEOPLE!!! Go out and Vote!! We need an Obama landslide as reports show that McCain is trying to rig/scam this election!! Please get your family and friends out and vote for this historical moment! You are contributing to history! Don't let anybody get in your way to vote - it is your right!

NEW POLITICAL AD ATTACKS(Videos) http://politicaladattacks.blogspot.com/

[klo]

THANKS FOR THIS.
A VERY STRONG REMINDER WHY A TAX CUT FOR THE WEALTHY IS NEEDED.
THESE PEOPLE NEED A BREAK, LIKE A LOT OF FOLKS IN SMALL TOWN USA.

[UKlondongal]

These video diaries should be shown on CNN. This is the real news right here - very powerful. It shows just how clued up these people are too - you don't have to like someone but you can respect them and vote for your own best interests.

[robbie44]

Sending out love to all the corners of the land.............Obama 08

[dayala]

wow...what a story....would love to see Obama take Virginia and West Virginia...who would have thought.
I've always admired and respected Sen. Byrd.

[duchessofbs]

I am a native West Virginian. We can do for Obama what we did for Kennedy. VOTE.....WE HAVE EARLY VOTING........TAKE A NEIGHBOR TO THE POLLS.......VOLUNTEER.....

[Agnim]

That soldier's mother had the wild bush pegged: The unfeeling and heartless wild bush IS indeed intent on tossing and wasting American lives in the Iraqi hell hole.
And the warmonger McCaint is even worse!

[twiggy2writes]

vote ! vote! vote!

[BluePrideSMW]

I'd love the historyic significance of West Virginia voting Obama... That's the state that actually seceeded from another state in order to stay with the union and not support slavery. Kudos then, hopefully they'll deserve 'em again.

Moms Mabley sings Abraham, Martin & John...
http://current.com/items/89450598_obama_08_abraham_martin_john

[Plank]

Heartbreaking stories. I am amazed how politically educated people are, even when they face the toughest conditions.

[mshazen]

Yes, despite the constant barrage of negative mailers and phone calls they must be receiving in that part of the country. I love the gee you promised that before and well you didn't deliver thanks but no thanks.

[tydicea]

Ain't that something? six months ago who would've thought?