Journal: Otherness in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Sara Lazarus is an OffTheBus grassroots correspondent. Each week she contributes a campaign journal documenting her life out on the trail.

I had driven well over an hour from my home in New Jersey to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to canvass for Obama. Perhaps the most revealing conversation occurred not while going door to door, but over breakfast at a Perkins restaurant, with the personable young woman waiting on my friend Beth and me.

Shelly was in her 30's, energetic and attractive. Excited by the the recent debates, we asked her if she'd watched. "No," she said, she'd "been too busy." So we plunged into the all-important question, who was she voting for in November? Her face clouded over, and she said, "I don't really like either of them. I don't like McCain, but I don't like your guy either." It was then we realized she'd probably overheard our private conversation earlier and already knew our preference. What we didn't realize until much later, was that this was the first of many times she couldn't bring herself to say Obama's name! "...your guy!" Uh oh.

This single mom, deeply concerned about money, health insurance, and education, was someone who should be solidly in the Obama camp. But she also sent her daughter to private, probably parochial, school, because "They didn't let her pray in public school, and they didn't even say the Pledge of Allegiance." Hmm, closer to McCain/Palin.

She truly seemed conflicted, because she thought McCain was "old" and "forgetful." But, "I don't trust the other guy."

"...the other guy." There it was again, this inability to say his name. Did she not remember it? Could she not pronounce it? Was it because it's a foreign, Muslim-sounding name? Was it racism? Or was it dismissive, as in McCain's "...that one..."

I guess we'll never know in Shelly's case. But what has become apparent in quite a few of my conversations canvassing, and with certain neighbors here in "liberal" New Jersey, is that she is reflective of a general mistrust in many parts of the country for Obama, I suspect for his "otherness." It might be his diverse background, it might be his cool intellectualism, it might be all the fear-raising smears that have been leveled against him. But maybe, just maybe it's all symbolized in his name. And if you can't give voice to someone's name, how can you vote for him? "What's in a name?" asked William Shakespeare. Perhaps Shelly's vote, and that of many others.

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Comments

[mykobar]

About a year or two ago, while traveling, I stopped in this area of PA to visit with a cousin I hadn't seen in three decades. She introduced me to her husband and two sons and it was all quite pleasant. Since then, we exchanged some friendly emails. Then came the election. When she sent her first emails with links explaining Obama's various domestic and Arab terrorist connections, his secret Muslim religion, his manipulative wife, etcetera, etcetera, I tried my best to get her to check out some other blogs, cable networks and radio stations. I hit a brick wall. Last I heard from her she wrote a snide, "oh, well, I love you too..." In some cases it's true - you can't go home again. Especially if it's your cousin's home. Especially if she lives near Bethlehem, PA.

[meredith465]

As someone who has lived in 5 different states and was transplanted to Bethlehem, I have found it nothing like the media portrayals of it. Is racism an issue in this campaign? Absolutely. However, the Lehigh Valley has come a long way from its isolationist PA-Dutch roots. Whether you understand it or not, many people do not readily identify with party politics or see themselves represented in our polarized republican vs. democrat format. You and I may see the merits of Obama's leadership and wisdom, but thinking less of someone who doesn't will not make a believer out of them. There are voters who feel that fiscal conservatism or truly small government is best, and those policies have their merits. Many of these people have been left behind as Republicans have abandoned that platform in favor of war and greed and Democrats have left it in favor of social programs. If people seem confused, it may be because they have internally warring identities, not necessarily because they are hateful people. We Democrats got a taste of that in our primaries this year. Instead of railing on people who cannot make up their minds, Democrats should embrace that conservative value systems have a place in our politics. That diversity of ethnicity, gender, religion, and perspective are welcome and that you do not have to agree with us to benefit from our leadership. Then maybe people won't feel so overwhelmed or torn by politics; they'll feel embraced by it.

[Lexica]

Sara, I am a fairly recent transplant from Monmouth County NJ to the general Bethlehem/Easton area, and I am continually astonished by the narrow-minded attitudes of many people here.

I get the impression that the natives are distrustful of anyone who isn't them. If you haven't been born and raised in close proximity to them you are suspect. It follows that they can't fathom voting for a candidate they consider to be so completely different, even though that candidate could make a big, positive difference in their lives.

[vgirl1]

"It is sad that people can be so xenophobic. That is what an isolated life led among only those just like you and inciteful language can do.