Obama Tops McCain Among Hard Hit "White Workers"
Heads swim immersed in all the back and forth about who might win the election. But surveys find that, despite the mountain of punditry still climbing on the mater of race, Barack Obama, like Bill Clinton before him, will win if he just keeps his message focused on the the economy. Bill Boyarsky on Truthdig advances surveys to show that Obama can continue to gain traction "if he can focus unrelentingly on the tanking economy, on gas and on increasingly expensive and unavailable medical care."
That's the message found in a poll taken June 18 to July 7 by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Washington Post and Harvard University. The pollsters contacted 1,350 randomly selected workers who earned $27,000 or less last year and who worked 30 hours a week or more. Their ages ranged from 18 to 64.
The poll, released by Kaiser and available on the Web, did not break down the results by race. But a story in the Post Aug. 4, using the survey's unpublished race figures, had such an analysis.The survey found that Obama had a 2-to-1 lead among these low-paid workers. Most important for his candidacy, he was ahead of McCain 47 percent to 37 percent among white workers. A total of 16 percent said they had no opinion, supported someone else or did not plan to vote.
The poll showed widespread concern about the economy, fuel prices and health care, but those surveyed were pessimistic about whether either candidate could fix the troubles. Still, Obama led among voters who felt these issues were most important. They felt Obama empathized more with them and more closely shared their values.
Post reporters Michael B. Shear and Jon Cohen wrote "the survey suggests that Obama's economic appeal has the most resonance with white voters who are under the greatest financial stress. He leads by 19 percentage points among those white workers who feel 'very insecure' financially; that is more than double his advantage among those in the group who feel better off."
Boyarsky also cites a Pew poll and says:
The Pew poll indicates the economy can trump race. While a quarter of white working-class voters surveyed said Obama would do too much for blacks, 43 percent said McCain would do too much for the wealthy.
The economy is McCain's greatest weakness. The old sailor sounds like he's out to sea when he talks about it. The economy, along with high prices and medical care, is what Obama should be talking about. Everyone knows he's black. It's up to Obama to make them say, "So what?"
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This is hilarious.
Don't forget beer drinkers, hunters, and bowlers.
A lot of people I speak to here in Colorado are saying they're unsure about Obama. There will be a constant stream of email, TV and whisper campaigns against him by all the Republican funded organizations. Still, I entertain the hope that maybe the American people are waking up. I have been doing some research on what the mainstream media has become these last decades, while at the same time our children have been systematically dumbed down by a steady stream of lowbrow television, violent video games and steadily decreasing standards in our schools. But there is one factor everyone seems to forget. That is, in a republic the final responsibility for the quality of government is always on the citizens. If we are apathetic, we get what we deserve. If we refuse to get involved, we get what we deserve. If we don't vote, we get what we deserve. This tool, the internet, is a miracle of miracles. We have more information at our fingertips than humankind has ever had, and there is no excuse ever, in a republic, for ignorance. To all those Americans who are listening to these whisper campaigns and passing along stupid emails they know are lies, wake up! Get off your rear ends and do some research on the issues that face this nation, and review each candidates' stands on them. Open your eyes to political games, and get the real facts. They are there, waiting for you. We the people deserve better!
Great post, PatrickforO!
Outstanding post.
I dont think Americans are looking at the colour of the person they want somebody who can change there lives and they see that in obama he can change they lives in a good way and america can lead again all Mccain thinks of is war, war, war, or bomb, bomb, bomb, but that not going to bring anything to my kitchen table
Those are the voters that typically go DEMOCRATIC. During the primary, they shifted back and forth. But low income wage earners, especially caucasion factory-type workers were actually John Edwards' base. Now that Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee, those voters are his, as they would probably rather EAT DIRT than vote for 4 more years of the GOP-style/Bush administration-type policies. They literally cannot afford it!
I agree with this...my husband and much of his union brothers were Edwards supporters. When he dropped out they looked to Obama...th
Sure you will have the blue collar types who vote Republican because of their guns...or they are Pro-Life, but many more are far more worried about their paycheck..
Will the Clintons just go away. She lost and her only qualifications was being married to Bill. If she was not married to the former President she would have never made it to the Senate and she would have been just some crooked lawyer in AK.
"The survey found that Obama had a 2-to-1 lead among these low-paid workers. Most important for his candidacy, he was ahead of McCain 47 percent to 37 percent among white workers."
Aren't these the same workers that O couldn't get.......
LOL, yep, and he's doing fine.
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