Obama Never Had the Working Class Vote to Begin With

[Bullet1987]

Why is it that Joe Scarborough and others like him in the media keep saying that Obama didn't do anything to "get back" the working class White vote in his speech yesterday? This meme baffles as it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Outside of the Potomac Primaries and Wisconsin...Obama has NEVER won that vote. Lower-class Whites (the Beer drinkers), and Women were always Clinton's core group of voters...not Obama's. So outside of PA, which most people think he'll lose anyway regardless of the Wright issue, I don't see why that would be an issue for him. Obama's core groups were always African-Americans, Youth voters, and more high-minded, latte drinking Whites. The speech he gave yesterday likely heavily effected those groups the most.

But this just seems like a BS argument by people who still don't want this issue to go away. Good thing is, Obama is forcing this narrative to be changed because now people like Scarborough HAVE to give credit where credit is due with regards to his speech. But it makes him look petty when out of one side of his mouth he admits the speech was once in a lifetime...but then goes on to nitpick about how it wasn't enough. Good thing is, it has also given Obama's supporters in the MSM ammo to use and fight back. I still see this being a topic at least until the end of the week, but Obama has drastically transformed the discussion about it to what he wanted it to be.

[napi21]

1. I'm not sure Obama "never had the beer drinker vote".

I am an old white woman who drinks beer all the time, and I voted for Barack on Super Tuesday. I happen to think either Barack or Hillary would make a good President and will vote in November for whoever the Dem candidate is, so is Joe saying people like me don't exist, or am I just an oddball? HA! To make matters MORE confusing, I live in Ga. which is one of the really RED States. I guess that makes me a REAL oddball huh?

[TwilightGardener]

2. He DOES the get "working class white" vote--in pretty much every

state west of the Mississippi. It's just in states that are in the Deep South or have a high enough proportion of blacks to create racial tension (PA, OH, TN) that he has trouble with them--and I attribute that partly to racism, but also to the fact that the Clinton brand name really seems to help her in some specific areas. Where I'm from, PA, the Clinton name brings happy nostalgia. Where I live now, Nebraska, the Clinton name causes mostly shudders and revulsion.

[Frances]

4. Interesting post, Wienerdoggie

I think geography does make a difference in perceptions.

[CatsDogsBabies]

3. But

he may have more of the working class vote now. I am a middle age white woman (very educated) but am from a working class family from Southwestern PA (though I no longer live there). Why do people think working class people don't want greater things for themselves or their children? My parents had a high school education, but I never heard anything negative against other races or other religions in my home. My mother talked about people who were against desegregation as if they were some relic from the distant past. I was explicitly taught that Jewish people were God's chosen people (even though my family is Catholic), and I was regularly allowed to frequent any of my friend's churches or church functions even though they were of different denominations. My parents were decent people (children of immigrants) who stressed the need for education and progress. Working class people in general are probably more open to Barack Obama's message than many of the people on this board. Don't underestimate the working class, many working class people have a vision that grander than most people think. I wish more people had more a vision for what is possible instead of engaging in petty meaningless attacks.

[democrank]

5. Mainstream media is clueless about Obama`s supporters.

I`m female, white, poor, over 60 and am solidly behind Obama. Over 90% of active voters I know, (poor to lower middle class Republicans, Democrats and Independents) are for Obama.

[stillcool]

6. I don't know how they know...

latte drinking liberals from expresso drinking Democrats. I myself drink coffee. I don't know what color collar I wear, because I'm not sure what the requirements are for inclusion. I don't think I matter.

[NorthernSpy]

7. he also gets working class support in the whitest states...

There's a working class beyond the white working class, and there's a white working class beyond Archie Bunker or Deliverance stereotypes.

That's what right-wing commentators always leave out of the equation -- on purpose.