Obama racial issues may extend to Penn. (Man on the street reaction)

[Craftsman]

PHILADELPHIA — Stephanie Gill, a bartender in a white working class neighborhood in this Rust Belt city, noticed the shift immediately.

A week ago, her customers at Rauchut’s Tavern in Tacony didn’t have much to say about Barack Obama. But when she returned to work Wednesday, a day after the Illinois senator attempted to quell the furor over his pastor’s racially incendiary remarks, the reaction inside the corner bar was raw and unapologetic.

“People are not happy with Obama,” Gill said. “It’s the race stuff.”

Obama has always been a tough sell in largely white Northeast Philadelphia and in the city's blue-collar river wards, a collection of white ethnic enclaves where customers at the local watering hole are often born and raised in the neighborhood that supports it.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9132.html

[Connie_Corleone]

1. There will always be people who refuse to seek understanding.

They just don't give a damn. That's what happens when you talk to the American people like Adults. Some prefer to stick to their childish thinking.

So be it.

[SeaLyons]

7. Very arrogant thinking...

[Connie_Corleone]

20. To hell with you and them. I'm sick of tip toeing around the "white working man".

Black people have to go around and try not to offend the "white working class folks" because they don't want to hear about RACE. They say the same damn thing anytime RACE comes up.

And when I say "white working class", I'm talking about the ones that get interviewed all the time fussing about a black person mentioning RACE to them.

To hell with them.

[Craftsman]

32. With that attitude enjoy losing most election

Like it or not they have a voice and a seat at the table just like you. You can try to communicate to them, but that means you must also listen.

[Connie_Corleone]

38. These are NE Philly people. They weren't going to vote for Obam anyway.

I have been listening. The problem is that they don't listen to me in return. They don't give a damn and they never had any intention of voting for a black man anyway.

Do I have to listen to the Klan too?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

55. I'm with Connie.

They have a voice alright, and I'm tired of hearing it. It's time they took the cotton out of their ears and stuffed it in their big, fat mouths. It's their fault we have had 20 years of repuke economic policies, because they vote en masse against their own interests every time some racebaiter or warmonger strokes their egos or pushes their fear buttons.

[Craftsman]

58. These are the swing voters

Without them how do you expect to win? Ergo telling them to shut up and sit down will not work.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

59. Why the FUCK do we even have swing voters right now?

What special kind of stupid do you have to be to even consider voting for John McCain or any Republican right now?

"Well, gee, the economy's in the toilet, the war is still going on, and the environment is in peril...But John McCain is a WAR HERO! Who do I vote for? It's such a tough choice!!"

Jesus Christ on crutches, what the fuck is it going to take for these people to get their heads out of their asses and stop voting Republican?

[Craftsman]

61. Look at the polls, neither of these candidates have decisive leads

That is just the way it is now. And to answer your question they need a candidate they like and can identify with that they think will meet their needs. Apparently many are still unsure if HRC or BHO do that.

[julialnyc]

68. NOT TRUE

It is all about turnout..... this is something the Republicans know better than the dems. They don't worry abut upsetting the few that don't agree with them.

We can get enough democrats to turn out that we don't have to pander......... this was one of Kerry's fatal flaws.

[Leopolds Ghost]

89. HEAR HEAR!!! I'm white -- and there are plenty of long-suffering white folks who have been abandoned

By the abandonment of working class community solidarity,

in favor of this

"us middle-class folks against the black man" mentality.

[NorthernSpy]

102. Me three. I'm sick of those fucks. I'm tired of being expected to pander to them.

Yeah, their jobs got shipped overseas -- because they voted for the assholes who signed all those trade agreements.


Oh, but Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush promised to make sure that Our Tax Dollars won't go to the welfare queens, we didn't mean to hurt ourselves too...


:eyes:


Screw these morons.

[SeaLyons]

49. I feel your anger....

Try to keep in mind, Barack is running to become the President of the United States. He is not MLK.

[Kittycat]

63. Then how do you explain the 8 years of * Support?

[goletian]

95. yea, seriously...

blacks should just get over it and move on.

http://writing.syr.edu:16080/~ajbanks/JimCrowPic3.jpg

[cjsmom]

35. I have been reading about

Black Liberation Theology. I imagine there are others who are reading the literature as well. IMO, it's over for Obama.

[tishaLA]

62. I'd like to hear the objections you have to Black Liberation Theology

almost everything it espouses is embraced on progressive boards.

[cjsmom]

77. I hope this answers your question.

"To be Christian is to be one of those whom God has chosen. God has chosen black people!" (Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 139-140).

"It is important to make a further distinction here among black hatred, black racism, and Black Power. Black hatred is the black man's strong aversion to white society. No black man living in white America can escape it...But the charge of black racism cannot be reconciled with the facts. While it is true that blacks do hate whites, black hatred is not racism. Racism, according to Webster, is 'the assumption that psychocultural traits and capacities are determined by biological race and that races differ decisively from one another, which is usually coupled with a belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race and its rights to dominance over others.' Where are the examples among blacks in which they sought to assert their right to dominance over others because of a belief in black superiority?...Black Power is an affirmation of the humanity of blacks in spite of white racism. It says that only blacks really know the extent of white oppression, and thus only blacks are prepared to risk all to be free." (Black Theology and Black Power, p. 14-16)

"All white men are responsible for white oppression. It is much too easy to say, "Racism is not my fault," or "I am not responsible for the country's inhumanity to the black man...But insofar as white do-gooders tolerate and sponsor racism in their educational institutions, their political, economic and social structures, their churches, and in every other aspect of American life, they are directly responsible for racism...Racism is possible because whites are indifferent to suffering and patient with cruelty. Karl Jaspers' description of metaphysical guilt is pertinent here. 'There exists among men, because they are men, a solidarity through which each shares responsibility for every injustice and every wrong committed in the world, and especially for crimes that are committed in his presence or of which he cannot be ignorant.' " (Black Theology and Black Power, p. 24)

"Racism is a complete denial of the Incarnation and thus of Christianity...If there is any contemporary meaning of the Antichrist (or "the principalities and powers"), the white church seems to be a manifestation of it. It was the white "Christian" church which took the lead in establishing slavery as an institution and segregation as a pattern in society by sanctioning all-white congregations." (Black Theology and Black Power, p. 73)

"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us, if God is not against white racists, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill gods that do not belong to the black community." (A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 27)

"Black theology cannot accept a view of God which does not represent God as being for oppressed blacks and thus against white oppressors. Living in a world of white oppressors, blacks have no time for a neutral God. The brutalities are too great and the pain too severe, and this means we must know where God is and what God is doing in the revolution. There is no use for a God who loves white oppressors the same as oppressed blacks. We have had too much of white love, the love that tells blacks to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. What we need is the divine love as expressed in black power, which is the power of blacks to destroy their oppressors, here and now, by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject God's love." (A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 70)

[tishaLA]

80. It doesn't.

Do you object to the fact that Black Liberation Theology is opposed to racism? That Black liberation theology preaches a message of Black Power--or, as some might call it, Black empowerment? Do you object to the notion that Blacks see themselves as a chosen people? Do you object to the message that God opposes oppression? Do you object to envisioning God as a partner in Black self-actualization?

[cjsmom]

82. okay

I reject the idea that all whites are racist.
I reject the teaching that advocates the destruction of G-d.
I am offended by the teaching that Blacks see themselves as a chosen people.
I am offended by having my cultural heritage hijacked by another group of individuals regardless of their skin color.

[Craftsman]

84. Agreed

[tishaLA]

85. ok

1. Nothing you posted says all whites are racist. It says that all whites are responsible for racial oppression. Thoreau and Emerson made precisely this point in 1851. Thoreau argued that it was impossible to divide culpability between the North and the South because the citizens of Massachusetts lived off the blood of oppressed Blacks in the South.

2. It says that the "task of black theology is to kill gods that do not belong to the black community." That means that they are, in the terms of Black Liberation Theology, false gods (i.e., it does not advocate the destruction of "God" of the destruction of "gods.")

3. I'm sorry that offends you. As a Jew, I am aware that the fact that I am considered "chosen" simply because of my faith offends many people, too. I'd be interested to know what the context is for that quotation, though. I doubt it stands alone as an aphorism and I am too steeped in the history of midrash to think that one can pick quotations and presume to know what they mean. It is antithetical to my understanding of Judaic exegetical practices.

4. I am not sure what that means.

[Leopolds Ghost]

90. Are you offended by the teaching that Jews see themselves as a chosen people?

What about "true-church" Christian sects? Are you offended by them?

Do a dark place, your line of reasoning leads.

[Ysabel]

100. hypocritical...

you say:

I reject the teaching that advocates the destruction of G-d.
I am offended by the teaching that Blacks see themselves as a chosen people.

----

- the religion which you are not mentioning here / the religion that won't spell the word "god" makes the very same claim of being "chosen people" as do the offshoots of your unmentioned religion...

p.s. please keep your religion in your churches synagogues mosques etc. where it belongs and out of public spaces the public space is tax payer space you are violating public citizen rights...

[Cha]

94. No it's over for

you.

[JoFerret]

99. Education takes time

Arrogance doesn't help. People do care.

[droidamus2]

2. spin, spin, spin

This article looks like pure right wing spin. Give Obama minimal praise for a great speech and then bring up that somebody said he 'LIED'. They are doing the same thing to Obama they did to Gore. Find something he said that you can twist and then continually claim he 'LIED'. Find a few more questionable, that is questionable only by idiot journalists and rightwing pundits, and all of a sudden he can't be trusted because he is a liar and of course if anybody lies then they are a confirmed liar and you can't trust anything they say. This isn't the first time I have seen it brought up that the big thing in the so called 'Wright scandal' is that Obama said he hadn't heard the 20 seconds of fiery speech that the talk heads keep showing over and over. If the American people fall for this crap they are more ignorant than I think.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Texas Hill Country]

4. you are talking about the majority of Americans.

[geek tragedy]

5. No. Pennsylvania white people are a lot different than

Minnesota or Wisconsin or Oregon white people. There's a layer of residual racism there that doesn't exist in other places.

[Craftsman]

8. PA will be telling

If Hillary can win decisively she will go tthe superdelegates and harp on BHO electablity. Count on it. Right now it is her best shot.

[geek tragedy]

11. She could move to New Zealand until May and still win PA by 10 points.

A decisive win is in the bag already for her. The real question is whether Obama can defy expectations and avoid getting blown out.

[VolcanoJen]

16. I kinda wish she would.

}(

[VolcanoJen]

12. She's not waiting for Pennsylvania. She's already harping to the superdelegates.

It's her only chance, so you can hardly blame her. Her path to the nomination grows dimmer by the day.

But, I imagine a lot of superdelegates are saying to her and her staffers, "OK. Now, how does Hillary Clinton, or any Democrat, win the general election without the African-American voting block?"

And then the crickets begin chirping.

[Craftsman]

22. Sadly, I am almost hoping for a third candidate to rise at the convention

Both of these two are damaged goods now.

[VolcanoJen]

33. Oh, stop.

We're going to be fine, and a Democrat is going to be the next president of the United States.

2008 does not equal 2004, and Kerry was actually in the end a rather shitty candidate. But between 2004 and 2008, a lot of shit went down. Hurricane Katrina, the mortgage crisis, the credit crunch, skyrocketing deaths in Iraq, the takeover of the Justice Department by rogue politicos, the "coalition of the willing" bailing on Iraq, I could really go on and on. I feel strongly that the 2006 midterm is a much better predictor of where the country is heading into the 2008 general.

Bush approval by November of 2004 hovered around 50% and he managed to win. Bush approval now is half of that. Once we spend a few months attaching McCain to Bush at the hip, these March poll numbers are going to look laughable.

[Leopolds Ghost]

92. There you go, throwing Kerry under the bus. Why should I expect you to treat Obama different?

Both are being swiftboated. You will be saying the same things in four
years if Obama loses like Kerry did. Because Dems never learn to stand
upright and unapologetic without leaning on media approval like a crutch.

[nonconformist]

51. 80-90% of African Americans vote Dem in the general elections

Now sure, she might lose some if Obama doesn't get the nod, because some will be understandably upset that the person they supported didn't get the nomination. But after the reality of President McCain sets in, I see no reason to not expect that Hillary would get the majority of AA voters in the GE.

A more convincing argument would be how does Obama win the GE without critical states like Ohio, and how does he win the GE without working class whites, who could historically swing either way?

[Craftsman]

56. Hanged if you do and hanged if you don't

That is inccreasingly the spot we find ourselves with these two.

[VolcanoJen]

69. Do you ever listen to Mark Thompson?

Or any of the urban talk radio hosts? Do you ever read the urban political blogs, like Too Sense or Jack & Jill?

If you did, you'd have a better understanding of how a huge chunk of the African-American community is feeling toward the Clintons right now.

[nonconformist]

75. Be that as it may, I still see no reason to not expect the majority

to vote Democratic in the GE, as they always overwhelmingly do.

Sure, many will sit out. But I don't think we have to worry too much about them crossing over to vote for McCain.

[VolcanoJen]

79. No, the folks who feel strongly that they can't vote for Hillary...

... aren't going to vote for McCain.

They just aren't going to vote. And do remember how much that's going to hurt our downticket candidates, too. And even if Clinton somehow manages to get the superdelegates to hand her the nomination, she's going to need RECORD African-American turnout in the fall if she has any hope of winning the presidency.

[nonconformist]

87. And what about white blue collar voters?

Let's face it, they both have their problems. Hillary was nowhere near my top choice, but neither was Obama. I think Edwards would have done pretty spectacularly in the GE, but that was not to be I guess. I think that Clinton will have a battle on her hands in the GE, but I do think she has a shot. I don't think Obama has a shot at all.

[cali]

17. It's a longshot

It's very telling that she's only up minimally with SDs and Nancy Pelosi has made clear where her vote is going, and she brings along quite a few more.

[Texas Hill Country]

42. you are ignoring the other 46 states.

[Zynx]

70. We won Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon and lost in 2000 and 2004.

Places like PA, OH, and FL matter a lot.

[newcriminal]

72. hmmmm

I'm a Pennsylvania white person, and your comments are absurd. I'll tell my black stepfather that you think I'm a racist. I'm sure he'll get a laugh.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Did Post Grad Work. My First Cousin Is An African American

I have had more African American friends than Caucasian ones since the ninth grade or so...

There is one race I don't particularly like... The Daytona 500... The fans clog up I-4 and I-95...

I just think Hillary has better plans to get things done...

[geek tragedy]

9. You're not part of the moron-class being interviewed in that

piece.

Also, technically you're not Clinton's 'base' demographically, since there was a time you could have possibly been persuaded to vote for Obama in the primary. These people aren't going to vote for a black guy named Barack Obama over a white Democrat.

[Craftsman]

13. Then what make you think they will vote for him if he is nominated

McInsane does have some appeal to the middle and if he could turn PA red we are in a world of hurt. Electablity will be Hillary's battle cry to the super delegates.

[geek tragedy]

18. 1) the economy + 2) Iraq = 3) Bush =4) McCain.

When the chips are down, they're not going to vote for a guy who's going to continue Bush's two most failed policies.

[Craftsman]

27. Kerry lost with those two going for him

And add to that he did not have latent racism working against him. This election with either of these two candidates will not be a cakewalk. Both have high and growing negatives.

[geek tragedy]

46. The economy has gotten a LOT worse since then.

It's gotten a lot worse since November 2006, actually.

It'll never be a cakewalk.

[karynnj]

57. The economy was not considered that bad in 2004

and the concensus on the war was that it was still winnable. Even whether the invasion was good was around 50/50 and depended on how the question was phrased. (Oddly if Saddam was mentioned - the war was seen as necessary by more people than otherwise.)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. I Probably Would Have Voted For Him If He Didn't Run Against Hillary Clinton

Yeah, if you oppose Obama because of his race that's dumb and despicable...

[BigDDem]

34. "They're uneducated idiots and latent racists"

HOPE!
CHANGE!
UNITY!
IDIOTS!
RACISTS!

[cjsmom]

36. Gee, thanks for sharing

Your insults made me feel so much more inclined to vote for Obama.... :sarcasm:

[Craftsman]

40. I was thinking the same thing

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. I grew up in a "white ethnic enclave" in New York City

It's still the only place I go to where people openly use the word "nigger" in bars and at dinner parties. My wife (who's not from there) almost walked out on a dinner party at one of my childhood friend's apartment because the other guests were "nigger this" and "nigger that" and "can you believe that fucking nigger." This was five years ago.

I love when Chris Matthews and the rest of those douchebags praise the "white blue collar workers." I grew up a white blue collar worker in a white blue collar part of NYC. It ain't pretty, I'll tell you that. And don't think the Chinese, the Koreans, the Puerto Ricans, the Dominicans, or the Jews got off easy either. The fucking hits just kept on coming.

And I defy anybody who grew up in the same kind of neighborhood in the 80's and early 90's to tell me I'm wrong. You fucking KNOW I'm right.

This whole "white blue collar guy" and "Joe Lunchbox" business is coded as all get-out. Everybody knows exactly what it means.

[geek tragedy]

14. Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, Staten Island, Howard Beach.

There's a reason why white people moved to those neighborhoods in the first place.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. Bayside, Whitestone, large tracts of Flushing, Fresh Meadows

parts of Glendale, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Rosedale, etc., etc., etc.

They're not fooling anybody with this shit. Not really.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. Ha

I grew up in the part of the South where the suburbs were reaching out to the rural areas... I don't think I have ever heard the n-word spoken in my presence... The only time I get to hear it is when I put a Snoop, Kayne West, or Fifty CD in my disc player...

I think racism is a lot more subterannean and nuanced...I also think it gets mixed up with discussions of social class...

[alcibiades_mystery]

29. I was in a bar in Queens over Christmas

There was a lively discussion about whether a singer whose song was playing on the jukebox was a - and I quote - "fucking nigger." At least ten people were engaged in this discussion, all union guys, and all under 25.

No lie.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. Wow

I lived in Forest Hills till I was eleven when I moved to Florida...

I must have lived a sheltered life because I never heard anybody use the N-word in my presence...

[VolcanoJen]

26. Great post.

I fucking know you're right, that's for sure.

It's why every time Joe Scarborough says, "The steel workers in Youngstown, Ohio are just not going to vote for this Barack Obama guy," I cringe, because to me, what he's saying is so fucking obvious, and he's a coward to not just come right out and say it.

[Coexist]

44. he should. Make them face their racism.

not couch it in "gee, I just don't like his preacher."

[Barack_America]

45. Absolutely. The most blatant racists in this country are not "hicks" or "bumpkins".

They're not necessarily from the south and they sure as hell aren't from the Midwest. The most blatantly racist people in our country are blue collar workers in major metropolitan areas.

They are the whites that Obama was speaking to in his speech. The whites who assume that everyone with a different hue to their skin is after either their job or their paycheck.

[goodgd_yall]

98. Well, the operative word in your post

is "blatant," because there is plenty of polite bigotry in other parts of the country.

[beachmom]

67. And what percentage are voting for Hillary? I mean, I think a lot of

these folks will vote for McCain and are NOT participating in the Democratic primary. JMO. I am not sure Kerry or Gore won their vote either.

[Barack_America]

73. Yes. Very true.

If Hillary were to be nominated, many of these folks will end up voting for McCain. Particularly once the GOP attacks turn from Obama to her.

[goodgd_yall]

97. I like your honesty

"I grew up a white blue collar worker in a white blue collar part of NYC. It ain't pretty..." This is how I feel when people go off into the idealized working man hero BS and when they charge you're a snob if you critique it in any way.

[K Gardner]

19. The media and the Clintons have suceeded. But then, the media told us long

before any of this surfaced that PA was "redneck AL", so I guess now they can report happily on the racism which is alive and well in America.

Nice.

[BeyondGeography]

21. Tough crowd...even for Hillary

==Peter said he’s never voted for a Republican for president, but if Obama is the nominee, he will support Sen. John McCain.

“I would have a hard time if it is Clinton and McCain,” Peter said.==

[EffieBlack]

25. If some people have their way, it will

[Barack_America]

28. So we should give in to the ignorant?

We should follow their will?

That is what the Democratic party stands for?

[Craftsman]

30. I have come to the realization that after this fight is over

both will be so damaged that neither will have a good chance of winning the GE. I am hoping for Edwards or Gore as a compromise in the convention. This has gotten past ugly.

[cjsmom]

39. I agree with you

An alternative candidate is the best we could hope for at this point.

[VolcanoJen]

50. Crazy talk.

Most exciting Democratic primary ever, two really great candidates, historic turnout, and through-the-roof fundraising.

The GOP is scared. All they've got is The Clenis and Black Preacher to run on.

Can nobody see?

[VolcanoJen]

41. Don't be a sad sack

Seriously. Read my response to your post up above. And cheer up a fucking little. :-)

[rucky]

37. There will be people with this attitude, no matter what.

and there will be people inspired by Obama's response, and support him no matter what.

I'm calling it as a net gain/loss of zero - for now. Let's see how the videos get circulated in the next couple of weeks.

[citizen snips]

43. Clinton takes lead over Obama in Gallop Poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has moved into a significant lead over Barack Obama among Democratic voters, according to a new Gallup poll.

The March 14-18 national survey of 1,209 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters gave Clinton, a New York senator, a 49 percent to 42 percent edge over Obama, an Illinois senator. The poll has an error margin of 3 percentage points.

The poll was a snapshot of current popular feeling, but Clinton trails Obama in the state-by-state contest which began in January to select a nominee to face presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in the November election to succeed President George W. Bush.

The nominees are formally chosen by delegates at the parties' conventions in the summer.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080320/ts_nm/usa_politics_gallup_dc

[Norrin Radd]

47. Those idiots obviously didn't listen to the speech, or they have no comprehension.

[geek tragedy]

52. As someone else said, the blue collar crowd in big cities

are the most racist people in America.

[Beacool]

48. To many people the speech was a little too late.

This is similar to what I've been hearing in PA myself in the Lehigh Valley area:

More than a dozen interviews Wednesday found voters unmoved by Obama’s plea to move beyond racial divisions of the past. Despite baring himself with extraordinarily personal reflections on one of the most toxic issues of the day, a highly unusual move for a politician running for national office, the debate inside taverns and beauty shops here had barely moved beyond outrage aimed at the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s refusal to “disown” his longtime pastor.

A day after the speech, local residents were left wondering whether Obama was candid in the last week when he said he hadn’t heard any of Wright’s most objectionable remarks, but then said Tuesday that he had heard “controversial” remarks while sitting in the pews.

“He lied to Anderson Cooper,” said Rodica Mitrea, an aesthetician and immigrant from Romania, referring to an Obama interview Friday with the CNN anchor.


The average folks think:

a) The speech came too late, he should have delivered it before the stuff hit the fan.

b) He lied when he said that he had never heard Wright deliver inflammatory sermons.

c) Some were even offended that he threw his grandma under the bus and thought that he was disrespectful of the woman who raised him.

[dkf]

53. I'm beginning to be very sick of these people.

I never had a dog in this fight, but I'm beginning to fall on the side of Black America.

Racists aren't interested in healing or the common good...all they care about is hating.

What a sad education for me.

[beachmom]

71. But honestly, you're telling me these folks will vote for Hillary? I mean

I just don't believe we will get that crowd no matter who is the nominee. But if Hillary loses the AA community in the G.E., she's in a world of trouble. These are things to consider.

[Beacool]

86. The Democrats in that part of PA are definitely for Hillary.

It's Hillary country, but there are vasts groups of Republicans in that area too. If Hillary were to be the nominee, it could go either way in November. If Obama is the nominee, I think that McCain could take the state. Ditto for Ohio.

[Ysabel]

101. another assumption or lie whatever just keep repeating til it's "true"...

- sure...

[Beacool]

104. No my friend, it's called internal polling. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

54. This is not a "rust belt city"....

The rust was scraped off over the past 2 decades and there was shiny new steel underneath. This is not a midwest manufacturing mecca. This immediate area has the largest concentration of pharmaceutical companies in the nation and the 2nd highest concentration of colleges & universities. Meaning that stereotyping the city as purely "blue collar" is often disengenous. The NE has a large eastern European immigrant population but then other areas of the city have other immigrant populations - whether African in West Philadelphia or Asian in Southwest Philadelphia.

Are there those who don't buy Obama? Of course. Are there those who don't buy Clinton? Of course.

But I think that narrowly focussing on certain demographics here to the exclusion of the needs of the area as a whole is going to give people a false sense of what this city is like and what might happen here. Perpetuating the division only takes us backwards and of course that is the strategy. This article purposely chooses to highlight the divisions rather than getting us into the 21st century and moving away from that sort of nonsense.

[Leopolds Ghost]

96. America needs manufacturing. Sorry to hear you're pro-NAFTA. I'm sure you trust your candidate

to pander to manufacturing workers and then ignore the needs of the working class, which includes the vast majority of working poor at those precious pharmaceutical companies with their shiny steel made in cancerous unregulated overseas recycling plants.

[tishaLA]

60. Northeast Philly? Of course they hate Obama

It's like thinking people would like Obama in Fishtown. To many of Northeast Philadelphia residents, whenever an African American mentions race in America, he or she is immediately "playing the race card." This is an unforgivable sin against them, because, as working class whites, they have never had the white privilege their skin color is supposed to afford them. So they harbor a deep resentment against Philadelphia's last two mayors, against progressivism generally, against the jobs they imagine they have lost to African Americans (despite the fact that they are not trained to do the jobs themselves), and against the very idea that they have to turn to places like Rauchut's Tavern in Taconey to express their ideas.

[GarbagemanLB]

64. The sad irony is that Obama ADDRESSES their concerns in his A More Perfect Union speech. He has time

, and the issues are on the Democrats side.

[tishaLA]

66. Yes, but they hear "race" and

they stop hearing. They (believe they) KNOW what to expect when a Black man talks about race, so they cannot hear what he's saying. He needs very strong surrogates in communities like this. I think the SEIU support will help convince some of them, but remember all the union votes that went to Reagan and chimp.

[Barack_America]

76. Yep. That's why I've been doing a lot of voter registration in the 3rd ward.

It's the one part of deep West Philly that is part of the PA-1, along with NE Philly.

ETA: And the Italian Market area is also in PA-1. :scared:

[Voltaire]

65. As a Displaced Philadelphian

Nice to know the place hasn't changed a lot of its racist spots. I'm from West Philly and I would never even dream of GOING into one of those neighborhoods like Tacony or Kensington or Fishtown. I like living too much.

[Barack_America]

74. Fishtown has been taken over.

By latte-drinking hipster pseudo-yuppies. The dynamic up there must be fascinating.

I live in West Philly too!

[Barack_America]

78. How 'bout this? "Obama wows WIP sports jocks"

Front page of philly.com

Obama wows WIP sports jocks

By Sam Wood

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Sen. Barack Obama called into sports radio 610 WIP this morning, charming the usually rambuctious morning talk show hosts and winning their endorsements.

"People are really swept up ," said host Al Morganti. "It's almost like teenaged girls at a concert. It's goofy"

Before Obama's interview even began at 8 a.m., jocks Angelo Cataldi and Morganti greeted the Democratic presidential hopeful with a scatted, and offkey, rendition of "Hail to the Chief."

Obama's five-minute appearance didn't even touch on sports. The hosts, both entralled by the candidate's charisma, addressed him as if he were a rock star. It was more love fest than Meet The Press.

Both Obama and Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, are using the radio to connect with potential voters. Clinton was a guest on Chris Booker's Q102 morning show March 11.

Obama this morning sounded relaxed as he hit Cataldi and Co.'s softball questions out of the proverbial ballpark.

"Why should we elect you?" Cataldi said.

"I think we're at a moment in our history where we need to break from the past in a fundamental way," Obama replied.

The legislator from Illinois repeated his campaign's constant refrain, that culture and policies of the Federal government must change.

Obama lambasted Washington lobbyists, expressed sympathy for citizens losing their homes to mortgage foreclosure, and offered sympathy for families with loved ones deployed to Iraq.

He threw a counter-punch at opponent Hillary Clinton, whose 3 a.m. phone call commercial questioned his length on experience and cast doubts on his ability to serve as Commander in Chief.

"I have 20 years of experience," said Obama. "Hillary talks about experience, but she's really only had 8 years in the Senate.

"I was in the state senate for eight years before being elected to the U.S. Senate," he said. "Its not a question of how long you've been in Washington, but the kind of judgement you bring to bear on the problems that we face."

Though obviously smarting from Clinton's campaign ad, he had warm words for his opponent.

"She's a very smart lady. People feel they know her," he said. "People respect her intelligence."

The hosts asked Obama about his speech at the Constitution Center.

They zeroed in on comments he made about his white grandmother and her racial phobias.

"The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity," he said. "But she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know. . .there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way."

"What makes me optimistic is that every generation is feeling less like that," Obama said.

They asked how being the first African-American to hold the nation's top job would affect his ability to govern.

Obama said he'd have bigger concerns than that if he occupied the Oval Office: health care, rising college tuitions, and bringing troops home from Iraq.

"But wouldn't that empower our enemies," one host asked.

"We've empowered our enemies by going into Iraq," Obama said. "Bin Laden is still at large.

"We've spent more money on this war than any war in our history and there's no end in sight. It has strained alliances and fanned anti-American sentiments."

Swept up by Obama's words, the hosts bid him goodbye.

"If there's anything we can do to help you carry Pennsylvania, let us know," said one jock.

Said Obama: "Maybe I can stop by the studio some time." "Could you stop by after you're President?" one responded.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080320_Obama_wows_radio_sports_jocks.html


Guess which channel "joe six-pack" listens to in Philly. Yep.

[tishaLA]

81. That is REALLY important

I know it sounds dumb, but any native Philadelphian knows how important sports (and WIP) are to Philadelphia's "joe sixpack." It's good that Al and Angelo hosted him and listened to him. They can really help him with the Philly sports fan knuckleheads. (Confession: I live in LA but I sometimes listen to the WIP stream when I get homesick.)

[Barack_America]

83. Agreed.

And thanks. I found audio so I think I'll make this its own thread! :)

[MrSlayer]

93. The afternoon show is crushing him right now.

Howard Eskin is going berserk on Obama over the "typical white person" remark he made about his grandmother. People can listen to him now at http://www.610wip.com.

[Leopolds Ghost]

88. "race stuff"--thought Rev Wrights "anti-American" comments had nothing to do with race. Which is it?

[qanda]

91. I find it interesting that black people are always expected to forgive and move on

Yet white people can't take even one little slight-- that wasn't even against them!!!! Either you believe that the policies and actions of our government, past and present, have had an extremely negative impact on blacks and the black community or you believe that blacks are inherently inferior, in every way, to white people.

[WinkyDink]

103. It's "PA", not "PENN".