Teixeira debunks myth: Obama “is clocking in where he needs to be” with white, working-class voters

[jefferson_dem]

The Caucus
The White Working Class: Forgotten Voters No More
By JOHN HARWOOD

Ruy Teixeira, a Democratic analyst of voting trends, wrote the book on the core issue in the endgame of the party’s nomination fight. Its title is “America’s Forgotten Majority: Why the White Working Class Still Matters.”

One might conclude that Mr. Teixeira is troubled by Senator Barack Obama’s performance in recent primaries against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton among the voters known by nicknames like Joe Sixpack or Nascar Dad or Waitress Mom.

Actually, he is not.

Mr. Obama, who leads the delegate count, “is clocking in where he needs to be” with white, working-class voters to win the White House in November, Mr. Teixeira said.

Through most of the primaries, the constituencies supporting either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama have remained remarkably stable. While Mr. Obama, of Illinois, has energized young, African-American and affluent voters, his rival from New York has dominated among women, Hispanics, blue-collar whites and older voters.

Among white, working-class voters — most commonly identified as those without a college degree — Mrs. Clinton has won by 2 to 1 or better in states like Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Mr. Obama has fared better among less culturally conservative working-class whites in states like Oregon, where the environment is a central issue for voters. Still, Mrs. Clinton’s claim that she is best positioned to win the “hard-working Americans, white Americans” has become the linchpin of her argument that she is more electable than Mr. Obama.

But Mr. Teixeira, who is not backing either candidate, does not buy that argument. He dismisses intraparty contests as “pretty poor evidence” of whether Mr. Obama, as the Democratic nominee, could attract the blue-collar support he would need against Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee.

<SNIP>

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/politics/p26caucus.html

[Saturday]

1. White voters are noticing how black voters are voting thanks

to the racist remark of MO and are noting it. Good luck telling them to vote for the candidate and not the color of skin as black voters have done. MO's remarks have set civil rights back 40 years.

[whistler162]

3. We are???

News to me and others of my skin color I have talked to.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Their new clownish talking point: "Don't elect Barack Obama!..."

It'll be terrible for civil rights!

[roguevalley]

16. wow, what a great picture. It is the essence of RFK and MLK right

there. I feel so happy when I see stuff like this. thank you.

[maxsolomon]

4. 40 years?

hyperbole much?

[jefferson_dem]

5. Gawd. What is this - comedic relief?

Obama's nomination and potential presidential victory, with an undeliably broad and diverse swath of electoral support, surely signals that we are dialing the clock back on civil rights.

:rofl:

MO?

[unblock]

7. wow! what an incredibly influential woman michelle obama must be!

she's merely the spouse of a candidate of a primary battle that isn't even over yet.

and with one comment that i haven't even heard, she's single-handedly somehow managed to convince black voters to ... wait for it ... vote for a black candidate!

and simultaneously set back an movement and decades of progress in race relations and rights back ... to the time when ... wait for it ... bobby kennedy was assassinated while seeking the democratic nomination for president!


what an incredibly powerful woman she is! if only such power can be somehow harnessed for the good of the democratic party!

[FrenchieCat]

8. As a Black voter, I can tell you that I have voted for White Candidates

for the presidency as far as I can remember until this year. I voted Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry. I did not vote for Al Sharpton, for Carol Moseley Braun or for Jesse Jackson. During the last primaries, I supported Wes Clark, although both Al Sharpton and Braun were running.

Now, what was that ridiculous stupid ass coment that you are making about people like me again?

[Swamp Rat]

15. I think Carol Moseley-Braun would make an excellent VP

:)

[ClassWarrior]

10. Who's "MO?"

NGU.

[cloudythescribbler]

13. Michelle Obama

i suppose you might have thought the commentary on DU wouldn't go any lower

well sorry

you'd think at this point the Obama-bashers would let up, but some of them are going full steam

[LowerManhattanite]

11. As if the likes of you has given a tinker's damn about Civil Right. Please. n/t

[ellacott]

12. Your username is so appropriate

So because of what Michelle said all blacks are falling in line? Damn, I wish Michelle had let me know what to when Jessie and Sharpton ran. If only she had spoken up then.:cry: :cry:

Electing a black person has set back the civil rights movement. This is definitely through the looking glass. What's up is down.

[hokies4ever]

14. Lanny is that you?

:rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

2. Muito bem... pontapé

[ClassWarrior]

9. Whenever trolls tell us that Dems have to act more like Rape-Publicans...

...to get elected, I cite Teixeira's excellent book, "The Emerging Democratic Majority."

NGU.