Letters to the Editor
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I think that the R&F will come around
Hillary does not have a good record on jobs, really. She is, by her own assessment, the Senator from Punjab. She indicated, in a meeting with Indian body shops (who bring in scab IT workers and undercut US IT workers) that she strongly supports this strategy. This is not a good strategy for US workers.
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Leonard is a bit Pro-Hillary
Um, the "working class" is voting for Hillary because they are listening to the intricate details of policies in her speeches?
Poppycock! They are being fooled by the same rhetoric and a good dose of fear!
Aren't these people the same people that voted GW into office?
Hello?!!! It's SAD!
"Bush shows every sign of being able to carry a substantial part of the white working-class vote this November, just as he did four years ago" (http://mondediplo.com/2004/02/04usa)
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Yep
Those people who vote for Sen. Clinton just aren't as enlightened as those who vote for Sen. Obama.
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because they're racist (just kidding)
Obama v. Clinton = Change/Populist politics v. Status Quo/Machine politics.
Working class people, Asians, 50+ year-olds, Hispanics for whatever cultural, economic, political reasons may have an aversion to change. Also, machine/identity politics benefits these demographics. Just like in the 19th century, voting for the machine candidate is not an irrational decision.
Obama's core: under-30, over $100k income, latte crowd can afford the volatility that comes from the destruction of machine politics as these groups aren't the prime focus/beneficiaries of machine politics.
Who knows?
Whatever the case, don't let this comments section turn into race-flaming BS! Hear me?!!
Barack the Vote!
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Bill made the working class SOL with China MFN
Obama should hammer Hillary for the passage of MFN-status with China during Bill's watch.
That would be a good way to start making inroads with working class voters.
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It is actually pretty impresive
How well she does with the working class. After NAFTA and all the corporate deals the Clinton's have done it is shocking that they get such loyalty from that base.
I guess that base is pretty centrist and she certainly is the centrist candidate.
I wonder what happens when you have two centrist pro war candidates running for president when the country wants to get out of the war.
BTW I am not sure any president can get us out of Iraq now. Certainly not what that helped get us in there.
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Do we really have to dance around this?
Hillary has been dominating in the blue collar, working class, undereducated, white liberal demographic. Do we really have to pretend to find policy reasons for this? Is it really that controversial to point out that you're going to find far more racism among not-so-smart, blue collar, caucasian liberals than you'll find among educated, affluent, white collar caucasian liberals, who vastly prefer Obama?
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The Rank and File
Has little in common with the college age diversity crowd, and the 20 something post-collegians whom Obama will inspire. (Up out of their cubicles, through the drop ceiling, and into a light not flourescent in nature.) They've probably been working in a "diverse" environment longer than the Obamamites have had a job. They've earned their tolerance. They didn't have to join a college club to prove it.
I was for Edwards. But I will be happy to vote for either Hillary or Obama come November. And so will you, dammit, or you are going to hand the election to McCain.
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Sure about that?
Where is the evidence the working class is voting Clinton?
Still haven't seen it.
If this is true, Barack could pull an "Edwards" and talk about MFN status for China and NAFTA. But then again, Barack is not Edwards. He's a lawyer educated at Harvard.
And Hillary is a lawyer educated at Yale.
Do you see a pattern here? Mice voting for cats again.
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"Never Going to Get There"?????
Actually, he's doing quite fine - even after losing primaries in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and California. So, tone it down and stick to the facts, please!
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They remember Bill.
Far too fondly, if you ask me. Clinton was never really a friend to the workers of America. His policies set the stage for the export of American jobs, his (and Hillary's) utter bungling of Universal Health Care, Part 1, and his NAFTA advocacy knocked loose the underpinnings of a stable society for those who are not "knowledge workers" or investment-types.
It's brand nostalgia, and it hurts.
And the underemployed will do well to remember her having sat on the Wal-Mart board, they of the systematic gutting of local commercial economies and mandatory unpaid overtime.
Will Sen. Obama do better by American workers? Who can say for certain? Maybe the real question is, how could he do worse?
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White Collar Prejudice
"Do we really have to pretend to find policy reasons for this? Is it really that controversial to point out that you're going to find far more racism among not-so-smart, blue collar, caucasian liberals than you'll find among educated, affluent, white collar caucasian liberals, who vastly prefer Obama?"
What a bigoted comment. A good education doesn’t mean you are smart. It means you were lucky. Your education isn’t showing that you learned anything except how to look down your nose on people.
As one of those Ivy League Educated white collar professionals who actually knows and likes a lot of blue collar liberals, you might be surprised to find that many in this group are more worried about the dismantling of the social safety nets gained through the New Deal and Great Society, than if Clinton is female or Obama is black.
If people want to vote their pocketbooks, it’s OK with me.
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Brand Recognition
The working class voting for Clinton is far more about 'brand recognition' than any policy decisions. It is most likely only a minority of these voters who are paying incredibly close attention to policy decisions (most don't have the time to devote to this sort of thing, nor can they sit at work and read the Salon like the 'white collar' and college kids).
So they are voting for a very recognizable name, with a very recognizable face! Well before the presidential primary race, we were hearing about Hilary Clinton. We've been hearing about her since her husband was in the Whitehouse, since she ran for senate in NY (remember all that 'carpet bagger' hoopla? I do), since she was so hated and smeared by republicans.
Up until a year ago, did ANY of you outside of Illinois, or the regular poli-blogosphere readers know who Obama was? You almost certainly wouldn't have recognized the name, and even if you did, what could you tell me about him? Very little, I'd guess.
So yeah, Clinton is a brand, and a well known one. So, the working class and the elderly are going to vote for her, because they know her. They trust her. She’s a good classic Ford, where Obama is a suspicious Renault.
Personally I think that very same 'brand recognition' is what will put the democratic party under should another Clinton be nominated. Don't underestimate the republicans hatred for all things Clinton. Those who couldn't be bothered to vote FOR McCain, will come out en masse to vote AGAINST another Clinton. It cuts both ways.