After Lopsided Loss, Obama Woos Blue-Collar Voters

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: News Analysis
After Lopsided Loss, Obama Woos Blue-Collar Voters
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: May 13, 2008

WASHINGTON — How big a problem does Senator Barack Obama really have among white working-class voters? And what — if anything — can he do about it as he heads into the general election? Those were the questions that emerged from his defeat by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the West Virginia Democratic primary on Tuesday, an electoral shellacking where more than half of the overwhelmingly white Democratic electorate said they would be unhappy if Mr. Obama were their presidential candidate this fall.

Mr. Obama took a step toward dealing with the challenge on Wednesday, as he headed out to campaign in front of working-class audiences in Macomb County, Mich., a Detroit suburb that has been identified for more than a decade with Reagan Democrats, the classic swing voter. (First stop: A Chrysler plant in Sterling Heights). He has taken to wearing an American flag pin on his lapel and sprinkling his speeches with references to God and country, gestures to reassure Democratic voters about his values....

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Mr. Obama’s troubles in West Virginia with working-class voters were reminiscent of the troubles he had as he lost Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana to Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Obama’s challenge in winning over white working-class voters could prove to be one of the defining characteristics of his general election campaign....

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No matter how much time Mr. Obama spends talking about economic issues with workers, as he was planning to do on Wednesday at Macomb Community College, some of the resistance that he continues to face is almost certainly racial. In West Virginia, 20 percent of respondents said that race was a factor in their decision and those voters, by overwhelming number, backed Mrs. Clinton....

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Yet even with the party rallying around Mr. Obama, Democrats are still looking for reassurance that his difficulty with working class whites is not a problem that will drag him down in the general election. It is not yet clear whether his considerable campaigning skills, his policy positions or a head to head matchup with Mr. McCain will be enough to eliminate or at least contain the problem.

What the results from West Virginia and Pennsylvania did do was crystallize just how important Mrs. Clinton could be to Mr. Obama’s general election hopes, assuming he goes on to win the nomination. She has managed to connect with white, blue-collar voters in way that has eluded Mr. Obama. Her embrace of Mr. Obama once this is over — delivered without reservation and accompanied by vigorous campaigning through the fall — could prove vital to his hopes of winning the backing of white voters who have come to embrace Mrs. Clinton as their champion during this primary fight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/us/politics/14cnd-campaign.html?hp

[griffi94]

1. he's going to be the nominee

now he's doing exactly what he needs to do. go start connecting with the supporters who, up till now have been either for hillary or at the very least, unsure of obama.
of course there's a percentage of people who will never vote for him anyway, so what. it's time to go after the ones that can be persuaded to vote for him in november.

plenty of working class people of all races are being squeezed to death. the ones who won't vote for obama probably wouldn't have voted for hillary either.

if he wants to win, it's time to go for the undecideds. he's got the latte liberals and the eggheads in his pocket so lets go get joe lunchbox.
then we can get on with the issues of healthcare, fair trade, and getting in a position to draw down the troops.