The Mad Rants of an Unconventional Soccer Mom

Puzzled raised some questions in a comment in my last post, so let me clarify. I believe that everybody has a duty to vote. That is why I am a volunteer with Vote for Change, which is a six-month 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive to try to get everyone involved in the process - not just “eggheads and African Americans” (as Clinton talking head Paul Begela calls Obama’s base). Clinton has targeted a specific base of voters - women and the one’s she calls “white, hard working Americans” (which I find insulting). She does extremely well in rural or mountainous white areas, especially if there are a lot of elderly. If you look at the voting patterns for both candidates you will see what I mean:

This graph shows the counties that Clinton received at least 65% of the votes during the primaries (pre West Virginia). Do you see a pattern? She does phenomenal through Appalachia and Arkansas and virtually no where else in the country. And it can’t be denied that there is also a huge racial divide throughout these areas as well.



You can take a look at the exit poll data from the West Virginia primary here. It's depressing to me.

Look...I was not pointing out the demographics in my last post to be a snob or an “elitist” or to demean anybody. The areas that she does well in are white, rural, poor areas where women and elderly make up the majority. Like I said, those are the facts. Her West Virginia win was expected. It was not a game changer. And if you want a sports analogy: her win was like a 12/0 team (Obama) losing to a 6/4 team (Clinton) during the last game of regular season. Does it change who goes to the championships? No. And Clinton acting like it was the most important contest and saying that Obama shouldn't be the nominee because he can't get "white, hardworking Americans" to vote for him does nothing to start healing the party and unifying it. How does Clinton and her surrogates going around to every news channel proclaiming that this win means that Obama would fail in November because he didn't win West Virginia help anything?

And yes, I do want every voter to have their say. Clinton has every right to stay in as long as she wants, but she shouldn't be trying to kneecap Obama, since it is clear that he is the nominee and the only way that Clinton can win is if she somehow steals the election. What she should be doing is helping to bring everyone together by stressing the weakness of McCain. She has the power to reach out to her base and start the healing process. She hasn't used it. Instead she has constantly said that Obama is not electable and has praised McCain. It is ludicrous and only hurts our chances in the fall.

And another point that I want to be very clear on is that I don’t look down at the people in these regions at all. The only issue I take with any person is if their sole reason for supporting or not supporting someone is the color of their skin and almost 22% of the people polled in West Virginia admitted that they would not vote for a black man. And I’m sorry, but racist are abhorrent to me. That’s it. It has nothing to do with their educational level, their age, the type of house they live in or the job they have.

The people in the Appalachian area don’t have it easy. They are farmers and coal miners. They do work hard and some in very terrible, hazardous conditions. My guess is that very few people in these areas have the luxury of coming home after a hard days work and flipping on cable TV or searching the web. In this day and age I think that puts them at a disadvantage. They don’t have access to the tools and probably don’t have the time to actually research the candidates and their positions. They know the Clinton brand and Obama is an unknown who has been successfully painted as an "elitist" who will take their guns away by them. I don’t think that I am being “elitist” in pointing out any of these facts.

This graph shows the counties that Obama received at least 55% of the votes during the primaries (pre West Virginia). Is it surprising that he does extremely well in black urban areas and in college towns? No. That’s where the demographics favor him. But the thing is that this Clinton/media narrative that he can’t win among “white, hard working Americans” is false. He won big in Iowa and Utah and Nebraska and Wyoming, so I’m tired of hearing the Clintons speak as if the “white, hardworking Americans” that votes for her are the only ones that matter. The 50-state coalition that Obama has built is impressive and all-encompassing. He has NEVER dismissed a state or an electorate as being not important. Clinton has time and time again.

Ok...I feel like I am just rambling now. Hopefully I have gotten the points I wanted to make across.