McCain losing ground with working-class whites

[susanbanks44]

KITTANNING, Pa. (AP) -- The steel mills and coal mines of western Pennsylvania helped fuel the nation's economic engine. Today, old factory shells and boarded-up storefronts stand as bleak reminders of those once-prosperous times.

But the voters in working-class enclaves such as this still are a sought-after prize in presidential politics, and many are belatedly coming around to Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

In the Democratic primaries, working-class whites consistently backed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Later polls showed them overwhelmingly favoring Republican nominee John McCain.

Now, driven by fears that their personal finances could further deteriorate, many see Obama as the better choice - their thinking in some cases driven more by concern about how McCain would handle the economy than any growing admiration for his rival.

More:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORKING_CLASS_VOTERS?SITE=NCWIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[NNN0LHI]

1. Well thats all he has left so it appears this election is over with

[Jim__]

2. Working class people know that you can't eat bullshit.

[B Calm]

3. "We Can't Make it Here" Anymore

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry

[WCGreen]

4. I was just driving through Kittanning last year...

Nice little town that I remember fondly from my youth.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Gramps Screws His Own Pooch

...many see Obama as the better choice - their thinking in some cases driven more by concern about how McCain would handle the economy than any growing admiration for his rival.

If Senator Obama is victorious, two things will be looked upon as Gramps downfall. First was his horrible pick of Grandma Barracuda...the first desperation move...and then his "suspended campaign" and ham-handed mess he made of the Wall Street Bail-out and his ever-changing position on the economy. I honestly have never seen such a poorly run campaign and inept candidate as we have in Gramps...but then I honestly believe the GOOP is so corrupt and screwed up that almost any of their candidates would be bound up in a similar fashion.

The damage being done by this financial mess will be felt for a long time...especially on the GOOP. Millions realize whose responsible for this mess and anyone with an (R) next to their name is in the sites. The booooosh legacy will relegate his scumbag party to backbench status for at least the next decade...if not longer.

[B Calm]

6. Grandma Barracuda... More like George Bush with lipstick. . .

[KharmaTrain]

8. She's Worse...

A least booooshie had a bit of a family history with politics and the world. Mooselini is a complete zombie...a product of the GOOP political machine of the 80's and 90's that pushed the big lies that have turned this country into a complete mess. While boooshie is stupid, he at least had some background on the world...Grandma is clueless. All she's there for is to throw the red meat now...and be assured, if Gramps goes down to the loss, she'll get a good chunk of the blame and that "women just aren't ready".

[NNN0LHI]

7. "The fundamentals of our economy are strong"

It went all down hill for McCain from there.

Don

[KharmaTrain]

9. But, But, But How About William Ayers???

I agree...the GOOP tried running the 2004 campaign again where slime and image trumped real issues. Gramps felt he deserves to win and put his trust in the slimebags who tried to destroy him in 2000.

While I hate the situation we're in, following the '04 election, I felt that this regime would believe it had a "mandate" (which is what boooosh declared) and really screw up this country...and in the process destroy the political and economic system. We had to burn the village to rebuild it....and the inept campaign being run by the GOOP (not just with Gramps but up and down the ticket) shows how bankrupt this party was from the get-go.

Cheers...

[charlie]

10. And all it took

was for Republicans to turn the country into rubble and set the world aflame.

Welcome aboard, you idiots.