by Mike Dorning
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — Western Pennsylvania is known for sturdy things, like steel and quarterbacks, not for its poetry.
Joe Namath grew up in Beaver Falls. Joe Montana came from down the road a bit in Monongahela. Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas and George Blanda also are among the remarkable line of great quarterbacks who emerged from the nearby valleys and steel towns, a region where life is full of hard work and hard knocks.
The blue-collar workers who populate the area are quintessential Reagan Democrats, descendants of European immigrants drawn here by the promise of work in the coal mines and steel mills who allied with the Democratic Party as they formed unions. Their ties to the party loosened following the economic stagnation of the 1970s and conflict over cultural issues, such as guns and abortion.
The political judgment they make in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary next Tuesday will be one of the next great tests in the presidential campaign.
They will be a crucial constituency in the primary. But possibly more significantly, their votes will provide a fresh reading on the appeal of Barack Obama among white working-class voters that party officials and convention superdelegates will be watching, along with results from the Indiana primary on May 6, as they consider whether to fall in behind Obama and end a potentially divisive contest for the Democratic nomination.
“If Sen. (Hillary) Clinton beats Sen. Obama by a big margin — 15 (percentage) points or better — she will have planted fresh doubts about his chances in the general election,” said Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank allied with the moderate Democratic Leadership Council.
Obama has struggled to win over these blue-collar voters in recent primaries. A question about his difficulties in Pennsylvania rural areas provoked Obama’s recent controversial remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser that economic distress has made people in small-town America “bitter” and led them to “cling to” guns or religion.
It is these voters foremost that Obama will be trying to address in the ABC presidential debate tonight.
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Comments
Other NFL quartberbacks from Western Pa. include Charlie Batch, Gus Frerotte, NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, Marc Bulger, and Bruce Gradkowski.
Posted by: Jeff | April 16, 2008 8:21 AM
Yes, and these hardy people of West Penn. bolted the Dems to vote for Republicans who ushered in the age of the rust belt and the outsourcing of manufacturing abroad. Why did they bolt to the Republicans, not because Republicans were looking out for the interests of these people, but the Republicans gave them assurance that their guns would not be confiscated, that religion would not be outlawed, and that women would not be forced to have abortions. In other words the Republicans were successful in subverting the economic interests of the people with wedge issues like guns, religion, and gay rights. This has been the modus operandi for the conservative right and Republicans all across the country.
We now see the consequence of their actions. In Youngstown, Pa people were bragging about having voted for Reagan. Four years later they were standing outside the gates of shuttered plants wondering what happened. They ate the bitter pill of Republicanism.
Posted by: GW | April 16, 2008 9:26 AM
GW's comment is the most appropor comment I have ever read. Why on earth don't we see the Democrats hammering his point everyday so much so that it drowns the social issue drum bit of the Republicans. Why would people vote against their own self interest year in and year out? Can someone from there comment?
Posted by: Benson Somuah | April 16, 2008 1:12 PM