I find it humerous how some blogs keep saying that Obama is utterly unelectable in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, even though Obama hasn’t trailed in Pennsylvania since the start of May and is effectively in a dead heat with McCain in Ohio. And they definitely can’t claim that those states being close is a sign of unelectability since those states were close in 2004 and 2000. And yes, Gore and Kerry both won Pennsylvania. Ohio may be a little tougher, but I find this hysterics about Pennsylvania quite humerous.
Update
There is also this:
Racial attitudes pose challenge for Obama
“I don’t think our country is ready for a black president,” Susick, who is white, said in an interview in the paint store where she works. “A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania.”
Now if we were in campaign mode you would see Axelrod, Plouffe or Jackson point out that the person making the comment was just a racist and therefore could be dismissed. But thankfully we aren’t in campaign mode and people like Susick are allowed to speak their mind without being labeled as something they are not.
Nope, someone who said they won’t vote for Obama because he’s black isn’t racist at all. If they said they thought Obama wasn’t experienced enough or was too liberal or whatever…OK fine, I might not agree with it, but it’s their opinion and it’s at least a legitimate reason not to vote for someone. But because he’s black? Sorry, doesn’t fly.
I can’t personally speak for Pennsylvania, but Sen. Obama has many, probably insurmountable, hurdles in Ohio.
The demographics are against him. Sen. Obama has problems with working class voters and older voters. These voters are legion in this state.
Southern Ohio is West Virgina and Kentucky. Sen. Obama’s difficulties in Appalachia are easily seen. Southern Ohio is rural and poor, except for Cincinnati, which is one of the more conservative cities in the country. The exact same type of voters who reject Sen. Obama in W.V. and KY. reject him in southern Ohio.
Ohio has a large farm population, which lean very heavily Republican. He has not made any inroads with this group. He can’t make up much here because they would want a long record of support for farm issues to consider changing. Sen. Obama has no real record on these issues.
Ideologically Ohio is center-right. McCain is a good fit for Ohio; the label of most liberal senator will hurt Obama here. They are, mostly, a rather religious and patriotic group. His “cling to religion” comment as well as his associations with Wright, Ayers, and Pfleger will destroy him here. When the commercials come and the people who aren’t political junkies see them, his polling will plummet there.
Lastly, it’s superficial but, the lanky, effete sophisticate look does not play well in Ohio. Look at the recent presidential, governor, and senate races. Candidate who look like they could distinguish brands of chardonnay virtually never win in Ohio. They vote for the candidate who looks like a farmer or a factory worker.
Everything is against Sen. Obama in Ohio. Right now the presidential polls are reflecting a generic Democrat versus Republican race than a McCain versus Obama race.
Of course you are right that it is racist to consider a candidate’s race when voting. I can’t tell from that brief quote rather the woman is saying that she won’t vote for him or is merely being pessimistic about other voters.
You’re an idiot. Wake up and stop TrackBacking your bullshit to blogs that don’t want to read your drivel.
Take it elsewhere, or simply fuck off and die.
It’s called making a link to your blog. If you don’t want links to your blog to be trackbacked, then turn it off.
Ohio is obviously tougher than Pennsylvania, and the sheer fact that both Gore and Kerry lost it is tatamount to that. I don’t think anyone pretends that Ohio will be easy. However, that is a far cry from it being unwinnable.
Meanwhile, the new NBC poll seems to suggest that Obama doesn’t have as much of a problem with working class voters than people thought (he beat McCain 47-42 in the so-called “blue collar” demographic). I haven’t seen a breakdown by age yet.
They might have voted for Clinton in the primary, but they’re still voting Democratic in the general. One of the big things people seem to be hot on, which basically has no basis in reality, is that if someone has problems with a demographic in a primary, that they’ll have it in the general. That totally depends on who the candidates are and what their positions are. People may favor Clinton over Obama, but Obama over McCain. That clearly seems to be the case with women overall in this poll.
And of course, the label of “most liberal senator” is a sham. They pull that out every election. And whoever his VP is will be the 2nd most liberal person ever, just like how Kerry and Edwards were supposedly the two most liberal people in the party in 2004.
Also, while they may vote for someone who “looks like a farmer or factory worker,” I hardly think McCain fits that bill any better than Obama does.