Democrats to focus on trade to win working class
- added June 13, 2008
- 1 response
-
-
-
-
- kushan
- added this
-
-
- related topics
-
- News and Politics (31537)
- Politics (19624)
- Democrats (615)
- US Elections (75)
- Working Class (5)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Former steelworker Bill Hartley doesn't give Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama a ringing endorsement, but his top concern is free trade, so he said he doesn't want another Republican in the White House.
"I'm not sure what we're going to get with Barack Obama, but I'm going to support him, because what's the alternative?" said Hartley, 50, who was a steelworker in this Midwestern state for 15 years before he was disabled on the job.
"This administration (of President George W. Bush) has run up a record high trade deficit while two and a half million manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas," Hartley said. "McCain will just be four more years of Bush."
As Obama and Republican rival John McCain go head-to-head in the race to the November presidential election, the votes of the white working class in middle America have become the Holy Grail -- a key voting bloc up for grabs in states critical for a White House victory.
With the economy slumping and middle-class voters insecure about rising unemployment and factory closures, the Democratic message of more trade restrictions -- of "fair trade not free trade" -- resonate in heartland states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, where the election could be decided.
But the vote is no sure thing. Blue-collar voters have long eschewed political loyalty in America, gravitating to Republican Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s and Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.
Obama, who would be the first black president, struggled to win white working class voters in Democratic primary contests, and many voters cited race as a concern.
"I'm not sure what we're going to get with Barack Obama, but I'm going to support him, because what's the alternative?" said Hartley, 50, who was a steelworker in this Midwestern state for 15 years before he was disabled on the job.
"This administration (of President George W. Bush) has run up a record high trade deficit while two and a half million manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas," Hartley said. "McCain will just be four more years of Bush."
As Obama and Republican rival John McCain go head-to-head in the race to the November presidential election, the votes of the white working class in middle America have become the Holy Grail -- a key voting bloc up for grabs in states critical for a White House victory.
With the economy slumping and middle-class voters insecure about rising unemployment and factory closures, the Democratic message of more trade restrictions -- of "fair trade not free trade" -- resonate in heartland states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, where the election could be decided.
But the vote is no sure thing. Blue-collar voters have long eschewed political loyalty in America, gravitating to Republican Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s and Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.
Obama, who would be the first black president, struggled to win white working class voters in Democratic primary contests, and many voters cited race as a concern.
-
I can't believe I'm living in a time where Americans might choose a candidate for president who stands for nothing they believe in, and wants to prolong a war that has already killed nearly a million people...all because the guy who shares their beliefs has daker skin?! I don't know whether to laugh or cry!
Login/Registration is required to add a response.
