Obama Needs White
Blue-Collar Vote

Michael, of Elkins, WV, writes:

If Obama cannot win the white blue-collar vote, he won't win the election.






Editor's Note: According to Chris Cillizza's politics blog in the Washington Post, Obama is being trounced by Hillary Clinton in voting by white blue-collar workers:

"In Kentucky Hillary Rodham Clinton drubbed Obama among the very white working class voters who helped Clinton claim victories in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia."

He points out that in Kentucky, "Among whites with a family income less than $50,000, Clinton received 75 percent of the vote while Obama took just 22 percent."

In Michael's home state of West Virginia, the Washington Post reports that Hillary Clinton received 67% of the vote in the Democratic primary to Obama's 26%. It doesn't break down the voters into racial or economic classes.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

"Running in a state tailored to her strengths -- with a large turnout of white, rural and working-class voters -- Clinton posted one of her biggest winning margins. With nearly all of the vote counted, she was leading Obama 67% to 26%.
. . .
West Virginia's demographics closely matched Clinton's political base. Interviews with voters leaving polling places showed an electorate that was 95% white, less educated and poorer than in most other states. Four in 10 were over age 60, and a little more than half came from rural areas.

Racial attitudes also boosted her performance. About 1 in 5 voters said race influenced their decision, and about 8 in 10 of them backed Clinton."

The LA Times also commented that Obama "appeared just once" in West Virginia, giving him little time to woo voters.