Campaign Craziness

Virginia is the place to be for this election season! I saw a quote in someone's gchat status the other day: "Obama can win without Virginia but with Virginia he can't lose!" Since I've been here, I've canvassed for VA-2 and VA-5. Both are likely Republican keeps, but the Danville Register and Bee endorsed Periello today.

Maybe it's just because I'm surround by Obama people all day, but I'm feeling really hopeful about this election so long as we keep knocking doors, making calls, and driving folks to the polls.

“Don’t believe for a second this election is over. Don’t think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.” - Barack Obama

"There are times when you are simply required to be impolite."

I've been on a bit of a West Wing binge lately and this Sorkin-imagined conversation between Pres. Bartlet and Sen. Obama definitely hits the spot.

Ralph Stanley for President?

Bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley just endorsed Barack Obama during a campaign stop in Lebanon, Virginia. If you don't know who Ralph Stanley is, you might be an eltist. In addition to all of his amazing banjo pickin', Stanley also sang "O Death" in the Cohen brother's film O Brother Where Art Thou? This endorsement really could go a long way with Appalachian voters.

O'Biden

I don't have television, so I just now got to watch Biden's speech thanks to Politico and I don't have too much to add to the blogosphere. But I'm very impressed with the way in which Biden has already addressed both his social connections to McCain and his previous (merited) criticism of Obama. I really hope that they electorate can see that Obama is still holding on to those politics of change when he is willing to surround himself with principled, experienced critics.

On to Denver.

"Appalachia, ideologically, is at war with itself."

My hometown newspaper, The Roanoke Times, has a great package today about Appalachian voters and Obama's chances in Virginia.

Pundits and bloggers, myself included, have already spilled a lot of digital ink about how to swing rural mountain voters one way or the other. This is important to both campaigns, but I don't know what I can say that hasn't already been said. I would like to point out, however, how the Times' piece tries to balance coverage of people in Appalachia. Yes, a lot of us still operate under the misunderstanding that Obama is Muslim. A lot of us are racist. A lot of us are disenchanged. And, yes, a lot of us are bitter.

But as I've moved even farther back up into the mountains, I am also reminded how people here would give you the shirt off their back, cut you a deal on rent you can't afford, and carry out a million other small acts of kindness. In sum, Appalachian voters are people, too - people who seem to have gotten a shorter end of the stick than those voters who don't worry as much about Obama's racial background. People in poverty who are racist or too busy feeding their families to pay attention to politics don't deserve to be exploited, either.

And if you think that considering how to cover these voters without being condescending, just ask Obama what sort of electoral risks that attitude carries.

Broad Side of a Barn

Maybe rural America never needed Edwards in the first place; we've got Obama:

My Money is on Wes Clark

I very nearly drank the Kaine kool-aid when it came to Obama's VP pick but now that the Associated Press has released the themes for the Democratic Convention, I really think it's going to be Gen. Clark. The VP's night is "Securing America's Future." Those who obsessively read about this race, like myself, will note that is the motto of Gen. Clark's PAC. I can't imagine a better nod to the Clintonistas without the choice actually being HRC herself. Gen. Clark is also white and a man. It would be a shame to leave those folks out from under our big tent.

Clark was my original choice back in 2004 when he wowed me at Tudor's Biscuit World in Roanoke, so I may be a little biased, but I really can't imagine anyone better to counter McCain's accusations of inexperience (other than Sen. Webb who has very publicly said "No, thank you").

Hunting for Rural Votes

Mudcat Saunders, my favorite political operative, has been getting a lot of press lately given the buzz surrounds us rural voters these days. As much as it pains me to say it, The Weekly Standard offers a great profile and fairly unbiased rundown of "Mudcat Math" and his subsequent rural strategy. Mudcat asserts that getting a Republican to vote Democratic is a "twofer" because the other guys lose a vote at the same time we win one. Pretty simple, huh? Matt Labash also discusses Sen. Jim Webb's idea that bringing black city voters and white rural ones to the same table has a lot of promise because we share so many problems. Labash, however, incorrectly states that we "couldn't be more divorced culturally." I would just like to point out our mutual love of friend chicken and the fact that the banjo came from Africa and gave rise to country and blues. Combine those superficial similarities with the government's failure to address poverty for whites or blacks, and maybe you could have a winning ticket, according to rural politicians like Mudcat and Webb. 

Over at The New Republic, Isaac Chotiner finds Mudcat to be furthering stereotypes of both Northern and Southern Democrats. Chotiner suggests Republicans have just as many elitists as the Democratic Party, and he's right. What he fails to notice, however, is that Mudcat (and other yellow dog Democrats down here) realizes the Democratic Party is much more likely to eventually embrace Bubba rather than just ridicule him. To paraphrase Jesus, I don't care about the elitism of the other party when mine has such a large plank in it's own eye. Chotiner's criticism that Mudcat condescends to his own people as much as Washington types doesn't really hold much water, either. After so many years of our culture being degraded, of course we're going to be just a little afraid untrustworthy politicians are going to throw out the guns with the gun show loophole. 

As far as Obama and the rural race question go, the numbers in the Weekly Standard (ironically) provide some hope. The same number of voters in West Virginia and New York both claimed race was a factor in their decision (20 percent). I contend that Clinton's good showing in the rural south, especially the mountain south, has more to do with organization than race. The Clintons are (were?) the organization and when you can remember a time the organization saved your butt after a mine accident, you might be more inclined to vote the organization ticket. I think if he showed up, ready to learn about rural culture like Mark Warner during his famous hunting trip, Obama could stand a real chance in the Fightin' Ninth and other Appalachian districts.  

Finally, I would like to pose a question: Why is it noble or praiseworthy when upper-middle class liberals vote their conscience and against their economic interests but when hicks do it, we're just showing our ignorance? 

That Makes Both WV Senators for Obama

Sen. Byrd once again proves himself to be a pragmatic, if occasionally sleepy, Democrat with his recent endorsement of Obama: "Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support."

Now if only the rest of Appalachia could follow Senators Byrd and Rockefeller's lead in the general election.