History says Obama must reach working-class voters -- Hillary Clinton's stronghold.

[wyldwolf]

IN THE EARLY returns among the young, computer-savvy social networkers on the MySpace website, Barack Obama is running laps around Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama's MySpace page has attracted more than twice as many friends as Clinton's unofficial page on the site.

But when the two leading contenders for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination appeared earlier this month in Washington before a beefy, brush-cut audience at an International Assn. of Fire Fighters convention, the result was reversed. Obama received a tepid response while Clinton blew away the room when she followed him to the stage.

These contrasting responses signal the resurgence of a dynamic that has repeatedly shaped, and frequently decided, the contests for the Democratic presidential nomination over the last generation.

Obama's early support is following a pattern familiar from the campaigns of other brainy liberals with cool, detached personas and messages of political reform, from Eugene McCarthy in 1968 to Gary Hart in 1984 to Bill Bradley in 2000. Like those predecessors, Obama is running strong with well-educated voters but demonstrating much less support among those without college degrees.

That trend may be exaggerated at the moment by the fact that Obama, a relative newcomer, is better known among better-educated voters, and it could be mitigated in the future by his potential appeal to African Americans. But it is not a pattern Obama can allow to harden. All of the candidates whose support fit that profile ultimately lost the nomination to rivals whose support was rooted in the blue-collar and minority communities where Clinton is strongest in early surveys.

"Obama has got to expand his base in order to be consistently competitive," said Bill Carrick, a veteran Democratic strategist not affiliated with any of the 2008 candidates.

Since the 1960s, Democratic nominating contests regularly have come down to a struggle between a candidate who draws support primarily from upscale, economically comfortable voters liberal on social and foreign policy issues, and a rival who relies mostly on downscale, financially strained voters drawn to populist economics and somewhat more conservative views on cultural and national security issues.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-op-brownstein25mar25,1,5952645.column?coll=la-headlines-suncomment&ctrack=1&cset=true

[sasha031]

1. Hillary for the working class

:puffpiece:

she is all DLC through and through,I am amazed she has the support she has, I think she's scary.

[Colobo]

4. The article is condescending to the working class

It basically says Obama is liked by educated people and Hillary is liked by the working class (which, for instance, are "not educated").

What kinda elitist crap is that?

[sasha031]

17. did you notice the jewelry she was wearing during the health debate?

worth a few million, oh ya she's one of us.
i found her crass also, with her education she lacks class..

I will Never Forgive her for going on the idiot box saying Kerry should apologize to the troops, i cried over that one. If there is anyone who sincerely support the troops it's John Kerry, how many bills has he put out to bring the troops home Now, with No support.

Imus said she is the most evil woman in the world, now I never agree with Imus on much of anything, but he got me there.

[renaissanceguy]

18. Right. What has she done for the common people,

compared to Obama? I don't recall hearing about her working in Southside Chicago neighborhoods, one on one with people.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues

[bigdarryl]

2. More bullshit, it's an opinion buy one person this race hasn't even started yet talk to me in Jan 08

then i will believe this opinion piece.

[dionysus]

3. precisely

n/t

[MGKrebs]

11. Then why are you even paying attention to this and responding?

Sheesh. Do as I say...

[Solo_in_MD]

5. I don't agree that the working class is lined up behind Hillary

{erja[s that is because of the serious Dem candidates, she is lowest on my list

[BayCityProgressive]

6. Hillary scares me

I think The Bush family and the Clinton's both serve a lot of special interests and big players behind the scenes. The power players who really run this country.

[Solo_in_MD]

9. She could make it a hard choice for some of us...

[Omaha Steve]

7. The race has already started

It most likely be over by next March. I will support the nominee. But there will be a lot up ups and downs between now and then.

[hedgehog]

8. This is valid only if one assumes that the Int'l Assn. of Fire Fighters

is representative of the working class.

Also, Barack Obama cool and detached? Not the man I see giving speeches!

[madrchsod]

10. oh, please hillary for the working class?

i can`t remember one young republican who ever was a working class hero...or maybe she got down with the working class at wellesley

[Beacho]

12. working-class voters -- Hillary Clinton's stronghold

:spray:

[HughBeaumont]

13. Mrs "Outsourcing will continue" Hillary? THAT hero of the working class?

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GC01Df03.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/538674.cms

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/03/ldt.00.html

You know, we cannot close our borders. We have to be smarter about competing. We have, more enforceable trade agreements. But we also have to attract jobs from around the world. And you know, we are still the biggest market with the greatest potential for growth for businesses from literally every corner of the world.

Gee, smells like N Greg Mankiw, not a populist.

[zulchzulu]

14. Check Obama's voting record regarding labor

Not too shabby... funny...this is nowhere in the article...hmmm...

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 94 percent in 2006.

2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 100 percent in 2005-2006.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers 100 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 92 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the United Auto Workers 93 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 92 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers 100 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Worker 100 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 100 percent in 2005.

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Federation of Government Employees 100 percent in 2005.

2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois AFL-CIO 89 percent in 2003.

2001 On the votes that the Illinois AFL-CIO considered to be the most important in 2001, Senator Obama voted their preferred position 89 percent of the time.

1999 On the votes that the Illinois AFL-CIO considered to be the most important in 1999, Senator Obama voted their preferred position 92 percent of the time.

http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=BS030017

[Colobo]

15. Good stuff!

[thoughtcrime1984]

16. I am educated AND working class

Obama for President!

[PVnRT]

19. Funny. I've actually worked with "working class" people

and most of them are the type that think that Hillary is a first-class bitch on wheels.

Of course, I'm just another one of them college-educated liberals who's ruining the party. I should just shut up and support Hillary now, as all good Democrats should, and quit asking questions or having opinions of my own.