"stupid crackers" works well.

hicks?

By-the-grace-of-God-too-fucking-stupid-to-figure-out-how-to-vote works for me.

"ancient fucktards"

Speaking as a native of the Alabama part of PA, and I gotta tell ya, it's a whole 'nuther world from Washington. I actually am confident Obama will win PA, but it will be a heck of a lot closer and harder than it has to be.

My mother has a friend* who's a retired English professor from one of PA's state teachers' colleges, and this friend has all kind of virulent, half-crazy, easily-verified-to-be-mistaken theories about Obama. To think that this woman actually taught at an institution of higher learning is, well, unnerving.

* Oh, I should say, my mother had said friend. There was one incident of Obama hatred post-PA primary with this friend that I think was the last straw as far as my mom is concerned.

Dan is from the heartland, so he should know outside the urban archipelago, these voters can be described as EVERYFUCKINGBODY!

This is what I don't understand: the people in this story went out of their way to vote for a democrat, and a woman at that. So I would think they would have to be relatively progressive. So how is it such a huge number of these people not only end their progressive ideology at race, but would go as far as to vote against their party (not to mention their interests)?

I know, I'm trying to apply logic to white americans. I'll go ahead and ask what is the meaning of life while I'm at it...

I don't personally know one single one of these morons. They seem to be everywhere in the media, but where are they in real life?

Kind of like how utter ignoramus anti-WTO protesters were all over the TV, or the stupidest clown on the block was always the guy representing the anti-war protesters on CNN. Kind of like that wackjob Hillary fan that was all over the news on the last night of vote counting.

This is confirmation bias. It's your pit bull stories biting you in the ass: an editor tells reporters to go out and find somebody colorful, and the look and look until they find somebody that makes a big impression. It's hype.

I'm from Chicago, which voters from the HEARTLAND regard as a another New York City or LA rudely plunked down in their midst. They don't much care for Kansas City neither.

The trouble is that the subset of white working-class Americans dumb enough to cop to 30s-era racial views isn't really representative of the nation as a whole. Who we should be worried about is Nixon's silent majority, who would never publicly admit to racist views but who will nevertheless find a way not to vote for Obama. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know how just large this group is until after the election.

These are EXACTLY the people that have me quivering in abject terror now that Obama is the nominee. The overt (and slient-but-deadly) racists. These people stand between us and a Supreme Court that won't open up a can of whoop-ass on progressives. These people are why I felt HRC was more electable.

Of course, the knee-jerk HRC-haters would have had me in the same place if she had won...given their gender/race, each candidate had a weirdsville contingent that was against them for the most ridiculous reasons.

I just hope to god this crowd comes around enough to vote the right way, or at least stay home and not vote the wrong way. Fucking freaks.

Another observation based on my PA roots...

I'll tell you what really makes me scoff about the Erica C. Barnett contingent's constant carping about this endemic wall of sexism that Hillary had to overcome. It runs completely against everything I've heard, especially from my home state.

Won't vote for a woman? The ignorant people where I come from have by and large embraced Hillary as one of their own--and voted for her. These are the same folks who have by and large embraced Gov. Ed Rendell (a Jew) as one of their own--and voted for him.

Of course, Hillary faced Obama in her election. And Rendell faced Lynn Swann (black guy) in his election. So yeah, you could say they both had home-court advantage as the lesser of two evils.

Maybe I could make my point better this way: I just haven't witnessed the wild animosity towards Hillary in PA that I have witnessed against Obama.

I think I'm digressing...

Friday I had drinks in Vancouver (WA) with a white middle aged woman lawyer who is flirting with voting for McCain now that Clinton is out of the race - she cites Obama's lack of experience and not race and I believe her. The problem will be a combination of forces - closet racists and right wing conservatives and so called "independants" who mistakenly believe McCain republicans will return to small government. Disenchanted Clinton democrats, too.

If he's 72, he was only 20 in 1956, right? I guess if his birthday is between now and November it makes sense. Hard to believe he wouldn't remember that George Wallace vote in '68 that put Nixon in the White House, though.

the people in this story went out of their way to vote for a democrat, and a woman at that. So I would think they would have to be relatively progressive.

There's your mistake right there. The Democratic Party is a conglomerate of many voting constituencies, not all of which you would ever consider "progressive". Plenty of old-school Democrats would downright repulse you with their ideas.

And I agree with cressona@13 - I can completely imagine the old folks in my Rust Belt hometown coming out for a white female candidate in droves long before voting for someone the same color as those scary folks down the street.

er, cressona@11

my best friend from high school, an early 30s liberal woman who lives in pittsburgh told me she'd never vote for Obama because he's muslim. I, a hillary supporter (this was during their primary), tried as hard as I might to set her straight about that. She told me that regardless, he wouldn't wear a flag pin or say the pledge of allegiance so she wouldn't vote for him. I said, uh I wouldn't say the pledge of allegiance, neither of us ever did in school or since. She said "well we aren't running for president". I said, if anything not saying the pledge would make me like him more, she said "I wouldn't vote for us either". Luckily, I know Pennsylvania through and through, and I still have some months to set these people straight.

I predict, come November, PA won't be purple ... it will be Blue.

I guess Mr. Miller doesn't like his government subsidized room very much since he's so eager to vote it away.

@11 but these are also the people who put Tom Ridge in the Governor's seat and Rick Santorum in the Senate.

But they also like familiarity. Which is why Arlen Specter is still around and Casey (legacy) and Rendell are comfort food.

Aren't these "white, working class" voters that every everyone's wringing their hands over the ones that usually vote Republican anyways? You know, the "family values", anti-choice, single-issue vote-against-your-own-best-interest types?

ok im going to keep talking PA. So also I think the problem isn't the Pennsyltucky part of the state, those folks are going Red no matter what. Its the burbs. Philly is a dem stronghold, but the southern sections of the city have major race problems, and the burbs are well off families who don't like taxes. In Pittsburgh the city is all blue, but the burbs are lots of white work class union folks who like to vote R when the curtain is closed.

Good point, Fnarf @13. The voting age in '56 was 21, not 18.

And @16: If you're going to debunk things, debunk them all (and well). He does say the pledge of allegiance, the claim that he doesn't is a total fabrication. And he, um, unfortunately has caved on the lapel pin issue (one of the most amazingly stupid contrived reasons to oppose someone I've ever seen...and we've seen some whoppers just this year!).

I dont really comment here often anymore but i still love reading the posts and comments here whenever possible...I had to pop my head up to respond to #7. How many people do you know who voted for bush? I was liveing in motherfucking northern georgia and working in young harris I belive it could have been north carolina (border town). it was the home of zell miller..A hell of alot of bush/cheny stickers and flyers..however except for the guy I bought weed from no one I SOCIALIZED with were voteing for bush. i was hanging out and working at a small college up there. I think the reason is other then said dealer, demo's and repubs have wildly different intrests....just because it seems like your friends WHO GO OUT belive in one thing doesint mean your in the majority, crazy churchgoing shut ins are.

I have noticed I get along with montana people who happen to be republicans, maybe it's the libertarian nature...I dont know if georgians are salvigible but obama might win over some western whites with a little triangulation. maybe emphizing a balanced budget above all else

i digrisse

Wake me when Erica comments on this. She probably won't because it seems like racism doesn't bother her as much as sexism.

Umm...here's how you tell the ass-tard white midwesterners from the normal ones. Just ask if they live in a city of greater than 50,000. Speaking as an Ohio resident (of the most backward kentucky-esque part of the state), I made careful note that Obama took EVERY urban county handily in OH, even dominating among white urban voters. It's the urban-rural thing, y'all.

Hillary won PA not because those folks in the middle of the state like her, but because they like her husband. They know he can't run again, and figured she would be the next best thing because he could pull her strings. Add running against that "colored muslim" and the results were easy to predict.

If the voters in the corners of the state turn out (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton-Wilkes Barre, and Erie), PA will go blue in Nov. Otherwise...well, who knows?

@21, actually, suburban Pittsburg is mostly middle- to upper-class, professional, white, and Republican - except for the suburbs right outside the city (Allegheny County is weird in that it has a ton of tiny, independent municipalities that ring the city proper). The outer suburbs of Pittsburgh almost always go Republican. The inner suburbs are almost all poor or working class, and about 3/4 of them are predominantly African-American.

I was born there, went to public school there, and then the University of Pennsylvania. Have spent a lot of time in Philadelphia, and in the middle of Hick Nowhere.

Racism is alive and kicking there, take my word for it, you moss-covered liberal tree-huggers. There's an assload of pickleheaded types that Hillary did so well with (the hard-working white folk!) that would dismantle their gun rack before voting for some dark person.

"cunty"

Uh, I hate to point out the obvious but seventy-year-olds aren't the working class no matter what their race is. They're retirees. As in out of the working class for close to a decade if they retired at 62. I think the under 65 crowd is probably a bit more liberal and a lot less senile than the two twits who's opinions were sited.

Dan: are your relatives all Chicagoans, too? White, working class voters who hail from a Democratic fiefdom which also used to be Obama's stomping grounds, and live in a state which Obama currently represents in the Senate, probably aren't the most representative sample for the question at hand.

Some of us clinton supporters were disgusted by the spineless Democrats superdelegates for not supporting Clinton even she has been wining most of the primaries in the last few months. Hell with Obama I and some of us are just gonna stay the fuk home.

We'll re-defeat Obama in November!

There is never any shortage of half-wits, and you can easily find one of them willing to voice a hopelessly outlandish and uninformed POV. And there isn't a thing any of us can do about it. One can only hope that this type of stupidity dies off sooner rather than later and that its offspring (of which I'm sure there are plenty) are more enlightened and better equipped to handle modern life.

Hey whatever stupid reasons these people have for not voting Obama it's their right. Hopefully they'll be canceled out by the right wing Repubs who equally dislike McCain and stay home.

Like the other PA refugees here I'll just agree that racism is alive and kicking in our home state. And it isn't just in the mountains there in the middle. You'll find it alive and well in the cities as well. Blue collar, white collar, whatever It's there.

Obama may make it close in Pennsy but I don't think there's any way he wins the state.

lets hope bob barr pulls a perot (miricles do happen)

@ Odrama: Barack won 33 primaries to Clinton's 21 in the popular vote and in the delegate count. He won more than twice as many contests by margins over 30% than Clinton did. He won the popular vote overall by any rational count. He lead in the elected delegate count by a substantial margin even after the last few contests.

Tell me why her winning most of the primaries in the last few months should lead the superdelegates to vote for Hillary? Tell me why the superdelegates should not, instead, have committed themselves to Barack after he won 12 primaries in a row.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2008_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries

Should have asked these questions before. Now it's too late. Fucktards!

It's interesting that Hillary lost almost ALL contests in states where caucus determine pledged delegates. Obama was able to build on those momentum and won 12 primaries in a row. I know Obama is great at organizing but it's hard to imagine he could carry every caucus state except one whereas the primary it's more evenly split between him and Hillary.

"hard to imagine he could carry every caucus state except one"
Because the freaking caucuses were over ran by Obamatons. Even with all the cheatings Odrama still can't win without the stupid super delegates. Tells you just how strong of a candidate Odrama is.

@33: "There is never any shortage of half-wits, and you can easily find one of them willing to voice a hopelessly outlandish and uninformed POV."

Correct. See @31 and @40.

Do any of you loonies even have any proof of all of this "cheating" you accuse Obama of?

And who cares if the caucuses were "overrun" by Obama supporters? Isn't that the fucking point?

I am from rural Pa and still have family there, and not only is racism a factor, but also a strong negative feeling about elites. Anyone who is articulate and talks in complexities is seen as a, and I quote my mother here, "mucky-muck". My grandmother hated John Kerry and his sailing friends, and voted for Bush twice against her own economic interests. She hates the educated, which is a strange thing, because she was a nurse and encouraged and helped financially both her daughter and her grandchildren to go to college. I think that there is a fear of being looked down on, and an absolute disgust for a government that wants to help and for the people who accept that help. Hillary talks in a self referential way and I think that this helps certain people to relate to her. Obama talks more abstractly, and although I find him very inspiring, and get goose bumps every time I hear him speak, I am sure that many hear a superior tone that frightens them.