How Do You Solve a Problem Like Appalachia?

Obama does seem to be suffering from a lack of love in the more rural areas of our great nation. While my initial reaction is to chalk that up to the latent racism that still courses through our nation, their are others that would disagree with me. 

One of those others, Dee Davis recently wrote about this topic from a true insider's perspective, she is the president of the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, KY. One of Ms. Davis' points is how little Obama visited states like West Virginia and Kentucky and how all of those visits were in the larger, urban areas of the state.

I think this links back a bit to my earlier post this week, Family Ties. What we are not comfortable with or what we are ashamed of we tend to try and avoid. Now I know that Obama's mother struggled financially at times, but I don't think he is avoiding these rural voters because he identifies with him from his own past that he is ashamed of. Rather I think that as Davis indicates in her article, he just isn't that comfortable in these parts of the countries.

That is something he has got to get over. Again, Davis makes the point that these voters are ripe for the plucking—they have suffered a lot from the recent economic issues and according to polls are not happy with the direction we are heading as a nation. Obama's best bet is to get out there, show his face and talk to these people, give them a reason to believe in him, because if he doesn't, they likely won't come to him on their own.

The Talking Cure

The GOP, through the efforts of Bush and McCain, are trying to stir up a debate about whether talking to our enemies (countries like Iran, North Korea and Cuba) is a good or bad thing.

Salon's founder, David Talbot, phrased it this way in an article today that seeks to connect this election to the one in 1964:

Is talking with our enemies a sign of strong and intelligent—or weak and deluded—leadership?

Obviously, McCain thinks that talking to them is insane and Obama thinks that it is our best bet.

Talbot cites this quote from John F. Kennedy:

the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient, that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem. 

So, dear readers, what do you think? Is it a danger to talk to our "enemies" or is that the only way to avert disaster?

Beholden

Per radio host Bill Press, who is compiling a list of 101 reasons to NOT vote for John McCain:

#101 

John McCain's connection with Lobbyists. In particular his connection with Thomas Loeffler who recently resigned from McCain's campaign because of his lobbyist connections. 

This is the fourth resignation of this sort in the McCain camp. Isn't this the man that was all about saying he was not beholden to lobbyists?

Family Ties

Life has conspired to keep me from posting, but if I were to be honest I have been avoiding it because I knew I wanted to delve into the personal a bit before segueing into the political. It may not appear this way, but I do try to keep this whole blog adventure on a somewhat non-personal level, but the recent death of my friend's mother and my subsequent experience at the visitation and funeral have made me a bit reflective. So bear with me.

The service was Baptist and in a more rural location. The funeral home that hosted the visitation had several other viewings going on at the same time. It was definitely not my element. The crowd outside the funeral home smoking were a country set to say the least and I was actually a bit uncomfortable and waited to go in until friends showed up. But then a friend, Big T I think it was, made a reference to my father, who most definitely came from a country set. And that got me to thinking on the drive home.

My mom's background was most solidly middle class in a typical 1950s way, at least that is my impression. But my dad's was working class, blue collar poor, no two ways about it. And here I sit in all my WASPy glory conveniently denying that half of my dna is firmly grounded in this working class, poor background. If you were speaking in evolutionary terms, I am merely an amphibian traversing betwixt and between the primordial sludge and dry land. Yet there I was in my skirt and heels looking down my nose at people dressed in jeans and t-shirts, all of us in this place to either mourn or comfort those who are mourning. Frankly, I have no right.

Don't fret, I am bringing this back to the political. So all this self reflection and analysis got me thinking about what parts of ourselves we repress when it comes to political issues—both for the average voters and for those actually running for office. Of course nowadays it is harder than ever to deny bits of your past. In our 24-hour, seven-day a week media world, there is no escaping a camera and a listening ear. The flip side is how much does where we come from influence our political thinking? While there are certainly rich people who are democrats and who want to give back and give a leg up to the poor, there are also plenty of people born to privilege who have no interest in sharing the wealth. And there are people from poorer backgrounds who are solid republicans seemingly unaware that the GOP's tax breaks rarely affect their income.

So what about you? Are there parts of your background that you try to ignore or move past and how has that influenced your political stances?

Last, but Not Least

Oh yeah, John Edwards endorsed Obama. Notably absent from the event in Michigan was Elizabeth Edwards. Perhaps the Edwards' house is split on this decision?

Now, you all know I love me some John Edwards, and in a way I am not surprised by this announcement in the least. I just hope that it has the desired effect, to boost Obama with the white working class voters, that not only seem to lean toward Clinton, but who seemed less than enthused by him in West Virginia earlier this week.

But then again, that may have less to do with the inside of the man, than his outside—unfortunately. And I am afraid that no endorsement is going to combat that.

Ouch!

This one smarts. Obama calls a female reporter sweetie. Not cool.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4STLISLdxi4

Poetically Speaking

This is from the poem, "We Collect Gull Feathers" by Timothy Young:

I want to keep my fingers in my pocket,

because everything moves on here,

except that sweet pain of love that knows

he's growing up to leave me.