. . . and the Obama campaign knows it. The reporter from this piece does not appear to think that this is good news for Mr. Obama--nevermind his dismissive remarks at the end where he speculates that their less than adoring reception of Obama stems from a lack of melanin and college degrees. I hope that the Obama campaign continues to think like this reporter and that it continues to act accordingly. No wonder people are tired of him.
Now, it seems that he is having a particularly rough time in the Southeastern part of the state (Zanesville, especially) where people just aren’t buying whatever it is that Obama seems to be selling. On the other hand, that section of the state is not a Republican stronghold--just ask Deborah Pryce. This is Bob Ney’s old district and Jack Space’s current one. There is room for McCain to make some inroads there among the undecideds.
One thing McCain should remember to do when he does go there is to make sure that as many people who want to attend his event can do so. And he should speak about energy or something that people in that area actually care about. I discovered while visiting a couple weeks ago that Obama’s big speech delivered in Zanesville on his version of the "Faith Based Initiative" was an invitation only event and included all of 25 people. Moreover, people in Zanesville (at least those who were not among the 25) are about as interested in a faith-based initiative as they are in salt on Mars. There’s nothing wrong with doing an invitation only event and, of course, there’s nothing wrong with a sensible response from the government to faith-based charity efforts . . . but Zanesville isn’t Columbus and a visit from a Presidential candidate is no small thing. It was a big deal to them and Obama blew it. After his big speech, there was a sense in Zanesville that they had been used to showcase an issue that isn’t even on their top 20 list. McCain would do well to correct and profit from Obama’s mistake.
Yes, yes of course, Julie - I'm sure that Obama's lack of melanin will have no detrimental impact on his chances of getting votes in the Zanesville area. Another place where racism is long dead, surely!
Obama might have to contend with people tiring of him, but that's probably a better situation to be in than one where nobody was ever excited about you in the first place and the base has been reluctant, at best, to warm up to the notion of you as their candidate, as is the case with McCain.
The Ohio Congressman you're referring to is Zack (not Jack) Space, and while his merits might be many, one can hardly blame his district's constituents from giving him a chance over the scandal-ridden Ney, who actually dropped out of the race only to be replaced by Joy Padgett, who was herself mired by connections to Ney and her own dodgy business dealings, and the Ohio GOP's overall problems, which could hardly be ignored.
On the whole, however, southeast Ohio is a pinkish hue, and Muskingum county went for Dubya by 16 points over Kerry, and nearly all other SE Ohio counties went similarly in 2004.
How else to put it? With a little help from the racists in that region, SE Ohio should go for McCain.
Craig, you are right about it being Joy Padgett and not Deborah Pryce and also Zack and not Jack Space. That was some sloppy accounting of the facts on my part--relying, as I should never do, on my poor memory alone. But, if you want to go there, I don't think you said what you meant to say when you said Obama lacked melanin. I think melanin's got very little to do with it either way--though, obviously, there will always be some Cretans for whom it is very important. I don't think SEO or the Republican party has a lock on those folks either. Indeed, I tend to see more of them among Dems . . . but maybe that's just me. Still, mistaken or not in my accounting of the details, I think my interpretation of true political character of SEO is more to the point than yours.
Of course, I should have said the amount or how much melanin Obama has, rather than "lack" per se. Got tied up in linking to the URLs.
Of course you see more racists among the Dems, and you probably also haven't noticed any corruption among Ohio's Republicans, either.
I have at least eight relatives in Ohio. 2 of them who have been Republican as long as I can remember (one of whom lives in Marietta) have stated their disgust with the GOP in the last 3-4 years, partly due to GWB, and partly due to the seemingly endless scandals of the Ohio GOP. None of them indicated a shift from Dem to GOP. Of course that's just one anecdote...
You must have selective memory. I have no secret love for the antics of the Ohio GOP. On the contrary, I blame them for the damage they have done to the good name of other Republicans who, through no fault of their own, suffer their consequences.