Much is being made of Barack Obama’s difficulties in appealing to white, working-class voters. Being a stereotypical Obama backer (young, educated, relatively affluent) and a couple generations removed from my working-class roots, I have a hard time understanding this trend. Race is almost certainly a contributing factor, although I’m not convinced that voters wary of Obama’s race are any more likely to vote for a woman in a general election. And this all might be so much media hype. Pennsylvania is in the spotlight and the news networks are looking for an angle to keep people interested in the horse race. Once this primary is over, the press will be stumbling all over themselves to find a new angle.
Except that this particular race, barring something truly unexpected happening, is over. And Obama will have plenty of time to win over lunchpail Democrats, Hispanics, grandmothers, rural folks, and all the other demographic subgroups that are supposed to resent him.
