I just woke up this morning after sleeping for 13 hours :)  I’m feeling pretty good this morning and wanted to send one last post from Pennsylvania before heading home.  We should all congratulate ourselves for everything that has been done to push this campaign forward.  Whether we phone banked, emailed friends, talked about why Hillary should be our next president, or kept our Hillraisers meetup group together by talking and planning and discussing — everything we have done is what has made this campaign in PA a success.
 
I wanted to comment on a myth that is perpetuated by the media and other individuals:
 
White voters in Pennsylvania didn’t vote for Barack because of reasons of race or that they do not want change:
 
This is simply not true.  The vast number of voters that have turned out for the Democrats clearly demonstrate that voters DO WANT CHANGE.  Barack has not clearly communicated the type of change he plans — his message has come across as more of a vision and a feeling than a plan.  Voters need to have a compelling reason to vote for a candidate.  The majority of voters in Pennsylvania did not have a compelling reason to vote for Barack. Most people we spoke with (white and Black) had a very good perspective of Barack and Hillary and did not at all seem to have a problem with his being Black.  In fact, most of the voters believed either candidate would be better than John McCain and were not shy about saying this.  However, the reasons for voting for Hillary were very compelling to the voters in Pennsylvania, especially the working class.  These are the people who want a clear message addressing the issues of our economy, jobs, national security, and health care.  Barack’s message did not connect with these voters.  His was a message of change without specifics and hope without solutions.  Hillary provided a very clear point-by-point statement of her plans for the economy, health care, jobs, and national security, and people in PA were able to understand and trust her message.  In addition, I cannot overemphasize how much these people love Bill Clinton and believe Hillary will stand up for Pennsylvania the way Bill did and offer the kind of change that will directly benefit the people of PA.  African Americans in PA and throughout our country have a very strong compelling reason to vote for Barack.  Our country has been so torn apart by issues of race, and African Americans have carried the greater burden with high numbers living under the poverty level and suffering all the ills that come with poverty — crime, poor nutrition, poor health care, unstable communities with little outside support.  African Americans struggling to join the middle class have all experienced the hardship and history of injustice.  These issues are absolutely compelling reasons for the African American community to vote for Barack and elect the first African American president.
 
My point is that the reasons for voting for Hillary were not based on racial or ethnic distrust but simply because the reasons to vote for Hillary were more compelling to white voters who do not share the life experience of African American voters — an experience that provided a more compelling reason for African Americans to vote for Barack.
 
One other point I would like to make is that working class people most likely are more compelled to vote for a candidate with a stated plan about the economy because it is what can drastically alter their lifestyles.  Health care is very closely connected to a healthy economy because it is what they will not be able to afford if they lose their jobs.  Higher income voters (who are more likely to have a higher level of education) are able to be drawn to a statement of hope or inspiration because, in the end, their lifestyles will not be as drastically altered during the ups and downs of the economy, and being more financially secure enables a person to vote based on who “speaks to their heart” rather than someone who speaks to the issues.
 
I realize all of this is based on generalizations and certainly cannot be applied to every individual within the demographics, but I do believe it is an injustice to all of us to attribute Barack’s lack of success among the working class to those people not wanting to vote for an African American, and Barack has done very little to dispell this myth.  My concern is that the perception of this election being about a racially divided country is inaccurate and does nothing to bring us together.  I also am concerned because the media enjoy much more lively viewer ratings when they create the story line, and I think that goes on every day.
 
Thanks again everyone!!!  We did good here and now we have lots more work ahead of us.
 
Keeping phoning for Hillary!!! It helps!!! Indiana is going to need a huge number of people on the phones — we’ll be outspent again but we have the better candidate and, hands down, we have a harder working group of volunteers.
 
Go Hillary!!!!!!!!
 
Cathy Wittel

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