This American Life this week is all about Pennsylvania, the state I grew up in and believe will go solidly for Obama--but the first segment has really given me pause.
ETA: This is not intended as a "ZOMG THE SKY IS FALLING WE'RE GOING TO LOSE!" kind of diary. This is meant to be a "leave it all on the road" kind of diary.
I'm listening to This American Life on my public radio station in central Illinois today--and it's all about the McCain and Obama campaigns in Pennsylvania. Yeah, if you're a TAL listener, it goes without saying that Ira Glass (whose home station is WBEZ in Chicago) is "in the tank" for Obama. And, yeah, we all think McCain is nuts for trying to flip this state, but the first segment kind of shook me up a little. It's worth a listen--Barack's right, we can't take this state for granted.
Nancy Updike spends time in Scranton with a couple of former Hillary supporters who have flipped to McCain. Lots of coded phrases being flung around--"I just don't know who Obama is and where he comes from." "I just don't trust him." They manage to flip a few Obama supporters who were planning to vote by default...and a pretty significant number of undecided registered Democrats.
The next segment is a bit more hopeful--a remarkable young Penn State mechanical engineering major who has pretty much thrown away a semester to eat, sleep, and breath voter registration, and as a PSU alum I can tell you that State College is smack in the middle of the Alabama part of Pennsylvania. It's a big place, with lots of students from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and everywhere, but also a lot of students from the rural areas ...and the racism (which can be found at any Big Ten university with a big agricultural component and a football team with a national reputation whose (aging, probably should have retired years ago) famous coach is a well-known Republican supporter), if in a low-key kind of way) has a significant, if low-key, presence.
And then there are the unions, the heart and soul of blue-collar Pennsylvania. God bless the unions and their members. Well, have a listen, on your local station or on the TAL website (streaming and podcast are usually up by Monday), and get out the vote. I'll be in PA this coming weekend, it so happens, for my niece's birthday (I visit on this weekend every year), and I'm seriously contemplating whether my mom (former big Hillary fan, now an Obama convert) will part with me for the day not taken up with the birthday party to go out and do some volunteering.