It's tempting, as this diary does, to blame "values-voting" small towns for their own economic fates. After all, they keep voting Republican, the Republicans keep screwing them, and they still keep voting Republican.
But Democrats have been letting small town America down too. Did having Carter, or Clinton in office stop agribusiness from destroying the family farm? Did they stop factory jobs from fleeing overseas? Did the Democratic Congress during Reagan/Bush? I'm not saying the Republicans wouldn't have been worse, but "hey, we won't help you, but we won't hurt you quite as badly" isn't a winning slogan come election day.
For 30 years, wages have stagnated, jobs have fled overseas, and whether you were a farmer in central PA or a steelworker in Pittsburgh, you felt the pain. Economically, it didn't matter who you voted for. Business-as-usual Democrats, and borrow-and-spend Republicans... it didn't matter. So with economics off the table, you were left with either values, or a coin flip.
This is what Barack Obama gets, that no major politician since the New Deal coalition broke up gets. People in dire economic straits, who can't find a decent job, who can't pay their mortgage, who can't pay for health care, who can't send their kids to college - they don't want to hear about how optimistic or hardworking they are. They want better jobs! They want more opportunities! It doesn't matter if they're in a small town, in a big city, on a farm, in a ghetto, or a trailer park.
When was the last time people - not just the rich, not just the upper middle class, but the people who didn't grow up with a trust and a college fund - were given opportunities on a grand scale? I'll tell you when: when liberals ran this country. In the 30 years of liberal rule, starting with FDR and the New Deal, wages in this country doubled. Farm families went from having an outhouse on the property to having a two-car garage. People who had to drop out of highschool to work to support their family could now afford to send their kids to college. People's lives improved dramatically.
In the 30 years of conservative rule that followed (and I include a good number of "moderate" Democrats alongside Republicans here), wages went down, and standards of livings dropped. People who owned their family farm for generations suddenly found themselves a low-paid employee of the agribusiness that drove them under. Or greeting customers at Wal*Mart.
Barack Obama gets that. And I can't think of another big-name politician who does. That's why he's not just going to be our next President; he's going to be one of our great Presidents. We don't need someone who's going to pat poor people on the head and tell them how "resilient" they are from atop an ivory tower paid for in full by big business. We certainly don't need someone who's going to continue the Reagan/Bush/Bush "Kill the Poor" legacy. We need someone who thinks the American Dream should be for everyone, not just people with two SUVs parked out front of their McMansions. Someone who's campaign is supported by ordinary people chipping in $50 and $100, not corporations and lobbyists (hell, practically McCain's whole campaign staff is lobbyists) pouring millions into the campaign coffers and expecting quid pro quo come January.
After Nixon, after Reagan, after Bush, Bush, and more Bush, after the Steel Belt turning to rust, after the family farm being wiped out by agribusiness, after jobs going overseas and nothing but debt coming back, it's time to say enough is enough. It's time for a change in this country. Not just a change in the way politicians campaign; not just a change in the way we frame the issues; but a change in the way this country treats its citizens; a change in the way this country's leadership listens to its citizens; a change in how able we all are to get health care, get a decent education, and put food on our tables. That's change you can believe in.