I'm not sure if it's subtle racism or just plain stupidity, but I am beyond tired of hearing how Obama "can't win the white, working class blue collar voter". I don't know if he can or not. And I don't particularly care. He can win so many other demographics and his campaign can bring together such a wide array of groups that I'm not sure it particularly matters if he wins "white, working class blue collar voters".
From what I understand, the Democrats haven't really won that demographic since LBJ. It should be no more important than any other sliced-diced demographic. A vote from that demographic in Youngstown, Ohio is worth just as much as a young single mom in Cleveland or a highly educated African-American lawyer in Columbus. The focus on that thin demo is, in my humble opinion, not related to it's power as a voting bloc but something much deeper: Fear of a paradigm shift in the American power center.
The white, male working class has traditionally been the center of power in the US electorate. Before women and blacks could vote, it was just about the [i]only[/i] demographic of any size. With the extension of suffrage, the power of white, working males slowly eroded. but the focus on that demographic has not - and the image portrayed in the media is that a failure to "win" that demographic is somehow a serious weakness.
It's not a weakness, any more than the Republicans have a "weakness" because they can't seem to win the middle-class educated female vote. The only reason the media obsesses over it is because it's a vestige of the power structure that so many have tried so hard to maintain, despite its dwindling relevance and its ever-decreasing proportion of the electorate. As the country becomes more diverse and minorities begin to play a larger role in the electoral process, some in the media and many in the Republican party are running scared. It's a subtle challenge to the dominant paradigm.
And it's a challenge that is long overdue.
So I don't know if Obama can beat John McCain in the "working-class white males" demographic (of which I am one). And I don't care. I believe in his leadership. I believe he can bring and end to the slaughter in Iraq. I believe he can bring a paradigm shift in how the public views government. And I believe his ideas and his character can draw more electoral votes in November than John McCain. And that is what I care about.