"They" would never support Obama..."They" would all remember that Hillary lost and hold a grudge. Who is "they" and why did anyone think this? The "they" is Scioto County Democrats and last night at the Scioto County Democrats dinner it was crystal clear: Scioto County Democrats have proved the chattering class wrong. Our local Democratic Party Chair, Randy Basham made it clear that his support for Obama was enthusiastic. But the best endorsement came from Charlie Wilson who replaces Ted Strickland in the 6th congressional district. Incidentally, I've said on here many times before whyScioto County and the rest of Southeastern Ohio matter. I've also been reporting on how strong the volunteer effort has been at Scioto County Democratic Party Headquarters.
Before the dinner began I had a chance to meet and chat for a few moments with Charlie Wilson. Needless to say, he isn't particularly impressed with his colleague, Michelle Bachman.
Charlie Wilson is cut more or less from the same cloth as Ted Strickland, and that means he is basically a centrist Democrat who tends to be mildly culturally conservative-though not anti choice.
Wilson (and Ted) may be a bit to the right of what some us at Daily Kos view as the ideal Democrat. For example, Wilson and Ted want to build more coal fired power plants and develop clean coal technology (I've heard Obama say similar things too). But to be fair, Wilson is not blind to the need to protect the environment. Scioto County is under enormous pressure to develop jobs. It's my own view that the right path to jobs in Scioto County is more alternative energy and conversion. That said, I think I agree with them on guns-gun control is and has been both a stupid and misdirected issue and also a losing issue.
But Charlie Wilson, like Ted (both of whom were strong Hillary supporters) have done a lot to help Obama and they deserve our praise for this. I've got a strong difference on this point with Ohiobama. I'll take a moderate Democrat any day of the week over a rightwing nutjob from Minnessota. If what we end up with as a reconstituted and revivified Ohio Democratic Party is a coalition between Progressive Democrats like Sherrod Brown and moderate Democrats like Wilson and Strickland I think we have to understand how far that moves things forward in Ohio. We've already seen the benefit of having a moderate Democratic governor in Ohio on educational issues and now especially, in fighting back against voter suppression.
As I walked out the door last night and shook Charlie Wilson's hand I thanked him for his support of Obama.
"I meant every word" Charlie said enthusiastically.
"Yes, I know you did" I said back.
While I'm on the topic let me also say a word about Victoria Wulsin. The Second Congressional District (Mean Jean Schmidt's)in which Wulsin is running as well as the Wilson's 2nd Congressional Districts both incorporate parts of Scioto County. Wilson's goes North and Schmidt's goes west towards Cincinnatti. Personally, I think Wulsin can and will do well here in Scioto County and Portsmouth-but she's going to need a lot of help down near Cincinnatti. So if you live in the Second District, be sure to help her out.
OK-now I have something to say. There are probably at least three kinds of Democrats in Scioto County. There are the old Union Democrats (the best kind IMO), the moderate-conservative Democrats and the liberal-environmental-anti-war Democrats (there's not a lot of us in Scioto County). In other words, the Democratic Party here reflects the Democratic Party elsewhere in the country. We liberal Democrats have not done a whole lot to get involved in the County Democratic Party. Well, this election cycle I've seen that the Democratic Party here is willing to work with us. I've seen great unity and understanding as former Hillary backers and Obama backers pulled together. And I've been impressed as hell as the Union Democrats and Moderate Democrats pulled together with the few liberal Democrats and all pulled for Obama.
So, if you are in southeastern Ohio-and especially in Scioto County or Pike County: Get your ass down to your county headquarters. Ask Froggy (Pike County) and Richard (Scioto County) what you can do to help. Speaking for myself, I need at least 10 more people just to help me with GOTV for my turf.
Also, a short canvasing update about my most frustrating canvas encounters and what we need to do to close the deal. I'll give you a composite sketch of what we call a "3" voter (undecided).
The "voter" is male or female, 40'ish to 50'ish, probably in the 50-100 grand annual income range (which is high for Scioto County)and have been to college. He or she is moderately pro-choice and does not want to ban abortion. They are angry about the last 8 years and don't believe McCain will do anything to change the direction of the country. They say they will probably vote for Obama and think he will probably win. But they aren't sure they will vote for Obama or if they will even vote. They are as one potential voter put it to me "a little bit bent" on politics. They think their taxes will go up regardless of who is elected. They've heard about Obama's supposed extreme position on abortion and are concerned about Jeremiah Wright and Acorn. In my conversations with them I haven't detected any racism or rejection of Obama because he is black. But for some reason, the deal isn't closed for them. There isn't anything they can put their finger on that would change things.
These are the voters that will make the difference and these are the people we need to reach