Tennessee might nto go blue this year, but it's won't be because of lack of effort by my mom and other Volunteers like her, who are vocal in their support for Obama.
Thanks, Mom!
Wearing her "I've got a crush on Obama" button (the DNC office was out of "Grannies for Obama"), with her Obama bumper stickers plastered on the truck, and with Obama signs mixed among those for "No Trespassing" and "No Hunting", my mom makes no bones about her politics. A few days ago, out working in the back garden she hears the sound of some people passing by on horseback. "Must be n***r lovers" remarks one of the riders, undoubtedly noticing her "Obama-Biden" sign.
Later, on a trip into town, puttering around in her Honda, she makes a stop. A big truck parks alongside. The driver, a young woman, shouts, "Hey, I love your bumper stickers! I hope he wins!"
From her purely unscientific, anecdotal polling, racism is a wash of 1:1.
So let's hear it for Rednecks for Obama, ya'll.
There will be those who can never accept a candidate like Obama, just as there will be those who could never support a Democrat, and in Tennessee there are plenty of both. Luckily, there are also voters who don't have time for that nonsense and are choosing the candidate who speaks to their concerns. As a former Republican and fellow redneck told me, who became an Obama supporter during the More Perfect Union speech, "I just like how he talks about things that matter."
With massive civic participation across all segments of America, we are about to topple the Right's jingoist juggernaut of exclusion and intimidation. There will be unpleasant consequences of this, reactions to change by those who are threatened by diversity. Take heart, defaced signs don't vote, and ugly comments can't stop change!