Clinton plays the "Midwestern Values" card

The latest pandering from Senator Clinton:

"I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in America and its policies," she said. "Now, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it's a matter of constitutional right. Americans who believe in God believe it's a matter of personal faith.

"I grew up in a church-going family, a family that believed in the importance of living out and expressing our faith. The people of faith I know don't 'cling' to religion because they're bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich.

"Our faith is the faith of our parents and our grandparents. It is a fundamental expression of who we are and what we believe."

A little about myself...

I spent the first 25 years of my life in southeast Michigan, in a small residential town of about 15,000 that was home to auto workers for the big 3 and their suppliers, teachers, firefighters, policemen, etc.  The area is probably about as blue collar, middle class as you can get, but needless to say it is struggling right now.  I have since moved to the Bay Area for work, which is home of latte-sipping, Prius-driving elitists people apparently full of Midwestern values since Clinton won both this state, along with New York, also well-known for its Midwestern values.  

I will show my blog age by noting this, but Atrios used to have a running feature on his blog called "Bobo's World" named after David Brooks. Very Serious members of the media like David Brooks want to put the people from "The Heartland" on a pedestal, even though they know nothing about them or what their lives are like.  Bobo's World is the fantasy of the 1950s in that everything is simple, wholesome, and moral. Atrios would post news articles of atrocities happening in the heartland, such as drugs,serial killers, murders, and general ridiculousness to highlight that just because you live in a certain region of the country, you are not special and that Brooks and the rest of the media are idiots for pretending that a geographical region represents all that is right with America.

My folks still live in Michigan, so I get news updates every week.  Here are some shining examples of Midwestern values that have gone in the past few years:
* a girl I went to high school with was knocked up by one of teacher's in our school district
* A former teacher of mine was fired for getting a little too touchy with some female students
* Our neighbor, along with his roommate, were murdered in their house by 3 teenagers.  The teenagers were after $2000 cash and cigarettes.  They burned down the house in an attempt to cover up the evidence.
* A few years before this, a block away, a woman was murdered and the case is unsolved.
* a childhood friend of mine is now a drug addict who splits his time between jail and rehab.

My intent here is not to bash my hometown, but to show that this notion of "Midwestern values" is just nothing but nonsense.  I have not lived in very many different regions in the U.S., but I have visited many and people are generally the same everywhere.  They are trying to get by on what they have and want the best for their family.  That is about it. Doesn't matter if it is Ohio or California or New York City.

It would be great for someone in the media to challenge Clinton this, but of course I'm not holding my breath since they all share the same screwed up viewpoint.  What are Midwestern values?  What makes them different from other values in different parts of the U.S.?  Why do you feel they are superior to those of people who live in other parts of the country?

In closing, I wanted to touch on the bigger picture.  Clinton's recent quotes highlight the fact that she will say anything to win, and is more evidence of her kitchen-sink strategy.

"I don't think it helps to divide our country into one America that is enlightened and one that is not," Clinton, a New York senator, said while campaigning in Indiana. "If you want to be the president of all Americans, you need to respect all Americans."

You don't respect all Americans by excluding those without "Midwestern Values".

"Senator Obama’s remarks are elitist and they are out of touch," Mrs. Clintontold an audience. "They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know."

Eighty-One percent of Americans believe this country is on the wrong track.  This does NOT constitute optimism, and for Senator Clinton and Senator McCain to ignore this shows they are the ones out of touch.  The campaign of the $109 million candidate has repeatedly acted in an elitist way by dismissing the states she has lost as insignificant, and has denigrated the caucus system that many states have chosen to use. Several months ago I went back to Michigan to visit family and people are definitely NOT optimistic.  The housing market is terrible, many of the small, family owned businesses I frequented while growing up are now gone, jobs are hard to come by, and young people are fleeing the state for Chicago and other parts of the country where they can find work.  NO ONE I know who still lives there is optimistic, and like Senator Obama said, they absolutely have no confidence that a politician cares about them or plans on helping them out.  

I started this campaign season off as undecided - very happy with the choices we had in the race.  Although I was not happy with his Senate record, I was drawn to Edwards based on his message of fighting corporate greed and wanting to help not only the middle class, but the lower class as well.  I considered Senator Obama a close second, so after Edwards dropped out it was a fairly easy transition, although my support was fairly lukewarm.  That changed when I went to see Michelle Obama speak while she was in California in February.  One thing she mentioned was that her and Senator Obama just finished paying off their student loans a few years ago, and were only able to do so because Barack's book sold so well.  With law degrees from Harvard, the Obamas could be filthy rich elitists right now but they did not choose to take that course.  The notion that Senator Obama is an elitist is contradicted by every aspect of how he has run his campaign.