Obama in West Virginia Winning Voters

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Friday March 21, 2008 · 8:15 AM PDT

2008/03/21 · 08:15

From First Read comes an account of Barack Obama connecting with "beer drinking" voters in West Virginia. This a place that will be tough for him to break through in, but he may have found a way:

Per NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan, Obama often has been billed as the wine-drinking candidate, who’s unable to attract the working-class, beer-track voters that are the staple of the Democratic Party. It's no exaggeration to say that in a sports bar in Beckley, West Virginia yesterday Obama found the answer to winning over those regular Joes. Plopping down at a table with a group of men, he sat, talked, ate two chicken wings, and dissected the NCAA tournament. Why didn't Mississippi State make his final four pick? "They don't have good free throws," he explained. "Pittsburgh is hot," he declared, insisting that it had nothing to do with politics. He told the assembled crowd that he watched ESPN’s Sports Center to unwind. By the end of the visit, the bar patrons -- who had appeared more interested in the games playing on the multiple TV screens when he walked in -- applauded when he walked out.

There has been much hand wringing over Obama's ability to attract lower income white voters, so called "Reagan Democrats", and Middle Class voters. There's been a LOT of media driven talk about racial divides in this country, but as we can see here, he CAN bridge the divide in ways other than talking about race:

"Senator Obama you sat down, talked, ate some chicken wings and watched basketball in March. You just got my vote," Michael Cross from St. Albans, West Virginia told Obama. Cross later said that he was a Democrat but hadn't been comfortable with the choices in the primary and had a considered moving over to vote for John McCain.

It's a small inroads and March Madness won't last forever, but he does have the ability to connect with voters outside of his "traditional" electorate. It will be very interesting to see the polls in the next few days. Keep it coming Obama!!

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