Walking into the car factories in Ohio and Michigan, blue collar workers can be seen from wall to wall. These workers did not vote heavily for Barack Obama. However, in the south and in urban communities heavily populated with minority voters, Mr. Obama has done quite well. What is the difference?
When blue collar workers belong to strong unions with powerful leadership, Hillary Clinton's machine can go to work and churn out the votes. The reverse is true when the workers are employed by non-union shops or trades with weak union influence. While Hillary is seen as pro-labor, Obama resonates as pro-people. Being associated with a minority does not hurt.
Blue collar workers tend to like the energy generated by Barack Obama. Except for the short time when he seemed a little beaten down by the negative publicity due to the comments of his former pastor, Obama always seems to abound with zeal. This is well received by the hard working hands in the United States. This zeal is taken as a sign of a willingness to get in, get dirty, and work hard. Blue collar voters like that approach. It seems familiar to them.
Although Obama was raised with a bit of silver spoon in his mouth, he has managed to style himself as a working man. He has the aura of a man who has had to work hard for everything that he has. While it is not true, blue collar workers regard Barack Obama as one of them. It is similar to the connection many of these voters had for eight years to Bill Clinton.
The primary difference is that Bill Clinton came from the poor south, was raised by a single mother, and fought his way out of poverty to the White House. Obama who spent much of his life in Hawaii has never had to worry about money or opportunity. As long as he can keep the underprivileged poor man charade working, he will continue to collect his share of the blue collar vote.
The good news for Barack Obama is that he is not actually running against Bill Clinton. The Clinton that he is running against did not have to fight for much of anything growing up. Her history looks a lot like Barack Obama's on paper.
If more of his personal life were exposed, it would tarnish this image. It is unlikely that this is going to happen before the Democratic convention. However, it is very probable that come September and October, Mr. Obama will be fighting hard to keep looking like the man of the people against a Republican opponent who has had months to study him and prepare a new line of attack. This is especially true when he goes against a Viet Nam veteran whose wife belongs to a family of beer distributors.
A black dude just easily walked through Harvard, was handed the Senate and here he is, like many black men, running for president.