|
Shroomery - Magic Mushrooms Demystified
|
Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!
|
 lonestar2004
Live to party,work to affordit.
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 8,978
Loc: South Texas
Last seen: 9 years, 9 months
|
 Democratic Rep. John Murtha 'Western Pennsylvania is Racist' but Obama should Win 
#9082226 - 10/15/08 06:03 PM (12 years, 3 months ago) |
|
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.
The 17-term Democratic congressman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a story posted Wednesday on its Web site: "There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area."
Murtha said it has taken time for many Pennsylvania voters to come around to embracing a black presidential candidate, but that Obama should still win the state, though not in a runaway.
In a separate interview posted Wednesday on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Web site, Murtha said Obama has a problem with voters' racial attitudes in western Pennsylvania that could trim his winning margin on Nov. 4.
The working-class region is a key battleground in Pennsylvania. The area is struggling economically, and has a high percentage of veterans and elderly voters. Murtha's district outside Pittsburgh encompasses Johnstown and many small towns once dominated by steel and coal.
Murtha, who backed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the state's April primary, told the Post-Gazette that the older population has been "more hesitant" to support Obama. But he said that over the past three months, groups he deals with regularly such as veterans and senior citizens, have decided to back Obama.
Murtha said Republican John McCain has been stymied because of the economy. He said voters have also been turned off by the attacks on Obama's character.
"I think Obama is going to win, but I don't think it's going to be a runaway," Murtha said. "I think he wins Pennsylvania."
He told the Tribune-Review, however, that he sees no enthusiasm for either candidate in his district.
"The public is confused, they're despondent, they're unhappy. They want to see a change and I think the change is whatever the individual might believe it is," he said.
The most recent Quinnipiac University poll showed Obama with a double-digit lead after surveys a few weeks ago indicated the race was close. Quinnipiac pollster Clay Richards has said growing support among working-class voters in the state were behind the change.
Murtha said he asks voters to look beyond Obama's skin color and "listen to what he's saying."
Earlier this year, Murtha, who is 76, told a union audience that McCain, who is 72, was too old to be president.
In February, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell — another Clinton backer — told the editorial board of the Post-Gazette that some whites in his state were likely to vote against Obama in the primary because of his race. Clinton went on to easily win the primary in Pennsylvania.
"You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," Rendell said.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0q0L6_tj5OkoqKqBgOieU39awQAD93R5JI80
"U.S. Rep. John Murtha says his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points."
I think Kerry won PA by 2 points and Gore won it by 3 points?
The internal Dem poll numbers must not be looking to good!
--------------------
America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure"
We have "reckless fiscal policies"
America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.
Americans deserve better
Barack Obama
| |
|
|
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Enlil, ballsalsa
335 topic views. 0 members, 2 guests and 4 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Print Topic ] | | |
|
|
|
|
|
Threaded
Previous
Index
Next
Edit 
Reply 
