This thinking may com from this AP article saying that Hillary picked up the endorsement of the The 45,000-member Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association. Meanwhile Barack grabbed on to my personal favorite endorsement: Bruce Springsteen. I think the two are a fairly decent juxtaposition of similar values.
For years I've heard how the rock classic "Born in the USA," is less a patriotic ode, but an indictment of Reagan – and it is, just listen to those words. The OPCMIA loves unions, as does Springsteen (I'm basing this on his hatred of Reagan, which I assume means a love of unionism), so both candidates grabbed union love today. But, and this is just one thing, Barack got ONE dude; Hillary got the backing of 45,000 guys and gals.
The OCPMIA's endorsement, if you didn't take time to read the article, comes before the AFL-CIO's meeting to grant a full endorsement so Barack may still get a huge union boost. Meanwhile Sprinsteen's endorsement comes before he releases any new material, which means his next album may be shitty. I don't see a connection, but the whole thing brings me back to my initial anecdote about Butte: Unionists like Hillary.
After finally admitting to this I started to think about the differences and divides amongst democrats these days.
The Obamarama actually provides a perfect look at the divides. Take Missoula for instance, Obama came in as a god to the crowd – believe me, I was one of the converted glad to stand at the altar. But in Butte the majority of signs amongst the crowd held a large "Hillary" logo on them. So, let's make a list of the differences between Butte and Missoula:
- Butte has...: Huge pit of toxic water.
- Missoula has...: A river that once died, but is now in pretty good shape.
- Butte has...: A college for, mostly, engineering degrees.
- Missoula has...: The largest liberal arts school in the state.
- Butte has...: A mall that's always losing businesses.
- Missoula has...: A mall that has this new greek place I just noticed last week. Weird.
- Butte has...: Green water if you live "downtown."
- Missoula has...: Some of the best water in the nation.
- Butte has...: I don't know...like 20,000 people?
- Missoula has...: About 12,000 students...and then 60,000 people on top of that.
- Butte has...: Small town, blue-collar working class guys with bad backs and a knack for saying things like, "tap'er light."
- Missoula has...: Progressive Happy Hour... and more.
While reflecting on this sad realization I had a separate epiphany: That last thought, and entire line of reason, is pure bullshit brought on by the recent Obama controversy and the way the story's been covered. I fell victim to punditry and propaganda.
I'm sure you've already heard how Barack told a blogger that people in small towns cling to religion and guns as if those are the only real issues, and that these people are bitter. When I heard this I didn't flinch or look away like some people, I instead completely agreed with him. I'm from a small town, and, believe me, people there love their guns and God, and many are convinced that someone like Obama (or, yes, Hillary) will take them away from them. Sometimes the people are bitter, and yes, (sometimes) they are very dumb.
But what Obama said isn't some inflammatory statement, it's the same kind of stuff he's said his entire campaign. It's something brutally honest. It's about issues America doesn't want to face, in this case, bitterness and stupidity. I am, for lack of a better example, reminded of Jimmy Carter's "Malaise Speech" wherein he said:
...[W]e must face the truth, and then we can change our course. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this Nation.
And something that profound – the mere mentioning of facing hard truths about America – put Reagan in the White House. Why? Because America hates truths. When we hear them we shutter; when we know them, we forget them; when someone asks if we believe, we shrug.
It's not that small town people, or the blue-collar worker, are necessarily dumb, it's that they're in a rut. A damn dirty rut. They live in towns like Butte and Anaconda that have been raped by corporate America and thrown to the ground so goddamn hard its a wonder how either still stands up enough to be seen on a map. And so they cling to the rut; they embrace the rut. They barely make it, but they make it. Is it guns? God? Stubbornness that makes the Democratic Party's donkey-logo all too perfect? All of the above.
So why the party split between Hillary and Obama? I don't really know. Will Hillary stand up for trade unionists in a way that' would make Frank Little smile? If she keeps her campaign promises then yes, but I doubt her, and these doubts come from her husband's policy – that little treat for the American laborer called "NAFTA." I try to treat her individually away from Bill's missteps, but this one just sticks out too much.
As for Obama, I'm sure if The Boss says he'll do right, he will. Okay, that's a joke, but what I'm saying is that Obama will stand up for unions all the same.
The only candidate I can assure you will not stand for unions is Sen. John McCain. Talk all you want about his moderateness, but do not be fooled. McCain hates the idea of unions. He is elected from Arizona – a prominent "right to work" state. (For those of you who don't know what that means, essentially it just gives businesses the power to squash any attempts at unionization by its workforce. It's also, ironically for the big AZ, a way for businesses to hire illegal immigrants since no outside entity – like a union – can look at the employee roles.)
Regardless of why this split exists in the Democratic Party today, the real outcome will be seen in November when people go to the polls. I hope that on that day people put aside their degrees and tools, and just realize that no matter which side of the party you sit on, no one wants to see this country handed over to McCain.
And, hopefully, regardless of who wins, we can finally do as Carter asked us and face our problems, and the truth. It hurts sometimes, but it's all we really got.
If that's elitist...well...fine by me.
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