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John McCain is guilty of the sin of
not getting it
Dr. Sherman N. Miller
As I begin to listen to working class people after the passing of
the 2008 Democratic and Republican Party Presidential Conventions, I
start to worry that perhaps Senator John McCain is guilty of the sin
of not getting it as
Senator Barack Obama suggests. I will share two recent incidents
that are shaping my thinking.
I chatted with a white nurse who shared that she is a Republican.
She says she has five sons who are having difficulty finding good
jobs. Then she said the jobs we used to consider entry level work
for teenagers like McDonald’s and Burger King are now taken up by
illegal aliens. Her disdain gushed out as she argued that there are
no college scholarships for everyday white males. This nurse felt
Senator McCain was ballyhooing his war record when the economy is
teetering on an economic melt down. It was no doubt in my mind that
Obama had her vote and most likely all of her family members who can
vote.
I overheard what appeared to be three white working class ladies
discussing the upcoming election walking down the aisle in my local
Acme Super Market. They saw the election being a referendum on the
economy. I got the impression they thought that Senator John McCain
did not have a clue as to the real issues on working class people’s
minds. I recall their discussing the definition of middle class as
being under 5,000,000 dollars.
I guess the fact that Mrs. Cindy McCain, who was wearing bling-bling
jewelry and clothing guesstimated at $300,000 during the Republican
Presidential Convention, clearly signals that Senator McCain’s
closest confidant does not understand the poor taste in
socioeconomic symbolism she portrayed. Surely Senator McCain is not
the champion of the working class whites. Mrs. McCain’s finest
jewelry will be okay at the Presidential Inaugural Ball where the
who’s who and the who would be who are flaunting their success.
However, she mocked all of those working class low maintenance
ladies who can only dream of flaunting wealth someday.
It is unconceivable to think that the McCain election strategists
packaged Governor Sarah Palin as the working class pit bull while
leaving Mrs. Cindy McCain as a loose cannon to demonstrate
uncongeniality in front of the world. I have no choice but to
conclude that Senator Obama is right on target when it comes to the
economic woes of the nation that Senator McCain and his strategists
are attempting to ignore the real situation in the nation and focus
our attention on his depicting himself as on par with Mother’s Day,
apple pie, and the American Flag.
Hopefully, McCain’s strategists will conclude that the American
people are not dumb, so sooner or later they will have to face the
facts that high unemployment, overpriced gasoline and energy, people
losing their homes, no health care for millions of people, shipping
good American jobs overseas, millions of illegal aliens taking entry
level jobs, and so on, are the real 2008 issues. My guess is that if
McCain strategists are hoping racism will triumph over poor economic
conditions to keep the working class white voters voting for a white
person regardless of his or her socioeconomic plight, they may get a
rude awaking.
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