'Time To Give the Black Guy a Chance'

Photo: Obama Signs on Rural Street in Raccoon

Tide Is Turning
For Obama In
Beaver County, PA

By Carl Davidson
Beaver County Blue

About twenty of us are gathering early Saturday morning at the IBEW Hall, 'Labor Central,' in Vanport, Beaver County, Western PA. Today it's a team of electrical workers, steelworkers, SEIU service workers and a few activists with the 4th CD PDA, Progressive Democrats of America.

We're walking streets, lanes and backwoods roads to hit every union household in the area. The goal today? Voter ID. Make sure every list is correct, find every registered union family voter, find out where they stand, and then, Voter ED, give them our pitch and materials on why Obama-Biden is their best shot to defend their interests in 2008-'Green Jobs,' ending the war, defending health care.

The press calls our turf a critical battleground for the hearts, mind and votes of 'the white worker,' which it is, with McCain-Palin sliding down, but still at 51 percent today. But you wouldn't know Obama had a problem by looking at our team today. They're a hard-muscled crew, ball caps and blue jeans, but 'Vote Obama 2008' emblazoned on T-shirts, hats and buttons galore. The rightwing's bigotry is reaching a fever pitch, but these workers are making it very clear where they stand.



I enter the hall with a reporter from a major Portuguese paper, Expresso, that I'm helping out. The European press is also following this election more intently than any in a long time, and he's neither the first nor the last from Europe to visit us. I introduce him to Bob Schmetzer, one of the IBEW officials, who tells him what the unions are doing. Then he meets our PA State Rep, Vince Biancucci, who's doing the walks with us today. He and Vince trade stories about workers in Italy.

Leaving him to his business, I gather up flyers I'll need for the day. Most are aimed straight at the economic crisis and pocketbook issues. Schmetzer pulled together a good one of McCain's lousy record on veterans, well documented. There's a stack of a new one, full color, with nice pictures, with text: Obama wears a flag pin, puts his hand on his heart saying the Pledge, is a Christian who goes to church, was sworn in on the Bible, not the Koran, that was another Black guy from Minnesota, and so on.

There's a grey-bearded electrical worker who looks like a six foot six version of Kenny Rodgers reading it, too. "Whaddya think," He asks? A nice-looking job, I say, but it's pitiful that we have to put things like this out. "My thought exactly," he replies, "but we still got to answer and defeat this crap."

The union staff gets us organized into smaller teams and on our way. We're working north of the Ohio today. I'm headed for Beaver Falls, an old merchant center and industrial town on the Beaver River, known mainly these days as the home of Joe Namath, the football star. At the end of the Reagan era the Babcock and Wilcox tubular mill closed and dismissed over 5,000 workers in Beaver Falls. It's hard times, like everywhere else around here. Six of us, in teams of two, work a low-to-middle income working-class neighborhood on the north side of town, with Black and white workers on the same streets, not always that common in some places.

My first door is a Black construction worker, who tells me, "We're solid for Obama, and everyone in the house is registered, but go see the guy a couple doors down." He does want a yard sign, though, so we put one up for him. This is clearly the Obama base, or at least one major sector.

The guy a few houses down is a 57-year-old white worker, very friendly. "I'm going with Obama and the Democrats, no two ways about it." He tells us he's just registered, never voted before in his life, but the stakes are too high this time, and the conservatives have to be put out.

We keep working the street, but run into Randy and Tina Shannon of PDA at the corner. I get another sheet of names, and we swap stories.

"People are starting to use the 'O' word," says Tina. "Before, they'd just say, 'I'm voting Democrat.' Now they're saying, 'I'm for Obama and the Democrats, and give you an earful.' I think that's a shift."

"I was just up on 'The Heights,' says Randy, meaning the neighborhood on the surrounding hill. "I had one elderly lady for McCain, but I warned her, 'You're on Medicare, aren't you? If McCain has his way, you'll see it cut back.' Didn't help with her, but I ran into another lady who must have been almost ninety. 'McCain? No way, you know where he can go.' Let's just say her comments weren't appropriate for print, but she's determined to vote for Obama. I had just one guy telling me he was only going to vote for the local Democrats."

That's called the 'top of the ticket' problem, and it's a point of contention between the unions' approach, which is to work for everyone, and a few local incumbents shying away from taking a clear leadership stand to win over Clinton and McCain-leaning older Democrats.

"Most important all day," Randy added, "was one steelworker I met, who said: 'It's time to give the Black guy a chance,' and you could tell from the way he said it that he'd thought on it for some time, and probably not alone. They're seeing their pension funds shrink, their jobs lost or cut back, and they want to turn them all out."

We turn in our sheets by lunchtime and share more stories. The PDA folks are lining up people to buy tickets for a PDA 'Dinner and a Movie' night out, Nov. 1, in Monaca, PA, featuring the documentary film 'UnCounted', which will expand people's horizons on electoral problems, and help build for the next round of battles around single-payer health care and stopping the war.

Everyone agrees the tide is turning, but a lot can still happen, for better or worse. No one wants to coast. My township, Raccoon, went 30 percent for Obama in the primary, with the bulk going for Hillary. Most voters there are Democrats, and they'll break three ways-for Obama, for McCain and for 'staying home.'
Getting enough to get past 50 percent was always possible, but with the Wall Street crash, it's now clearly in sight.

The Palin right's attacks on Obama as a 'terrorist' are backfiring among many as a devious diversion. Some we talk to cling to the 'Secret Muslim' stories, no matter how clearly the lies are exposed. The reason soon becomes crystal clear: they don't let go of it not because they believe it, but because it's the new way to say they won't vote for a Black candidate. That's simply a reactionary political stand, and has nothing to do with the facts.

But the grip of the right is weakening. Obama-Biden signs are going up everywhere in the white areas. When the right takes them down, more go back up. One guy down the road took a four by eight sheet of plywood, and painted it dark blue, with the Obama 08 Symbol in the middle, and leaned it against his house, as if to say, 'Let see you try to take this one down!'

After lunch we head over the Court House in Beaver. Every Saturday for more than five years now, our PDA and Beaver County Peace Links groups are out there with 'Honk for Peace' and 'Healthcare Not Warfare' signs, together with a big 'Bring the Troops Home Now' banner. We can walk and chew gum at the same time, working to end the war and defeat McCain. Today the cars are honking like we're in Times Square. It's another good sign that change is coming.

[If you like this article and others here, lend a hand by hitting the PayPal button on either http://progressivesforobama.blogspot.com or http://progressivesforobama.net We'll put it to good use.]

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Defeating McCain is Just 'Step One'

Photo: 'Labor walker' at IBEW Hall

Saturday Morning
Obama 'Labor Walks,'
Beaver County Style,
& Kucinich's 'New Deal'

By Randy Shannon
4th CD Progressive Democrats of America

http://beavercountyblue.org

Nearly 100 blue-collar union workers rose early this Saturday morning, Oct. 4, 2008 and headed for the IBEW hall in Vanport, Beaver County. Their union jackets and T-Shirts told the story: they were steelworkers, electrical workers, hospital workers and other trades, and their buttons, signs and bumper stickers on their pickups all had a common message: Vote for Barack Obama, Defeat John McCain.

This was organized labor moving into action, and it was impressive. As soon as you walked in the door, a half-dozen teams were working assembling hundreds of yard signs for Obama-Biden. The young Obama campaigners, stressed with doing last-minute voter registration, had been out of them for weeks. Now the problem was solved.

Don Siegel, International Vice President of the IBEW took the floor and addressed these union activists from the AFL-CIO and CTW locals in Beaver County who had gathered at Local 712 for the 'Saturday Labor Walk.'

His message was clear and educational. We heard that union members have to approach this election in a determined, no-nonsense manner, just like organizing on the job or fighting for a union contract. This is about our livelihood, wages, and healthcare benefits. We can't make progress at the bargaining table if we don't work to elect politicians that support us. This year's election is more important than ever because of the economy and Labor is backing the Democratic Party candidates, starting with the Obama-Biden ticket.

Frank Snyder, National AFL-CIO State Director for PA, also took the floor. He said that last Saturday morning nearly 1,100 union volunteers were knocking on doors in Pennsylvania. The goal for today was to mobilize 2,000 union activists. Union door-knocking is now going on a 6 day schedule in October.

Union members in Pennsylvania are going to receive several pieces of mail including a letter from their local union, phones calls, contacts on the job, and home visits to discuss the economic importance of electing Obama President. Snyder pointed out that Beaver County was key to Obama winning in Pennsylvania. He also pointed out that electing a Democratic Legislature was important for the 2010 redistricting of Congressional seats in PA. He also showed poll results that indicate that labor will probably knock out Republican Congressman Phil English in the Erie 3rd CD.

Snyder was also forthright on what some see as a touchy subject: racism. 'There's no ignoring it,' he said. We know it's out there, and we wish it wasn't. We're not going to solve this problem in the next 30 days, that's for sure. But we can meet it squarely, insisting that some of those holding prejudice think very hard, set it aside, and vote their interests. Just patiently and clearly explain, over and over, they need to vote their interests," as he patted his wallet pocket.

Our door to door walk was in the mostly white College Hill neighborhood of Beaver Falls next to conservative Geneva College. Most of the people we talked to were quite certain they were going to vote straight Democrat this election. Some said they supported Obama and their voting age kids do too. The results today were encouraging. If this union campaign keeps up, McCain will have to abandon Pennsylvania as he did in Michigan, another state where organized labor has hit the bricks.

Some real momentum is building in the labor movement around this election. It appears that the national leadership of the AFL-CIO sees a disaster ahead for working people if McCain is elected and implements his slash and burn agenda. Today's turnout shows that the AFL-CIO leadership is working the phones.

I'm actually feeling confident enough to think about where this train is going after the Democratic Party sweeps this election. Watching the criminal financial elite bully the Congress into giving them our tax money, one can't help but wonder where the political leadership is going to come from to confront this new power grab by the banks.

Its not surprising that a former mayor who fearlessly stopped the Cleveland banks from taking over the local electric power company has stepped up to the plate. His plan is one that will actually change the way things are going, not just address the ongoing symptoms.

Cong. Dennis Kucinich's recovery plan addresses the root causes of this financial and economic crisis. And it incorporates elements of important legislation currently pending in Congress. HR 676, Medicare for All, is the first point. The second point is HR 6800 which provides a fully paid prescription drug benefit under Medicare. This should be passed next week.

Progressive Democrats of America, founded by Kucinich, Conyers, Tom Hayden, and others should study and promote this plan as our agenda for the first four years of the Obama administration. On the 75th Anniversary of the first New Deal this program is today's New Deal. Progressives should organize a New Deal campaign to put this agenda before the public and work with local unions and community organizations to publicize this program. We should support the efforts of Congressman Kucinich and other progressive Congresspersons to make this program our negotiating position in the coming struggle for influence in the new Obama administration. If some of the momentum being unleashed today can continue rolling into the New Year, the door to real change may not swing shut again.


The New Deal

Kucinich's Main Street Recovery Plan

1. Health Care for All: Insurance companies make money not providing health care. As the co-author of HR 676, a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system, Medicare for All, I understand millions of Americans want health care that is accessible and affordable.
Medicare for All will help businesses large and small, create jobs as well as save the jobs of thousands of people including those of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who are currently leaving medicine because it is run by the insurance companies. $1 in every 3 dollars of the $2.4 trillion spent annually in America for health care goes to the insurance companies. If we take that money ($800 billion in unproductive wasteful spending) and put it directly into care, we will have enough money to cover everyone. We are already paying for Medicare for all, but not receiving it. HR 676 changes that!

2. Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors: HR 6800 is the MEDS Act, which provides a fully paid prescription drug benefit, under Medicare, for all seniors. I wrote this bill to help alleviate the economic pressure that comes from the high cost of prescription drugs. We can pay for it by letting the government negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies as well as by permitting re-importation.

3. Stop the Oil Companies' Price Gouging: As you know, I was the first one to step up to challenge of the corrupt price gouging and market speculation of the oil companies by proposing a windfall profits tax, on oil and natural gas companies, with revenues put into tax credits for the purchase of fuel-efficient American-made cars. However, it may be that nationalization is the only way to put an end to the oil companies' sharp practices.

4. Protecting the American Homestead: As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Oversight Subcommittee, I am working to protect your basic right to have a roof over your head, whether as an owner or renter. I have investigated and helped to expose the manipulation of mortgage markets, and I am crafting a new federal policy so that neighborhoods with the highest number of foreclosures get the most help.

5. Jobs for All: Congressman LaTourette and I have co-authored the bi-partisan New Deal-type jobs program, HR 3400, "Rebuilding America's Infrastructure." It will create millions of good-paying new jobs rebuilding our roads, bridges, water systems and sewer systems.

6. American Manufacturing Policy: I am drafting the American Manufacturing Policy Act, which for the first time, will state that the maintenance of U.S. steel, automotive, and aerospace industries are vital to our national economic security and must be maintained through integrated public-private cooperation, new trade policies, and investment.

7. Works Green Administration: I am also drafting plans for a green New Deal jobs program, in which the government creates millions of jobs by incentivizing the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and maintenance of millions of wind and solar micro-technologies for millions of homes and businesses, dramatically lowering energy costs and reducing our dependence on oil.

8. Fair Trade: The U.S. has lost millions of good-paying jobs, and more jobs have been out-sourced. As you know, I have helped to lead the way in opposition to trade giveaways. I strongly urge repeal of NAFTA. We must include workers' rights, human rights and environmental quality principles in all trade pacts. We must also protect the Great Lakes' water resources from the reach of multi-national corporations.

9. Education for All: I know families need help with the rising cost of day care. That is why I introduced HR 4060, a universal pre-kindergarten program to ensure that all children ages 3-5 have access to full-day, quality day care.

10. Protecting Pensions: I am working to change bankruptcy laws so pensioners' claims will be first, ahead of banks, and that corporate executives who misuse workers' pension funds are subject to criminal penalties. I want to fully fund the Pension Benefit Guarantee Board.

11. Social Security: From my first moments in Congress, I have exposed Wall Street's efforts to privatize Social Security and attacked it in the Democratic Caucus when it was being proposed. Can you imagine where seniors would be today if Social Security had been turned over to the stock market? Social Security is solid through 2032 without any changes.

12. Protect Bank Deposits: I will work to make sure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has sufficient funds to provide for insurance of deposits up to $200,000 at all banks and savings and loans. This is an urgent matter since so many banks are said to be vulnerable.

13. Protect Investors: Bring back strong regulation to Wall Street. As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, I challenged the Wall Street hedge fund speculators as a threat to small investors. I intend to keep active watch over the machinations on Wall Street.

14. Strength through Peace: You'll remember when I led the effort against the ill-conceived Iraq war, which has now cost more than 4,100 US soldiers' lives, cost U.S. taxpayers between $3 trillion and $5 trillion, and resulted in the deaths of more than a million Iraqis. We must bring our troops home and end the war. We must engage in diplomacy. We must reduce the military budget, and we must stop outrageous cost overruns by the likes of Halliburton.

15. Safety in America: I am proud of my work for peace. In July 2001, I introduced a bill, which today is HR 808, that for the first time creates a comprehensive plan to deal with the issues of violence in American society, particularly domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, gang violence, gun violence, racial violence, and violence against gays by establishing a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Restorative Justice. This proposal has sparked a national movement and when implemented will save tax payers millions of dollars.

16. Monetary Policy: It is long past the time that we looked at the implications of our debt based monetary system, the privatization of money created by the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, the banks fractional reserve system and our debt-based economic system. Unless we have dramatic reform of monetary policy, the entire economic system will continue to accelerate wealth upwards. I am currently working on drafting legislation for an 'American Monetary Act' to address these and other issues in order to protect the economic wellbeing of America.

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'Watching Party,' Beaver County Style

Photo: Obama rally in Beaver County

The Debate Highlights
A Hard Battle Here,
But Tough Fighters, Too



By Carl Davidson
Progressives for Obama

An Obama-McCain 'Debate Watching' party in Beaver County last night, Sept. 26, 2008, promised to be a fun evening, but it also offered as good an occasion as any to measure the progress, tasks, and difficulties of the Obama campaign here in Western Pennsylvania.

The polls here are currently giving Obama a slight edge, but there are too many wild cards to put anyone at ease.

I got my invitation to one of these events about two hours before the party began, and changed plans quickly to attend. It was pulled together by the young volunteers of the county's Obama campaign in partnership with Local 712 of the IBEW, SEIU activists, and some organizers with the 4th CD Progressive Democrats of America.



The union hall is on Sassafras Lane near a strip of small businesses and nonprofit agencies in Vanport, PA a working class suburb next to Beaver, the county seat. Beaver is relatively stable with government offices and a large medical center, but just a few miles in any direction are the distressed mill towns of Midland, Beaver Falls, Monaca, New Brighton, Rochester, Baden, Aliquippa, and Ambridge. The old village of Shippingport, is home to a big energy complex and the country's first nuke plant.

All the industry here in the post-WW2 years meant plenty of work then for the IBEW and many other workers. But everyone feels the tough conditions of globalized de-industrialization now, and it was a natural to see stacks of 'Workers for Obama-Biden' posters at the door.

'Is this where we watch the fights tonight?', I asked a bunch of young apprentices gathered for a smoke outside the door. They laughed and said I was at the right place, followed with some friendly sports banter about whether McCain was 'the Great White Hope' or the 'Great White Dope.''

Inside a young Obama worker, Chris, is hooking up a laptop and projector to stream the video of the debate onto a giant screen. Together, we figure out how to get the blue tones right. Three young African American women, Obama volunteers from New Brighton, just across the river, are discussing how some people they've canvassed haven't a clue about the difficulties bringing up kids compared with what Sarah Palin's daughter faces. An older white union worker starts talking with them about attending a dinner and rally to bring more manufacturing back to the Ohio River Valley.

But a quick look at the room shows this place is used by people who take elections seriously, warts and all. The walls are hung with county maps of the 4th CD, with critical townships highlighted. On a long row of tables are neatly stacked piles of folders, labeled by township and precincts, with lists of registered union voters inside, each one tagged with the number of workers needed on the canvass team. This is where the Saturday morning 'Labors Walks' of doorknockers are pulled together, and it's clear that a quality of the working class, as well as the Obama volunteers, is knowing more than a little about organization. The walks will take place every weekend up to the big mobilization on Election Day.

More people arrive and start filling the room, laying out a spread of snacks next to the coffee pot, beer, and wine. There are 30 or so altogether. About half are older white electrical workers, letter carriers, and younger service employees, with a few PDA people; the other half is a rainbow of young Obama volunteers.

An Obama staffer, Kyra Ricci, comes up to greet me, thanking me for helping them earlier with some media work. Like all of them, she's wired and tired, working 16 hour days every day. 'But it's less than 40 days to go, we'll make it', she says. Both she and Chris query me about other campaigns were like in Chicago, going back to Obama's first run. I explain that I started before that, with Jesse Jackson's runs, and Harold Washington's victories. I give them my five-minute short course on running independent campaigns against tough old machines.

I ask about the canvassing. 'We're getting down to the wire,' one union guy tells me. 'Some people tell me they're still making up their minds. I tell them, look, if you want me to stop bugging you, just declare one way or the other, if you really know but aren't saying. That way we won't waste each other's time, we can argue later, and I can get to more people in the next 39 days.'

A cheer goes up when the debate finally starts and the room darkens. People listen intently and excitedly to Obama, but started groaning at McCain. The first 'boos' start when he's defending taxes cuts for the rich: 'Why? So they'll invest it in cheap labor abroad?,' yells one older worker. Of course this room is self-selected and pro-Obama-there's no unbiased cross-section of voters here. But the response is interesting nonetheless.

The older workers shout out challenges to McCain on every economic point, especially health care. I'm sitting next to Randy Shannon of PDA and Charlie Hamilton of the postal workers, and they're comparing notes about the banking system's undue influences throughout. Charlie tells me he's retired. 'I am too,' I reply, 'but I've never been busier!' He laughs out loud. 'That's right, me too, and you know what? If you don't stay busy, you die early!'

The entire room, however, cheers Obama when he nails McCain on the war's being a fundamental mistake in the first place, that should never have been fought. The older workers laugh when McCain comes back that Obama doesn't understand 'strategy and tactics.' 'We'll teach him a thing or two about strategy and tactics,' say one worker.

I was a little surprised at the enthusiasm of some for Obama’s war talk on Afghanistan, where I think he needs a different and wiser approach. I bring it up my critical point on the matter later talking to two union officials and a few other workers.

But the most interesting reaction was at the very end, when McCain pulled out his POW experience. The older workers groan, 'Here we go again, you were a prisoner, give it a rest!' Now this is from a group that has considerable respect for this part of McCain's story--but 'that was then and this is now' is clearly the mood. They wanted more serious answers to serious current questions, and McCain had none, as least for them.

Everyone cheers when it's over. But Kyra, always on the ball, takes the center of the room before anyone can leave, and lays out the work plan: 'Don't forget, we can still register new voters right up to Oct. 6. We're driving them nuts down at the courthouse, bringing in batches of hundreds. But they thank us, sort of, for the overtime!"

Charlie tells me getting them registered is only the first step; getting them to the polls is even more important. 'Too many of these youngsters register, then forget to vote,' he says. 'We'll get them, we've got the lists, we'll knock on their doors, give them a ride,' Kyra answers. 'No slackers allowed,' I laugh, and then tell a funny story about a ward election in Chicago, where the machine was trying to beat us. I knocked on a door of some 'plus' voters, only to discover them in a little dalliance on the couch. 'Get dressed and get your butts to the polls, we need you,' I said. Sure enough, two minutes before we closed, the young couple came running in, breathless. It made my day, since my candidate won by only 150 votes.

Up front, Kyra continues getting everyone committed, but there's one important point that needs to be made here. This was a good gathering of union workers, housewives, young students, African Americans, PDA activists, and Obama workers. The AFL-CIO is campaigning for the Democratic ticket from top to bottom. Alongside the 'Workers for Obama-Biden' poster are a half-dozen stacks of posters and yard-signs for other local Democratic candidates. But none of them or their reps are here tonight.

It's called the 'Top of the Ticket' problem. When our Congressman Jason Altmire is out campaigning, he doesn't urge folks to vote for Obama. He will only say he expects Obama to win. This problem exists in many places where local Democratic incumbents or the old party machine never supported Obama or are now dragging their feet. There is fear that coming out solidly for Obama will cost them the votes of Democrats who are leaning towards McCain. They work their own campaigns, leaving 'the top of the ticket' to the Obama youth working their hearts out. The situation demands leadership from them, turning Hillary voters into Obama voters. Part of the problem is that racism infects the old boy network and it takes courage to buck it. Some are subtle, or try to be, but it's noticeable enough to spotlight it for progressive activists on the local level everywhere.

Bob Schmetzer, an official with the IBEW, is standing near the door chatting with some folks preparing to leave. Bob tells us he's investigated where McCain stands on veterans issues: 'I was surprised; his stands really suck.' He's making up a special flyer comparing Obama and McCain on the issue, with Obama coming out on top, to have his members take around to the many veterans organizations in Beaver County. 'Maybe it will open some eyes,' he says.

Finally, as I head toward the door, a white-haired woman, a union veteran, brings me to a dead stop, and looks me straight in the eye. 'We're going to win this,' she says. I hope so, I say, it's very tight, and everything counts. 'No,' she says with a steely look in her eyes and a resolute tone in her voice, 'We're going to win this. We have no choice.' Women like her are Obama's ace-in-the-hole, so let's do all we can to bring out and engage a million of them by Election Day.

[Carl Davidson is webmaster for 'Progressives for Obama' ( http://progressivesforobama.blogspot.com) and a field organizer for the US Solidarity Economy Network (http://ussen.org ). Together with Jerry Harris, he is the author of CyberRadicalism: A New Left for a Global Age. Along with Jenna Allard a Julie Matthaei, he also edited the newly published 'Solidarity Economy: Building alternatives for People and Planet.' Both are available at lulu.com/stores/changemaker. He was founder and director of Peace and Justice Voters 2004 in Chicago, a past member of the steering committee of United for Peace and Justice, and a member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism ( http://cc-ds.org ). See http://carldavidson.blogspot.com for more information.]

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Battleground: Steeltowns and Obama

Photo: Old 'Company Store' in Downtown Aliquippa, PA



Aliquippa
is Fired Up,
Ready to Go



By Carl Davidson
Progressives for Obama

You knew something special was happening when the youngest, freshest face in the room got up, took charge and called the meeting to order-"Hello, I'm Scout Sanders, and welcome to the first meeting of Aliquippa for Obama!'

Sanders was a full-time Obama volunteer, a student from the University of Connecticut, and her bright smile and enthusiasm brightened up a room of about 30 residents of Aliquippa and a few other nearby towns. Those who came were all ages, from young teenagers to retired workers in their seventies, a little more than half were African American, about two-thirds were women.


Aliquippa is a severely stressed milltown in Beaver County, Western Pennsylvania. At one time nearly 30,000 people lived here, mostly steelworkers and their families. Now it's down to 12,000, with 6000 low-income African-Americans hanging on in the central area, with the white workers living in the border neighborhoods. The home of Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, and other great athletes, it's a tough, no-nonsense place in dire need of a hopeful future. The meeting was in a bright and well-cared-for church-run coffee house, Uncommon Grounds, on the mostly boarded up main street.

"As a young person, I was concerned for my future," Scout explained, "and I saw a lot of social injustice around me. I wanted change, and when I heard about Barack Obama and his programs, I felt he was different, and he offered real hope for change. That's why I'm here, but enough about me. I want to hear why all of you are here."

It was a tried and true opener. One by one, everyone got to know everyone.
Some spoke bitterly about the past and present, but everyone was hopeful for the future and the prospects offered by this election.

"There's a change gonna come," said one young African American woman working a number of part-time jobs. 'You can sense it in the street, you can feel it in the air. Lord knows it's about time." The whole room agreed.

"This young man, Obama, knows about us,' said an older Black man, a former steelworker in the now shutdown mill. 'His first job was being a community organizer among out-of-work steelworkers in Chicago. He knows about us first hand. When have we ever had a candidate like that? McCain? McCain don't know nothing about us. He just hangs out with those who created this mess. We have got to put Obama in the White house, no two ways about it."

A middle-aged white woman from one of the working-class housing 'plans' on the surrounding hills agreed. "I've studied his positions, and they're the best by far,' she said. 'But I've also learned about Michelle. I even read her college thesis. I tell you, she is one smart, strong woman, with a very analytical mind. She will be a powerful partner and help to him, and we need a First Lady like her."

"We know what has to be done," said another older worker. "First, we have to stop this war, because it's ruining everything else. Then we have to start on the country's infrastructure, which is rusting away and falling apart. We can get some mills up again, and start on some alternative energy investments. Then we can get some jobs, some health care, some decent schools."

"Yes, the war and health care," says a women from Ambridge, a neighboring town. She gives everyone a 'Healthcare Not Warfare' single-payer flyer from the local 4th CD Progressive Democrats of America. "and come to our vigil against the war every Saturday at the Beaver Courthouse, 1pm!"

"Obama can't do it alone," added another. "It got to start right here. We got to get some better people in office right here, and then every other level of government, all the way to the top. We know what happens when they're not accountable to us."

Nearly everyone had a sense of history about 2008. "We haven't seen anything like him since Dr. King and Kennedy," one man said. "Both Kennedy's, Bobby, too." Aliquippa, Black and white, still has strong affection for the Kennedy's. One Black woman describes how she met JFK just a block away from the meeting site, and how she tells her children about it.

"We are going to make history," an older Black man says. "I have been waiting for it all my life. We are going to be part of something truly great." One woman nearly brings everyone to tears. "You can see it in the faces of the children-five, ten, thirteen years old. Obama comes on TV and their faces beam, they stop whatever they're doing, and they listen with quiet excitement. They know, they KNOW this is different."

And so it goes, until everyone has had their say. Scout takes charge again, and the other volunteers are passing out lists. "Get out your cell phones. We like to make calls at all these meetings." She gave quick instructions on how these are registered Democrats, and our task is to find out where they stand.

Next is program and organization. "Where are the best places we can register voters?", she shouts. "Giant Eagle, the supermarket," says one. "The San Rocco Italian Festival next month," say another. "That's fine", says one Black man, "but you white folks have to help us out in some of these places." Everyone agrees.

Organization? One guy puts out a plan for running a tight ship, with people responsible for different tasks. Everyone likes it, but wants to think over who does what.

"This is a good start, but there's people who should be here who aren't here yet," says one. "So next time every one bring one, no, bring two!"

They'll meet again in a week, and they leave, fired up. It will be a tight race, with the right wing stirring up racism and religious bigotry. But it looks like McCain is still going to have a tough fight in this neck of the woods.

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