Obama Live!

I was in Canfield, Ohio visiting family over the Labor Day weekend and had a chance to go hear Obama and Biden live at an outdoor rally in Beaver, PA. In the Pensylvania primary, old mill towns like Beaver went heavily for Clinton but the crowd at this rally was large (around 8,000) and enthusiastic. Clinton carried 70% of the vote in Beaver County but I saw or heard nothing to suggest that there remained any lingering bitterness about Obama getting the nomination. The speech itself was a fairly predictable one. Obama criticized McCain for "just not getting it" when it came to economic issues and the problems that working class people face. Most of what he said here was a repeat of what he had said the night before at his acceptance speech in Denver, but with more emphasis on basic "bread and butter" issues. The conventional wisdom is that if the election comes down to a Republicans versus Democrats election, Obama will win because so many people today have a negative image of the Republicans. The conventional wisdom is that McCain's best chance is to dissassociate himself from the Republican Party as it has come to be known under Bush and to run as a maverick or party outsider. The Beaver rally was clearly organized as a party rally, one designed to appeal to traditional Democrativ voters by drawing sharp contrasts between Democratic and Republican positions. It worked well in Beaver but I wonder what effect this type of campaigning will have on Obama's cross-over appeal. In the primaries he was getting signifcant support (much to Clinton's consternation) from Republican voters. Susan Eisenhower's speech at the convention showed the appeal that Obama has for many Republicans. As the campaign goes on, it will be interesting to see if Obama's priority will be soldifying his support among tradiational Democratic voters or trying to win support among more Republicans and Independents. I guess all presidential candidates have a similar choice to make - how much effort to give to solidifying your base and how much to trying to win the support of thise who are not part of that base. The pick of Palin my McCain apears to be an effort to strengthen his support among the religious conservatives within the party while at the same time strengthening his appeal as a maverick who is unafraid to shake things up a little. I'll have more to write about the Palin pick later.