"Getting It Right" by Ed Martin
(First published in the St. Louis Metro Sentinel on August 28, 2008)
Out in Denver this week, there is lots of hand-wringing about a couple of questions. First, would the Clintons stop being sore losers long enough to let the winner of the Democrat primary, Senator Barack Obama, enjoy his moment in the sun? It is far from clear if they have - notwithstanding some nice speeches - and how this will impact the fall election. My hunch is that they are rooting for Obama to fail - look for a Clinton for President in 2012 campaign committee to be set up on November 5th!
Another big question facing Democrats in Denver is this one: how can Obama win the vote of a certain group of voters, namely middle-class and working-class white voters? The reason for the question is that these voters do not seem to be warming to Obama. (This is related to our earlier question because these voters went heavily for Senator Clinton in the primary.) In key states like Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and our own state, the pundits and prognosticators see these voters as a key swing group that need to decide for the Democrat for him to prevail. Gaining street cred with these voters is a daily effort for the Dems: "Biden is from blue-collar roots in Scranton, PA." "Obama's was a single mother." "Michelle Obama grew up in a working class family on the south side of Chicago." And on and on.
What is strange to me about all this is that the Dems have a guy - right in their midst - who is pretty darn good at talking to these voters that Obama seeks. Dick Gephardt was elected for over two decades in a district chock full of working and middle class white voters. He mixed populist rhetoric with loyalty to labor unions like no other - and rank and file union guys loved him. Gephardt even grabbed more pro-lifers than you might have expected - probably because they thought he was still with them on the issue (he flipped to pro-abortion in the 1980's when he was headed for national office). In short, he was really good at connecting with just the sort of voters Obama needs. Gephardt's campaigns for President never took off - I think - because he was never quite as good at playing the identity politics outside his base of Gephardt votes - groups like African Americans, women's rights folks, and other interest groups found candidates that they liked better than Gephardt).
Now, I can't say that I like many of Mr. Gephardt's positions - I particularly abhor his flip-flop on abortion. But I must admit that I liked his persona. You see, what you knew about Dick Gephardt was certain basic things. He clearly loved his wife and was a family man (no John Edward, this guy!). Gephardt was utterly decent to people around him especially his staff. His staffers were talented and well-trained. He was really from and for St. Louis - not D.C. or anywhere else - even when he had been elected to the Congress for decades. And Dick Gephardt loves America (we saw this in his leadership immediately after 9/11). Gephardt is real man, a real American, and that's what the voters Obama that Obama needs saw in Gephardt.
So, why has Dick Gephardt been largely absent from the Democrat Convention. I did not notice him speaking at all - though I think he did - and he left Denver before Obama's acceptance speech. Gephardt should have been out front and center and talking to his voters. You see, Gephardt voters are straightforward and good people ... and they smell a phony a mile away or when someone is trying to talk to them who does not understand them. Democrats better figure out how they have gone wrong with the Dick Gephardt voters. If they don't, it is not just the Presidency that will be lost but their future as a successful party.
Ed Martin is an attorney specializing in public interest litigation and
is the former Chairman of the St. Louis City Board of Elections and was
Chief of Staff to Governor Matt Blunt. Ed has a website -
www.circularletter.com - and can be reached at
ed@edmartinlawfirm.com.