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The area is poorer and less populous than it was twenty-five years ago. Steel making and coal mining no longer serve as the backbone of the regional economy. Nevertheless, in the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania, God, guns, unions, the Steelers and Democrats continue to be popular; though unions and Democrats are less so than in the past.
In the cities and counties located an hour to the east of Pittsburgh, Republicans continue to be viewed as the party of the rich. Democrats are seen as the party of the working-class. That parochial view of politics, born in the New Deal era and during the battles between workers and the Iron and Steel police, is beginning to fade rapidly, however. That is bad news for the Democrats.
When the open hearths and coke ovens were still blazing away, and when trams still carried harried-faced men underground; when the local economy was booming and dollars were plentiful; back when a busy bar and a crowded church stood on virtually every street corner, the Democratic Party could count on eighty percent of the vote in every election. White ethnics, with names ending in ‘ski’, ‘vic’ and ‘chak’, were the heart and soul of the local party establishment. That too is changing. The children of those hearty men are grown now, and not a few of them no longer share their fathers’ political views. That is bad news for Democrats, as well.
The aspects of local life that have not changed much are loyalty to the Steelers, to the Church, and to the tradition of hunting. Guns continue to be a fact of life in hunting households throughout western Pennsylvania. There is another tradition among the now senior citizens of the region that will not die out until our parents’ generation does: that is the antipathy toward blacks and Jews. Prejudice remains strong among the veterans of the WWII, and to a large extent, among the children of those veterans.
While most people in western Pennsylvania no longer use the more well-known epithets, the use of code words continues to be rampant. Welfare still means lazy blacks. Greed still means Jew; as in ‘those greedy b*****ds.’ Had anyone walked into a shot-and-a-beer joint in 1980, 1986, 1992 or 1998 and claimed to support the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania, one could have been met with either silent disapproval or with an argument. You see, Specter is a Republican (who used to be a Democrat) and because he’s a Republican, he can’t be for the workingman. He can be only for the rich. Press the issue, however, and one would have heard that he’s just another RJB….or even, perhaps, a FJB.
I was reminded of that dark aspect of the region’s dominant, but declining, political ethos by the reaction to Joe Lieberman’s selection as the Democrats’ Veep candidate. Repeatedly, we were told by DNC spokesmen and their media sycophants that people who would vote against Al Gore because of his selection of a Jewish candidate for Vice-president would have voted against Al Gore, anyway. Naturally, we all are to assume that people who would vote against Lieberman because of his religion are Republicans, and Republicans were going to vote for Bush, regardless.
The truth as I see it is quite different. Joe Lieberman was chosen because Al Gore is desperate. Gore is trailing badly in the polls, and while his campaign people dismiss the polls and point to the election of 1988 as a reason for optimism, Labor Day is just around the corner. In the face of a successful GOP convention and a seventeen-point lead for Gore’s opponent, Al had to do something dramatic. Holy Joe was Al’s only hope of escaping the Clinton Legacy.
Will Al’s desperate gamble work? Will Al simultaneously nail down his base and attract swing voters? Or, will a sizeable segment of his party’s natural constituency, blue-collar white ethnic voters abandon Al for George W.? I won’t even add the electoral effects of the antipathy toward Jews that exists among portions of the African-American community.
As much as I might like to inform Al Gore and the Democrats that, contrary to what they believe, far more Democratic, blue collar, white ethnic union members are anti-Semites than are Republicans; particularly now that the Buchananites have abandoned the GOP, Bush will be victorious for reasons other than anti-Semitism.
Forty percent of union households voted for GOP candidates in 1994. The Republicans won a landslide victory and took control of Congress for the first time in forty years. Was it antipathy toward Jews? No. It was gun control, abortion, and bigoted hatred against Christians. The election of a GOP Congress was “blamed” on Angry White Males…blue collar ethnics who love hunting, drinking beer and watching football on television. What issues other than anti-Semitism will turn this large segment of the Democratic bloc away from Al Gore? Gun control, partial-birth abortion and bigotry against Christians—all planks in the Democratic Party platform.
Whatever reason Democrats want to use to comfort themselves during their party’s autopsy in November will be happily accepted by those of us who voted for George W. Liberals can blame anti-Semitism, if they want to, but don’t look for liberals to admit that choosing Lieberman cost their party tens-of-thousands of votes in traditional Democratic strongholds of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia.—three states Gore needs desperately if he wants to win. The question is, will anti-Semitism be the reason large numbers of registered Democrats vote for Bush, or stay home? Or will it be because of Clinton fatigue, Gore-boredom, and the fact that liberals just don’t get it when it comes to gun ownership?
Who really cares as long as Gore’s next career move is into rental property management?
Who really cares as long as Gore’s next career move is into rental property management?
A nice cut to the bone.
Perhaps Albore can move his family in the home vacated by Tracy Mayberry.
I think I hear the Ryder trucks coming now.
As a native (Republican) 'Burgher, I think a lot of what this guy says is true. On the other hand, I still think Pittsburgh is a damn nice place to raise a family.
Was this an article from the Tribune Review or the Post Gazette?
GO STILLERS!!
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think there are large numbers of voters who would change their minds because a Jew is on the ticket. If you scratch anywhere hard enough you will find ethnic tensions and differences, but I don't think it will seriously affect the election.
The reason I'm so suspicious of the "anti-Semitism" argument is that it so closely resembles the charge of "racism" thrown at any Democrat who voted GOP during the years between Johnson and Carter. Such questions of motivation aren't beneath consideration and we will see the opinion poll and election data analyzed very closely to discover the reasons for any shift. But the assumption of racism to explain "Reagan Democrats" and others who left the Democrat fold was wrong -- "wrong" in that it was disproven by what we know about the situation (the charge of "racism" was a way of ignoring people's concerns about crime and other issues) and "wrong" in that people deserve the benefit of the doubt and are innocent until proven otherwise.
Gore's problem is Gore. Imagine a Gore-Kerry ticket. It would do horribly at the polls -- two rich white preppy boys. And you might even hear similar comments in the local bars -- as you would hear such comments against Bush. It's hard to think that Gore-Edwards or Gore-Bayh would wipe the floor with Bush-Cheney, either.
This doesn't mean that some people don't have bad feelings towards Jews, but they also have bad feelings towards other people as well. You're right that Lieberman will serve the Democrats as an alibi if they lose, but Gore will be the reason.
It's not a good sign for the health of our society, but for a lot of people Clinton has the "common touch." I don't see it beneath all of the mendacity, but enough people were looking for it to give Clinton a plurality twice. Gore doesn't have it and can't fake it.
I think the best thing that has happened to America and the Republican Party is this Ezola Foster woman Pat Buchanan has picked for his running mate. She proves that Liberalism can not drown out the voice of Truth, freedom and America. I didn't know such people exist, and I am looking forward to her message-career getting exposure and inroads and go forward into these traditional democratic strangleholds!!
Go(pittsburgh) Pat/Ezola Go(philadelphia)
"Who really cares as long as Gore’s next career move is into rental property management? "
Jeesh, Gore has already failed at that career, he's an incompetent property manager. Who'd hire him?
Ezola!!!
Nope, sorry, Martin...this is original, but maybe now that you suggested it, I will email it to the trib and see if they publish it...GO MYRON COPE!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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