Obama Voters in... Tidewater?

This is an anecdotal diary.  Many of you know that I sing in a band.  Fellow Kossack liberal rican is also in the band.  Last night, we drove really really far for a gig in the Northern Neck area of Virginia's Tidewater region.  Here's a map for reference:

From Fredericksburg VA, you bear east on Rt. 3 and go a good 65 miles into Westmoreland County and literally stop when you hit the water.  What liberal rican and I learned last night was illuminating to say the least.  More over the fold.
Westmoreland is a small but beautiful county in Virginia.  Its demographic fact sheet tells the following:

Population, Historic and Projected
1960 7,121
1970 12,142
1980 14,041
1990 15,480
2000 16,700
2005 16,900
2015 17,400

Population by Race
White 66.4%
Black 31.5%
Other  2.1%

Population by Gender
Male 48.0%
Female 52.0%

Population by Age
Less than 5 - 5.2
5 to 19 - 19.9
20-24 - 4.2
25 to 44 - 24.0
45 to 64 - 27.8
65 and older - 19.0

Income
Per Capita Personal Income (1996) $18,402
Median Household Income (1998) $27,000
Average Weekly Wage $322

Educational Attainment
No High School Diploma  30%
High School Diploma 59%
College Graduate 11%

Because it was such a long drive and we would be coming home so very late at night, we all pretty much carpooled.  I took our guitar player and his wife.  Thank GOD they're both really excellent, well-informed Democrats.  It made for an easier ride.  :)  I was a bit nervous, though - I have two Obama stickers on the back of my car.  I have an Obama flag on the rear driver's side window.  Although it happens rarely, I DO get thumbs-down signals and the occasional bird as I'm driving around the DC Metro area.  In other words, it's not difficult to figure out which side my political bread is buttered on.  But I figured - WTF.  If you don't want to declare your allegiance in potentially unfriendly territory, what good are you?

So off we went.  The first half of the trip was all highway - mainly 95-S in Virginia.  Nothing interesting there.  But the last 65 miles were eastward into the countryside, across expanses of land dominated by farms and the like.  It was about 10 miles East of 95 that we started seeing the ENORMOUS "McCain Country" signs.  Huge.  As we came out of farmland into areas where residences were closer together, we started seeing the yard signs.  "McCain * Country First".  "McCain * Palin".  You know the drill.  Yet we started to notice - we'd see a McCain yard sign and then the next house would have an Obama/Biden sign.  Through our unscientific powers of human observation, we were putting the yard signs at pretty even on the way out there.  That was quite unexpected.

So we get to the club - and here's a fun digression - the club itself is literally on the water.  You park your car, and walk up a ramp onto a deck and into the club itself.  Once that ramp made it over the water line, you crossed from Virginia into Maryland.  I'm not making this up.  We didn't even realize it until we realized it was a non-smoking club - not something you see - EVER - in Virginia (VA is, still, Phillip Morris country, or whatever they call themselves these days).  We looked at the notices on the walls and realized that they were saying that, by order of the Governor, Martin O'Malley, smoking inside was prohibited.  Only then did we think to ask and have explained to us that we were physically in Maryland when in the nightclub.  But clearly - the clientele of the club were almost exclusively Virginia residents.

This was a really neat place.  It had an outer bar and then a room where the entertainment set up and played.  They served great bar food and seafood, and the staff was friendly and fantastic.  So after getting there, I realize I have left something I need in my car.  I go back out front, down the ramp and into Virgina (heh), and to my car.  As I'm rooting around, a couple are walking towards the club from further back in the parking lot.  They're white - maybe late 40s, early 50s - and very nice and friendly.  Both engage me in a discussion about the band.  The husband broke off and went to the club but the wife stayed with me for a bit as I got stuff out of my car.  She looked at my Obama flag and said, "So you're for Obama?" to which I replied "Absolutely".  She said, "We're from Woodbridge - but we left all of that and moved down here.  My husband likes Obama, but I don't know.  The whole Muslim thing bothers me."

Now let me say - this was a genuine comment on her behalf.  She wasn't saying it to be mean.  Her whole tone was of someone who had heard that there was potential a potential Muslim background that held her back.  It was a golden opportunity.  I said, "You do realize he's not a Muslim, right?"  She said, "Well I don't know.  I heard his stepfather was a radical Muslim."  I explained that his stepfather was a Muslim, but hardly a radical.  I indicated that he was a geologist educated, in part, in the United States who worked for Mobil Oil.  I also indicated that Obama was raised, primarily, by his maternal grandparents in Wichita, Kansas.  I further indicated that Obama himself was a Christian, and that the first job he had out of law school was working with a church-based community organization that operated within Catholic Parishes within Chicago.  

"Oh", she said.  "Well I didn't know that.  I don't know why he isn't putting that out there more - you know - helping people know where he comes from.  Maybe my husband is right."

Rena, 1.  Republican Smear Machine, 0. HA HA.

So an important part of this story is to get an idea of the people who were at the club itself.  First, without exception - these were GREAT, appreciative folks.  They absolutely LOVED our band, and let us know it.  They applauded and danced and asked for original music and other things and generally helped to make it an excellent night for us as musicians.  But they were also an interesting looking crowd.  I guess I would describe them as typical salt-of-the-earth types.  This area of Virginia is beautiful.  And if you use the demographic profile I provided above as a guide, you would have to say it's decidedly working class.  These aren't rich people.  They are generally people who work hard at a variety of occupations that would certainly rival Joe the Plumber in authenticity, and they are far from wealthy.  They are working middle class.  Those who have retired down in this area generally seem to have come from solid, working middle class roots.  

An outsider looking out across the customers of this club might draw the same conclusions to which the demographics point.  As I mentioned above, they really loved the band.  During breaks, we would get into conversations with this or that customer or groups of customers.  After our second set break, as we were getting ready to come back for our third and final set, liberal rican came up to me in front of the stage and said, "We've just won the election."  I don't think I said anything, and he went on: "I was just talking to these two folks at the bar.  They're retired, and kind of like the rest of the folks in here.  When they started talking about McCain they said that they couldn't vote for him because he was going to cut their medicare and make it hard for them to get health benefits."

That really was huge, folks.  If someone dropped you unexpectedly into this crowd and asked you to make a snap judgment as to which way they leaned politically, you would never guess it was towards Obama.  And the more amazing thing about this particular conversation of liberal rican's is that they couple in question not only articulated their support for Obama - but they articulated the reason, and the reason was tied to policy.  They know what's important to them and they know it's not secure under a President McCain (ew - I think I just threw up in my mouth even typing that).

I have this fabulous velvet coat with faux-feather trim at the collar and cuffs.  As I put it on at the end of the night, my Obama button was clearly visible.  One of the remaining patrons came over, looked at my button, and said "I'm going to tell you what I think about the election.  I don't usually do that but I've had a lot to drink so here goes.  You ready?"  I braced myself.  "I'm going to vote for Obama.  Best man for the times and job.  I just wish he wasn't black."

I must have raised my eyebrows - because he backed up and said "That came out wrong.  I mean that I wish it didn't matter that he's black. People shouldn't think about that."  I had talked to this guy at regular intervals through the night, and know that he meant the latter and not the former.

So the night's REAL tally:

Rena + Liberal Rican: 4 (maybe 5)
Right Wing Smear Machine: 0

This is all anecdotal - but believe me - this is NOT an area where you would expect to see Obama yard signs and it is NOT an area where you would expect people to openly profess their support for Barack Obama.

As we drove back home well after 1am, each Obama yard sign we passed on the way out was more harbinger than mere placard.  It took on a different significance for us after the evening we had just spent.  And although this is PURELY anecdotal, I also think it's very telling about what's happening here in Virginia.  And that, folks, is NOTHING but good news.

14 days.  Let's push through.

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