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Obama tries to win back small-town support

Focuses on economy at rural forums

By Christina Bellantoni THE WASHINGTON TIMES | Monday, August 18, 2008

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RENO, Nev. | Sen. Barack Obama is taking his campaign to the rural backroads that helped him win early primaries but later slipped from his grasp.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's small town-hall meetings are aimed at showing voters that he understands their economic plight.

"This election is about whether or not we are going to sustain and maintain the American dream for the next generation," Mr. Obama told voters here during an early-morning town hall before later jetting to San Francisco for a high-dollar fundraiser.

The Illinois senator bashed Sen. John McCain's economic plan, linking the presumptive Republican nominee repeatedly to President Bush and saying they have "the same team and ... the same strategy."

"The wealthiest 1 percent have never had it so good, but ordinary families, middle-class families, saw their incomes go down by $1,000" under the Bush administration, he said. An Obama administration would push "an economy that's working not just for some, but for all," he said, drawing cheers.

Lower-income white voters showed up for him in rural Nevada during the January caucus, allowing him to win more delegates than his Democratic rival. But later in the grueling primary season, those voters flocked to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

One explanation is that Mr. Obama was caught on tape in the spring telling San Francisco donors that some voters are "bitter" about the bad economy and then "cling" to religion and guns. Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain said the comment made the Democrat seem elitist.

But this week, Mr. Obama returns to spots where the economy has hit people hard - including Southside Virginia - and he stresses, "your story was my story because I wasn't born into fame or fortune." He also notes that he was raised by a single mother and has been successful, thanks to help from his hardworking grandparents and a good education.

But he has to do more than just talk, warned Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, who has helped Democrats with rural strategy.

"People out here are not Internet people, and they work long days doing blue-collar jobs," said Mr. Saunders, who worked for John Edwards and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. "He needs to get out there and tell them the American worker deserves a shot because they don't watch cable news."