The small city of New Castle is in west-central Pennsylvania, about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, 25 miles east of Youngstown. I've stopped there while traveling east on I-80, and I know a bit about it from some relatives who live in that area. According to Wikipedia, its population in 2000 was 26,309 -- down over the decades from almost twice that many in 1940. Wikipedia adds:
New Castle is a prime example of a Rust Belt city which has been forced to adapt to changing economic situations.
It's quintessential Pennsylvania.
New Castle is a place most Americans will not ever hear or know much about. It is not a glamorous place, though I have always found the area to be so beautiful with its rolling hills and farms and river valleys. It's had its claims to distinction, and it's had its moments in the making of America:
New Castle gradually became an industrial center, due in part to the construction in the early 1800s of a canal system. In the 1870s, the city became a major hub of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and by 1900 was one of the fastest growing cities in the country. At this time, New Castle boasted the largest tin plate mill in America, steel and paper mills, foundries, a bronze bushing factory, and car-construction plants contributed to the economy. In addition, the Shenango Pottery produced commercial china and created fine china for the White House, including dinnerware for President Dwight D. Eisenhower and President Lyndon B. Johnson. Other ceramic factories produced bathroom fixtures and industrial refractory materials.
The Warner Brothers opened their very first movie theater there in 1907. The Zembelli family, famous in the fireworks world, is from New Castle. Lots of Italians and Poles and Czechs and other immigrants arrived there in the early 1900s to work in the mills and factories, and on the railroads.
But the city began to hollow out in the 1960s as the railroads slipped, the foundries, factories, and mills closed, and the historic downtown faded. I've always seen New Castle as a microcosm of the fate of the American economy, landscape, and culture over the last half century, as the money of the Rust Belt moved to the Sun Belt. As of the 2000 census:
The median income for a household in the city was $25,598, and the median income for a family was $32,539. Males had a median income of $30,112 versus $20,754 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,730. About 17.1% of families and 20.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.8% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.
It's important enough a stop this year that Bill Clinton visited earlier in the week. A thousand people showed up to hear him. It was not one of those stops where he created headlines:
For President Clinton Wednesday, what he had to say to Lawrence County residents was pure policy. Unlike other campaign stops in recent weeks, he made no mention of any "misstatements."
Bill's visit no doubt made a big impression. But yesterday the city's newspaper, the New Castle News, endorsed Obama. Forget the ridiculous and pathetic performance of those from the Gibson/Stephanopolous School of Journalism. I'm heartened deeply to see this small city paper read the situation dead-on, and rise to the occasion:
We don’t envy the next president of the United States.
Whoever is elected in November must contend with the aftermath of eight years of George W. Bush. While presidencies are ultimately judged by history, we have little doubt this one will be viewed as an absolute disaster.
Because of Bush, the next president must address a war in Iraq that has evolved into a choice between endless military occupation or withdrawal and resultant chaos.
Meanwhile, another war — this one in Afghanistan — was allowed to go unfinished. The consequence there is a resurgent Taliban, expanded violence and record opium production to fuel the international heroin trade.
These wars, by the way, are being fought off budget, meaning they are funded with borrowed money. This is in addition to the ballooning official deficits the Bush administration and a compliant Congress have created.
it's worth reading the whole piece. The editors seem genuinely to have weighed the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates, and to have come to their conclusion with some difficulty after much mulling and discussion. I'll leave out the middle and go to last few paragraphs:
It is not by happenstance that Obama has become the phenomenon of this presidential campaign.
He is charismatic, articulate and smart. Obama displays an insight into issues that impresses us. And his campaign is geared toward reaching out to new voters and beyond the traditional Democratic base.
Obama represents a unifying force that America badly needs. By contrast, we view Clinton as much more of a divisive figure, similar to Bush in that regard.
During this presidential campaign, there have been plenty of diversions, with off-hand comments by candidates and their supporters blown out of proportion. Focus on the real issues facing the nation is lost in the shuffle. Voters must avoid being distracted by such matters.
While it may not be an easy choice — and some uncertainty remains in terms of who he would select as advisers — our endorsement goes to Barack Obama in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. We believe he offers hope for a nation that desperately needs it.
And I have to say that, after last night, I desperately needed to read this modest and measured editorial from this modest and gritty city. New Castle is the kind of place that, when I visit, I say to myself, there is such potential here, such opportunity for the next generation to bring its vitality back, to build on its history and its setting along the pretty Shenango River. The old smokestack industries that made it "a prime example of a rust belt city" won't return. Its future will come I think in the form of greener industry and a healthy local agricultural economy. It will build on the character that the place has due to it diverse ethnic heritage, its landscape, and its work ethic. It is like so much of Pennsylvania in my experience: just waiting for new vision and leadership that can empower it to renew itself. I'm so pleased to see New Castle's newspaper recognizing this need for change.
And, finally, their on-line poll question also caught my eye. The editors did not choose some inane and pandering question about being bitter, or about some old associate of the candidates, or about guns or religion. Their question is a noble one, and it is the one that we all face: "Which candidate can unify the nation?"
Thank you, New Castle News, for showing more class, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and journalistic independence than the big boys at ABC News! After an awful evening, you made my day!