Cross-posted at Eclectablog.
The AP reports today that the Obama campaign still has Indiana in its sites. Red State Indiana? Really? Are they really wasting time and money there?
Yes. And it's not a pipe dream. Not if my personal experience with a rural farm family in Indiana is any indication.
Take a trip to the farm fields of Indiana with me, just for a moment...
My wife's aunt and uncle live south of Indianapolis in a rural farming community near Seymour. They are tomato and soybean farmers and have been their whole lives having inherited the farm from their parents.
On Monday, they sold the farm.
Uncle M. is dealing with Parkinson's-type affliction and now requires 'round-the-clock care. Once a proud strong farmer, he's now completely dependent on his family and unable to communicate. Aunt R. was a successful real estate agent who was forced to retire to care for him. One of their daughters, a successful book editor, has moved back in with them after living in New York City, to help with Uncle M.
Another daughter, a major in the Marines, returned from Iraq last year and is dealing with a heavy load from PTSD. She had been in active reserve and was months away from completing her commitment when she was called up. A hardship waiver was denied despite the fact that she was more or less running the family farm since her father was sick. She has now moved to a remote cabin in Montana to escape from ... stuff.
This is a family of Republicans. They have been Republicans all of their lives. They are strong supporters of the military and they hold very conservative views like most of their farming neighbors in the local community.
This year they are voting for Senator Barack Obama.
This is huge. There are literally NO AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THEIR TOWN. But they have overcome whatever difficulties they may have voting for an African American and are supporting his candidacy.
Why? Well, to begin with, they are completely disenchanted with the Republican Party. They have seen what the past 8 years has done to our country and, with the loss of their farm, they have felt the effects personally. And their "small town values" are telling them it's time to clean house and not reward the Republicans for their devastation.
But, more to the point, they have actually listened to Senator Obama. And they find him compelling.
"He reminds me of a statesman," my wife's aunt said. "I'd love to have someone like him for a son."
A statesman. If you had to sum up a complex, multi-faceted man in one word, that word is perhaps the best one for Senator Obama.
A statesman.
And we need a statesman right now. We need a calm, intelligent, thoughtful statesman to lead us out of the downward spiral the Republicans have set us on.
If Barack Obama can flip a rural white farming family in Indiana, I think he actually has a shot of flipping the whole state blue.
I'm just sayin'...