CenLamar

Presidential Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama found himself in hot water last week over what he perceives to be “bitterness” in small-town America. The criticism came from Republicans, as well as his Democratic opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton. According to his opponents, Obama is both elitist and out of touch by saying that small-town voters “cling to religion and guns in bad economic times.” So is Obama all that much out of touch? Far from it. He’s right on the money.

Those who are really “out of touch” are the political insiders in both parties who cannot shake their Washington inside the Beltway mentality. In most instances, they haven’t a clue as to the many frustrations incurred by small town folks throughout this country.

If you want to witness these frustrations firsthand, drive up to Northeast Louisiana through my old hometown of Ferriday. Many commercial buildings stand along Main Street empty. The saving grace of this town, as is the case of many other small towns throughout the country, was the local Wal-Mart. It just shut down. Unemployment throughout this part of the state hovers around 30%. With so many people unemployed, a high percentage have no health insurance.

Economic conditions in Ferriday and Northeast Louisiana are mirrored throughout the country in numerous other rural communities. And to keep some semblance of hope, these folks find a few things to cling to. One is religion. Church attendance is significantly higher in rural areas, particularly in south. And for a whole litany of everyday problems, religion offers comfort, consolation, and hope.

How about clinging to your gun? Few families in rural America are without a gun, for both hunting and self protection. When I first began practicing law in Ferriday, I was amazed at the number of men, young and old alike, who would take off in the fall for a month or more just to go hunt. As one prospective juror told the judge at a jury trial but I participated in, “you need to let me off this jury judge. It’s hunting season, and that’s about all I live for.”

So I read Obama’s comments to mean that he perceives major economic problems throughout rural America. The economy is sluggish; oil prices are staying over $100 a barrel, health care coverage for many has become unaffordable, mortgage foreclosures have jumped dramatically, and unemployment rates continue to rise in large segments of rural America. When you’re without a job, and are, as the song says, “down and out”, it’s only natural to play to those precepts that give comfort and offer hope.

Too many in small town America, such precepts are guns and religion. So where is Obama off the track? The Beltway gang around both Clinton and McCain need to drop this dead horse. And maybe get out in the country a lot more.