The Obama Connection

Barack Obama has connected with voters. He has made college students politically active, wooed powerful democratic leaders, and even obtained some Republican supporters. In light of this phenomenon, the presidential race is still as close as ever.

According to the Rasmussen tracking poll, Barack Obama is leading John McCain 48 to 47 percent. When looking at the way the Obama campaign has handled the election, it seems that he still has not appealed to white working-class Americans.

Although race may be an issue for white working-class voters, Obama still has not made a significant effort to bringing those voters to his side of the ticket. Recently, on September 16th, Obama had a fundraiser in which he sold tickets to anyone willing to see the great Barbra Streisand. The only catch was that tickets sold for $2,500. The event raised the democratic candidate 9 million dollars in one concert. Of course, the only people able to afford the tickets were the upper class elites and big businesses. Not in attendance -- the white working-class voters.

If Barack Obama wants to connect with the white working-class voters, he has to stop portraying himself as an elitist. Having a fundraiser that only that upper class can afford puts Obama just one step further away from making that connection. For a candidate that claims he can relate to the working class, he is gradually moving further away from obtaining that relationship.