Blue-collar vote a key for Clinton, Obama

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/13/blue_collar_vote_a_key_for_clinton_obama/

Results in N.H., Iowa provide a puzzle for rivals

By Scott Helman
Globe Staff / January 13, 2008

The Democratic caucus and primary results from Iowa and New Hampshire tell a tale of two elections. And not just in terms of who won.

In Iowa, Senator Barack Obama scored a wide victory by winning or matching Senator Hillary Clinton among voters of every income group, entrance poll data show. Obama won more support, for example, from those making less than $50,000 a year, according to a CNN poll.

But Obama's success with down-scale Iowans stands in stark contrast to his fate in New Hampshire, where Clinton won the primary partly by beating Obama handily among lower-income, less-educated voters concerned about their economic situation. Granite State voters making less than $50,000 chose Clinton over Obama 47 percent to 32 percent.

If such divergent preferences among Iowa and New Hampshire voters help explain why the two states sent two different candidates to victory, they also illustrate an important inflection point for the Democratic primary race as Clinton, Obama, and former North Carolina senator John Edwards clamor for votes in the weeks ahead.

It is unclear exactly why Iowa and New Hampshire produced seemingly contradictory results, but as the Democratic contest moves to Nevada, South Carolina, and the nearly two dozen states that vote on Feb. 5, the campaign that figures it out may have an inside track toward winning the party's presidential nomination.

Two key demographic groups are often called, in campaign parlance, the "beer track" and the "wine track." Obama attracts strong support from the latter - highly educated voters with high incomes who tend to be more content with their stations in life. Polls have shown Clinton stronger among lower-income voters who lack a college education and harbor deep economic anxieties.

FULL story at link.

[OHdem10]

1. Right now HRC and Edwards have the Blue Collar vote

Obama has the more affluent, more educated vote. The Elites backing
him had planned a strategy thinking he can win with African Americans
and the More Affluent. This however means he has to get everyblack
votw. Now you see why there has been such fighting over race.

HRc and Ewards--Working Class Middle Class