Ralph Blackburn in Schroon, NY – You enter a corner shop, and spying onions and carrots on display, you ask the shopkeeper, working behind the counter, “where are the apples?” She stares back confused, “apples? I’m sorry, you’ll have to go to Wal-Mart to get those.” This is in the small town of Ticonderoga, about five hours drive north of New York, deep in the heart of the Adirondack mountain range, in upper New York state. New York is solidly Democrat, however in other swing states, such as New Hampshire, Iowa, and Ohio, voters from outside the cities, in towns a similar size to Ticonderoga, can make the difference come November.
Talking to an elderly woman from Pennsylvania, a swing state leaning towards Obama, whilst unhappy with the choice of Paul Ryan as running mate given his policies on Medicare, she was still firmly in Romney’s camp. She stated tentatively she didn’t want America to “become more like Europe”, blaming the collapse of the Eurozone on “Europe’s social policies”. Whilst this may be true to a certain extent regarding Spain, it was a misunderstanding of the event which is not uncommon across rural America. There is a block against social policies, outlined by the watering down of Obamacare, and a desire not to be apparently “dependent on the government”.
It is an unsurprising opinion given the country was born out of a aspiration for the people of a nation not to be shackled by government, however views purported that social policies, and state intervention blocks freedom is simply absurd. Despite the fact that policies such as Obamacare would undoubtably help this demographic, particularly with Paul Ryan’s views on Medicare, the Pennsylvanian women still was likely to vote Romney complaining that Obama “has a actual communist working for him”. It is however, for Obama to try and find a way to win over such voters, and it appears that negative campaigning, mainly against Romney and Ryan’s Medicare policies, may be the most effective tactic.
There does however appear to be a disconnect between small town America and politicians. A clear reason for the remarkable rise of the Tea Party over the past couple of years, was making a big song and dance that the members, like Sarah Palin, were normal moms and dads, however frequently they displayed their abnormal beliefs. It does come across as a cliche, however the residents of small towns are largely suspicious of outsiders. One elderly resident of Schroon, also in New York state, explained how, despite living there for 30 years, she felt the locals never fully trusted her, because she wasn’t born there. “People just never leave”, she explained. It is in such towns where politics in Washington DC, and social policies such as Obamacare have an alien feel to them. They don’t get affected by them, and as a majority of the residents of the towns never leave, they have an affinity towards self sustenance.
“I have always owned small businesses”, the resident of Schroon said, “I do not like being reliant on the state.” Mitt Romney’s speech last night very much plays to this audience. He made numerous mentions of small businesses, describing them as the main method of job creation in America. Investing in small businesses was point five, of his rather vague unspecific five point plan which would apparently create 12 million jobs. This however, is the kind of rhetoric people from outside the city like to hear. Romney’s speech offered personal vignettes of bringing up his five sons and his and Ann’s early romance, conveniently leaving out the staggering wealth in which he grew up in. But such references are effective, “Oh I do like Mitt Romney, I like him a lot”, the elderly Pennsylvanian women stated strongly, and this was prior to the convention and the huge humanising effort was underway. Despite the effectiveness of Ann Romney’s speech in particular, there are still many holes in Romney’s armour where the Democrats can attack him for being an aloof wealthy CEO, out of touch with normal families, and this is where the out of town voters may begin to listen.
The Backbenches 