Letter to Sen. Obama

Dear Senator Obama:

I am a college educated “big city” girl. I have lived and worked in affluent districts of thriving metropolitan dwellings like Orlando, FL, and Washington, D.C.; and currently reside in a historic southern city. Urban areas overflow with the cultural and diverse opportunities my “Type A” system craves, and; because my husband is a professor, job prospects require for our livelihood.

However, my childhood playground was not surrounded by concrete slabs. In fact, not many buildings stood near the beautiful Pennsylvania hillside where I spent much of my formative years. I picked pumpkins, tomatoes, and cucumbers in the farmlands owned by my great grandparents; and teaberries and wildflowers on the property of my mother’s family.

Family vacations included trips to Amish farms and relaxation at an upstate hunting cabin. Purchasing fresh fruits, vegetables, and shoofly pies at the Gratz auction was a favorite weekend tradition, along with cheering for the local high school football team, and clapping when the marching band paraded through town.

Holidays were especially festive. Santa Claus greeted children in the gazebo of the town square, and shop keepers served hot chocolate and sugar cookies to patrons as Christmas carols piped through outdoor speakers. Easter time marked church egg hunts and Easter pageants. Those traditions, spanning back decades were not just a way of life thirty plus years ago, they stand strong today.

A daughter of a garbage man and waitress, and a granddaughter of farmers and a mail carrier, I grew up surrounded by hardworking men and women who labored to provide their families with food, shelter, and educational necessities. I’m proud to have attended family reunions and church events with factory workers, truck drivers, coal miners, carpenters, nurses, paramedics, teachers, and men who picked up guns in order to serve their country. This includes my young cousin who served three terms in Iraq.

I’m proud that my grandmother, who was too poor to finish high school, didn’t allow her learning to stop with her formal education enabling her to win every game of Scrabble she played and master formidable crossword puzzles in the New York Times. I’m proud that she and my grandfather creamed me and my Ph.D. earning husband at a game of Trivial Pursuit.

I come from a family of hunters. They don’t hunt because of bitterness over salaries not capping six figures--and for the record, let’s not forget that there are many wealthy politicians like Dick Cheney and John Kerry who have been on hunting trips.

There certainly was not a shortage of churches in the tiny town where I grew up. But religion was not “clung to” out of bitterness and lack of education. Instead, faith was instilled to bring light to truth and hope. My grandmother led me to a relationship with Christ before I could read. And that relationship became my life’s foundation. I cling to Christ not out of fear or dismay; I cling because of the love He is.

Yes, Senator, small Pennsylvania townsare not without faults. Diversity is scarce and financial stresses abound, yet hope still flourishes. Neighbors still help one another with home improvement projects. Teachers strive to make learning enjoyable. Church members feed the hungry and visit the sick. And Families pray together, work together, and love one another.

I challenge you Mr. Obama to not measure those you do not know with the ruler of elitism. Do not judge them by hearsay or because their political views may differ from yours. Instead, grab yourself a bowl of ham potpie at a church social and talk to the local Reverend, store clerk, mail carrier, and school bus driver. Don’t attempt to immediately relate with them or educate them about you and your views. Listen to them. Listen as they joyfully tell you about Jenny’s homerun during a softball game. Listen as they tell you about Mrs. Klinger’s dairy cow. Listen as they talk about struggling to buy necessities like milk and eggs. Listen, Senator. Listen to their hearts, their dreams, their fears, and their joys. Listen, not so you can teach, but so you can learn about those you wish to serve.

Sincerely,

Keystone Daughter

This letter will not be sent to Senator Obama. It is just my response to the remarks below that he made last week while speaking about Pennsylvanians to wealthy Californian donors in San Francisco. For the record, Mr. Obama has apologized.

“Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives,” he said. “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not.

“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

(You are welcome to reprint this article as long as you give me credit. All my writing on both blogs is under copy write. Even the not-so-well written stuff like the above, thanks.)