Economy Big Factor In Bellwether Missouri

CBS Evening News: Why Missouri Is One Of The Final '08 Battlegrounds

(CBS)  For the series, "Final Battleground," the CBS Evening News is traveling to three key areas of the country - the South, the Midwest and the West - to hone in on the states that will decide this presidential election. Missouri is one state that could swing toward either Barack Obama or John McCain, CBS News anchor Katie Couric reports.

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In every election since 1900 - except in 1956 - whoever won Missouri went on to the White House. No wonder both candidates are campaigning there with a vengeance.

Traditional heartland ideals - like guns and God - play high here.

"I'm not going to vote for Obama," said McCain supporter Larry Flemming. "Obama is going to take away our rights to carry guns, carry arms."

But the weight of a faltering economy is shifting historic allegiances - evident in the most unlikely of places.

That's right: Rednecks for Obama. Hailing from Missouri's bible belt, the NASCAR-loving, gun-toting duo spent the last year working to convert social conservatives over to the Democratic ticket.

"I'm sensing a feeling that we have to change," Les Spencer of Rednecks for Obama said. "This is the most important election that there's ever been."

But in their disillusionment, the Obama campaign sees opportunity.

Obama has 40 Missouri campaign offices; McCain only 16. The Obama team has spent over half a million dollars more in state-wide advertising - and worked to get Democratic registration up in places like St. Louis County.

Wherever you live in Missouri, hard economic times are weighing heavily on voters here.

Especially at the Chrysler plant just outside of the city of St. Louis. At the end of the month, just four days before the election, it will shut down and 1,200 jobs will be lost. But for every one of these manufacturing jobs, five to seven others exist - so the impact will be enormous.

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Brenda Carter has worked for Chrysler since 1984. She was five years short of retirement when she got the news she would lose her job at the end of the month.

"And now I'm worried about my health benefits," she said. "I'm worried about my Social Security. I'm worried about my pension."

"How do you think what's going on here in Missouri, in terms of the economy, will affect the way people vote? What's your sense?" Couric asked Bruce Reece.

"People want a change," he said. "They want a change for the middle class. And my sense is, this, Barack Obama, is the man to give us that."

Reece faces the prospect of collecting unemployment, or having to move away from his wife and young son in order to carry on the work he's known and loved for 23 years.

Couric said: "Your wife voted for President Bush in 2004. Will she stay Republican this go-round?"

"No, no," Reece said. "She's - her main concern right now is the economy."

Like North Carolina or Virginia, the McCain campaign thought Missouri would be strongly in his column. But the declining economy and Obama's soaring campaign war chest may make it difficult for McCain to make up the deficit.

[mairin27]

To jesuit12,

Hey Jesuit hate to break it to you but Jesus was a socialist.

1.Jesus owned nothing. 2. Jesus argued for the dissolution of the family and the establishment of communes. 3. Jesus loved all people regardless of ethnicity or class. 4. Jesus revolted against the imperial government, established religion and finance capitalism (usury). 5. Jesus taught that we should act as one body, one blood. 6. Jesus taught that his kingdom (ie nation state) is in the heart and not below the feet. 7. Jesus taught that we should fight for Justice and ''turn the other cheek'' to petty morality. 8. Jesus was a laborer and a teacher. 9. Jesus practiced healing and forgiveness. 10. Jesus taught that you can''t be an imperialist and a disciple at the same time.

[jesuit12]

www.GunBanObama.com

[jesuit12]

I guess some are reallu naive or just plain stupid. A big issue for PA manufacturing is NAFTA. which is THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT. Clinton passed it into law. People feel there are unfair trade ageeements with eh yes Canada. Mr. Hussein as a political ploy told voters he would repeal NAFTA. This very much infuriated Canada. Mr. Hussein met secretly with Canadian officials to clam their fears and to hush them up. He assured them he was lying to the gullible electorate and that it was just politics.

[amurguz]

To jesuit12, what do you call the government bailout of the very rich banking system? Charity? It%u2019s a form of socialism, and its for the very rich, who are the ones under Bush43 who have benefitted that most from the past 8 years. How about proof reading your next post; makes it look like you didn%u2019t graduate high school. Your punctuation is horrific, or maybe you wrote it that way to show everyone what a bassackwards, racially frightened voter you are. NAFTA also includes Canada, or did you forget that? I imagine you%u2019re terrified of all of those %u201Cdark skinned Mexican%u2019s,%u201D who perform work that you wouldn%u2019t do, if your life depended on it. They pick all of the fresh produce that reachs your grocery store, regardless of what part of the country you live in. We also seem to consistently overlook, that the reason the United States achieved its %u201CManifest Destiny%u201D was due to our %u201Cstealing%u201D the northern portions of Mexico; in the Mexican American war, 1846 to 1848. Hence, don%u2019t you think that we should be proud of the heritage and culture that Mexican American%u2019s bring to this nation, rather then the disgrace that the actual war stood for? So do us all a favor, and stop being a %u201Cchicken little.%u201D The sky has already fallen, on all of our heads, thanks to eight years of Republican enriching of the vastly rich. The %u201CTrickle Down,%u201D theory of Reaganomics, is a joke; it hasn''t worked, and never will.

[pjc27]

Oopsy, doopsy, doodle. Looks like Palins socialist welfare ain''t gonna cut the mustard this year in Alaska. Economy isn''t lookin good anywhere, is it?

JUNEAU - A state senator says the downward trend in crude oil prices could have state budget writers figuring how to make ends meet next session.
Juneau Democrat Kim Elton, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, says the price of Alaska crude oil needs to be about $75 to $80 per barrel to cover current state spending.
The price Friday fell below $70 per barrel.
State lawmakers set aside $5 billion of a projected surplus last session that Elton says was in anticipation of a potential rainy day.
He says he now sees thunder clouds on the horizon.
Elton says the last session was spent deciding how to spend a huge surplus but the next session may be a throwback, with a discussion of a fiscal plan.

[windmaster12]

Truth Hurts!!!!

The Proof is any Veteran who would vote
for Mccain is a Fool!!!

Research Vietnam Vets against Mccain!!!

Dumbed down Red States
Voted for Dumbya Twice In a Row
Conclusive Proof
That they are totally Inept
Lacking all Judgmental Foresight

Vote for The Traitor Mcsame
Bush 3
Starred in 32 Viet Cong Propaganda Movies
Traded Military Secrets for Preferential treatment
Its all Documented-
Just
Google
Mccain Collaborator

[jesuit12]

Obama is trying to pull off the biggest hype over the American people. He loaths people from rural America and put put divisive policies in place if elected. He lies about taxes and will raise them just as he has voted for througout his short term as a Senator. His tax structure will make small businesses lay off fold or move out of the US. He met with the Canadian delegation to assure them he would not take action against NAFTA. He wants to raise taxes to be on par with the OECD countries that purport Socialism. France cannot compete with busines in America becuse their tax rate is high to support social programs. The OECD states that taxes must be raised in the US so the rate differntial does not harm France.

[eric-914]

I blame the guy down the street w/ the Lexus more for Chrysler closing than I do any Republican.

Buy American.

[misha128-2009]

Posted by NoRepubs at 07:55 PM

More McCain lies ---

[cariboubarbi]

Missourians

Obama doesn''t care about your guns. He doesn''t want to take them away. The NRA is full of ***** if they say differently.

[dragonfly125]

Barack Obama will face an international crisis early in his presidency, Joe Biden warns, fueling Republican charges that the Democratic presidential candidate''s own running mate admits Obama is a blank slate in the face of coming national security threats.

Speaking in Seattle on Sunday, Biden said he could guarantee that the world will want to find out if Obama is up to the job, which he assured voters he is.

"Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking," Biden said.

"Remember I said it standing here. if you don''t remember anything else I said. Watch, we''re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. And he''s gonna have to make some really tough -- I don''t know what the decision''s gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it''s gonna happen," Biden continued.

[stloubill]

The NRA has been flooding mailboxes here with the most blatant lies about Obama that I have ever seen. Basically, they''re claiming he wants to ban all guns. Absurd, disgusting, and dishonest.

[albertw40]

You had better believe the economy is a big deal in this state. And people are ticked that all John McCain can do is flood their homes with nasty robocalls having nothing to do with how McCain would help the Middle Class. McCain just doesn''t care about all our hurting people.

[norepubs]

.............This poor,duped individual is a victim of republican fascist LIES. Republicans don''t want to do what is best for the country. Winning by deceit is what the "family values" party is about. It''s all they have left as a campign strategy since republican policies are rapidly bankrupting this country....
Are YOU better off than you were eight years ago?????????


"Obama is going to take away our rights to carry guns, carry arms."

[pvperson]

"Obama is going to take away our rights to carry guns, carry arms."

As if a president could, even if one tried, get a Constitutional Amendment though BOTH houses of Congress. Not to mention the fact that Obama has repeatedly said he has no plans in that area. The NRA must be made up of the MOST stupid people on the planet.