I'd like to see video of this. Sipping that beer then asking if it's a designer beer is almost a John Kerry "Lamberg Field" moment.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Barack Obama, one of the most debated and publicized figures around, wound his way through western Pennsylvania this weekend on a bus tour with a formidable task: reshaping perceptions of him on unfriendly turf.
From the blue collar hamlets of Allegheny County to the faded steel community of Johnstown, some of Obama's thinnest support is in this region that gave birth to the term “Reagan Democrat” — white, working class union voters who, in this fierce race for the Democratic presidential nomination, have favored Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in far greater numbers.
So Obama, unknown on the national stage until four years ago, aimed to identify. For the last two days, he’s wrapped himself in the sort of imagery that invokes familiarity with western Pennsylvania voters.
With a football tucked under his arm and a “Terrible Towel” in his hand, Obama posed with former Pittsburgh Steelers players Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris at the outset of his tour. He visited with hard-hatted workers at a steel mill and with patrons of a bowling alley. And he stopped by a sports bar Friday night to catch a bit of the NCAA basketball tournament. He sipped a Yuengling beer, but his local knowledge fell short when he confessed he didn’t know much about the regional brew widely consumed in Pennsylvania.
“You know I got a beer down there,” Obama said to a male patron. “What do they call it? A Yuengling?”
“Yuengling,” the man confirmed. “Like you didn’t know.”
“Trying a Pennsylvania beer, that’s what I’m talking about,” said Obama, his sleeves rolled up, smiling. “Is it expensive, though. ... Wanna make sure it’s not some designer beer or something.”
The swing through Pennsylvania could be called the Familiarity Tour — an education of Obama and the voters, amid all the state’s cultural quirks.
Obama had spent little time in the state before he began campaigning here earlier this month. Clinton, on the other hand, is like a native daughter, with family roots in Scranton and many years of campaigning in the state with her husband, Bill.
The Illinois senator shelved his signature arena rallies for modest town hall meetings and unannounced visits that allowed him to schmooze with locals. But Obama kept Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) at his side, hoping the freshman’s credibility with blue collar, Catholic and ethnic voters might eventually rub off on him.
The six-day tour, which started Friday in Pittsburgh and ends Wednesday in the Philadelphia area, is an effort to get up close with voters, change minds — and show Obama’s commitment to the state that some had doubted.
