Good Gravy, Obama! Git This Here Ad On The Radio!

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley is playing in Virginia. The Obama campaign should get this on the airwaves all over Appalachia…now.  

Ralph Stanley sounds cuter than a speckled pup under a red wagon.  Just listen.

Folks here in WV, and also KY, PA, OH, TN, NC, MD, and VA would connect with this.  Because Ralph Stanley isn’t just a bluegrass legend, he sounds like "one of us."

How important is that in this region? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually agree with something Mudcat Saunders said. (Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while…just ignore the hanging dead animals on his walls. Please.)

The Democrats don’t come here [to rural America] and campaign, because they don’t think they can win here. The Republicans don’t come here and campaign because they take the votes for granted on cultural issues. What happens is there’s no debate over rural America, and who gets hurt? Rural America….

Folks are feeling a whole lot of hurt right now.  A lot of them who were Bush supporters the last time around are thinking about voting for Obama.  But Obama needs to close the deal.  

What most folks around here want to know is two things: (1) Are you one of us? and (2) Are our issues and concerns important to you?  We run on retail politics, and that means shaking hands and looking folks in the eye so they can take your measure. But a good surrogate can work wonders, and that Ralph Stanley ad is brilliant.

On the issues? The Charleston Gazette, WV’s largest paper, just endorsed Obama.  Plus, WaPo/ABC has Obama leading in Ohio – and NC and VA are tilting blue as well.  Git that Stanley ad on the radio!

(YouTube — Ralph Stanley picking The Clinch Mountain Backstep.)

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