Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Sunday, September 07 2008 - Index

Volume 7, No. 43
The Philadelphia Tribune
Sunday, September 7, 2008
WOOING DISAFFECTED WOMEN
Palin’s, Clinton’s stand
on issues deeply divided
GOP’s attempt
to lure voters
may fall short
Across America
Commentary
Op-Ed
Food
Comics
Monica Lewis
Tribune Correspondent
Many political experts and average voters
alike considered Sarah Palin’s appointment as
the Republican vice presidential nominee an
attempt to court female voters still bitter over
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s failed bid for the White
House.
A married mother of five and Alaska’s first
female governor, Palin’s personal story and touted
work going against the GOP establishment
was just what the Republican Party needed to
sway voters who were ready to see a woman on
a major ticket.
In addition, Palin’s rousing acceptance speech
during the Republican National Convention last
week, in which she compared herself to a “pit
bull,” would quiet any doubts that she was
ready to take on Democratic Sens. Barack
Obama and Joe Biden by playing hardball in a
man’s world on the national political stage.
But can a well-crafted speech, family matters
that many American women face and an ambitious
and assertive personality be enough to win
women over?
Some political observers say regardless of
Palin’s emotional appeal to Clinton supporters,
her stand on many issues simply doesn’t gel
with the more liberal, suburbanized women who
had hoped to see Clinton, not just any woman,
make history this year.
G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin &
Marshall College’s Center for Politics & Public
Affairs, said Palin’s pick was done in large part
to lure three key groups: core Republicans still
skeptical of McCain, blue-collar workers still
skeptical of Obama and middle-income, middle-
Terry Johnson
Tribune Correspondent
The vulnerability of the Black
middle class is a hard and ugly
truth that few would dare publicly
admit.
“I slide into college. I was a
‘C’ student but fortunate
enough to be applying for
school when colleges were
under pressure to admit Black
students. Having a white-collar
job was only a dream,” said an
East Oakland resident who
declined to be identified.
“I got a couple of scholarships
and eventually earned a
degree in engineering,” he said.
“No one, and I mean no one, in
my family had ever gone to college.
I got my paper and I was
supposed to be set — right?”
“Graduated. Had a couple of
good jobs — white collar, nice
money,” he added. “But working
with white folks can be a
challenge. Even when you give
200 percent, and they are only
giving 60 percent, they treat
INSIDE
3-A
4-A
5-A
1-B
3-B
Sports
Classifieds
Caribbean
Leisure
Obituaries
African American
History 101,
Tribune Magazine Inside
1-C
3-C
4-C
1-D
6-D
SPORTS
Phillies take
opener in
crucial series
Phils defeated
Mets in hotly
contested game.
1C
class suburban voters.
Judging from the raucous reaction at the
Republican National Convention, Palin’s pick
was met with approval by the core Republicans,
but getting the suburban voters who were in
Clinton’s camp might be a tougher row to hoe,
Madonna said.
“It’s still going to be about the issues and I
don’t think she wins them by talking about
abortion and guns,” Madonna said, stressing
that the middle-class voters are a larger group of
working, blue-collar groups. Palin’s appeal,
Madonna added, may be greater with blue-collar
women who tend to be more pro-life than their
middle-class counterparts.
“If anything, she’s going to have to make the
argument, ‘I’m a working mom like you. I took
on the establishment,’” Madonna said. “You’ll
hear a lot of that with these voters.”
Avis Jones-DeWeever, director of Research,
Economy undermining
Black middle class gains
Pictured here is a typical Black middle-class family, a part of
America’s population that has grown considerably since the
1970s. Increased debt in the 1980s and 1990s and today’s subprime
crises fueled by the meltdown of the nation’s finance has
hurt the Black middle class. – TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO
you as if you are not giving
enough.
“They would come up with
any kind of excuse to hold you
back. You lived in a constant
state of fear; I’m not going to
lie, that’s exactly what it was,”
Sarah Palin Hillary Clinton
he added. “You do the wrong
thing and you are out the door
and there is no way of knowing
— if you are a Black person —
whether you will ever reach
Public Policy and the Information Center for the
non-partisan National Council of Negro Women,
credited the McCain campaign with making the
“savvy move” to pick Palin.
Jones-DeWeever, however, stressed that
female Clinton loyalists simply don’t share the
same values as Palin, a lifelong member of the
National Rifle Association and a staunch supporter
of abstinence-only education for young
people.
“She was right on the radar of the Rush
Limbaughs of the world all along. They pushed
her name to McCain and he caved. Now they
have a right-wing attack dog in a skirt,” Jones-
DeWeever said. “But once traditional
Democratic women who are passionate about
reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work,
affordable health care and the bread and butter
issues that matter most to them, they’re not
Palin – Page 4B
CARIBBEAN
Storms wreak havoc
on Caribbean
The
worst
could
be yet
to come.
4C
Melanie R. Holmes
Tribune Staff Writer
During his address to a
diverse crowd at the
Ironworkers Local Union 401 in
Northeast Philadelphia Friday
morning, Democratic vice presidential
candidate Joe Biden
said, for him, the campaign is
all about two words: Dignity and
respect.
“The dignity of my word and
the respect for what I do,” he
said. That’s where he and
Republican presidential nominee
John McCain differ.
“As I look back at the
Republican convention, and it’s
nice to say ‘to look back at it,’ it
was about John’s bravery,” the
Delaware senator and chairman
of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee said. “America needs
more than a great soldier.
America needs a great leader.”
After reciprocating the energetic
welcome he received from
Middle Class – Page 5B Biden – Page 5B
Eagles open 2008 season
against the St. Louis Rams,
Sports, Page 1C
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Larry Miller
Tribune Staff Writer
Price $1.00
WJJZ
format
change
is set
Fans of WJJZ 97.5 FM may have been wondering
what happened to their favorite smooth jazz
music and might be disappointed to learn that
the station will be flipping over to a new undisclosed
format on Monday.
On Friday, WJJZ’s parent company, Greater
Media, reportedly pulled the plug on its familiar
format and began “stunting” over the weekend
with the announcement: “Tune in on Monday …
for something new, something now. A brand new
radio station from 97.5.”
Smooth Jazz began airing in Philadelphia in
1993, first on Clear Channel’s WJJZ at 106.1 on
the FM dial until August 2006, when the parent
company switched the format to 97.5.
But the smooth jazz music will be fading out
come Monday.
According to Greater Media, the resources
committed to WJJZ weren’t bringing in the kinds
of revenues that were anticipated. And a statement
released from the radio station states that
based on feedback and responses from its audience,
listeners will like its new vision.
“After much consideration and review, our
company has decided to make a change to 97.5
FM. As many people in the market know, we
share a passion for this wonderful music, the
smooth jazz format and all the good people that
made the special things happen for all of us,”
according to a prepared statement from the station.
“For nearly two years we have committed
substantial resources to this program.
WJJZ – Page 4B
Biden to voters: Look
at gaps in GOP policies
Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.,
and his wife Jill wave to the crowd at Maple Point Middle School,
Friday in Middletown, Pa. — AP PHOTO/BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES, STEVE GENGLER
RELIGION
Bethel AME gets
weekly church honor
After 125
years
church
not resting
on laurels.
4D
COMING TUESDAY
Foods that could
help prevent cancer