Chick's Diner is a Scranton landmark and its full-on for Hillary. All chrome, red piping and bustling waitresses, Edward Hopper could have painted Nighthawks, his famous painting of customers sitting at the counter of an all night diner, here. This diner is always full by seven in the morning and it stays open 24 hours a day. It's the best listening post in town and on the eve of the primary all the talk in this greasy spoon is about Hillary's pending victory, at least in Scranton.
Lori, my platinum blonde waitress just cannot conceive of a president named Obama. "I just can't see it," she said, to a chorus of approval from the old timers at the counter. "And then when you realise his middle name is Hussein," she said, "No, I don't think so."
Every US TV station seems to want footage of the customers at Chick's and hear their views on the election. MSNBC was just on the phone and is sending a crew in the morning. Other TV crews have been and gone all day.
No one can remember so much excitement over an election. In the short time I spent at the counter I only heard conversations about the election. This is not what diner customers usually concern themselves with, trust me. But this is by far the most exciting election anyone can remember in these parts. Its partly because blue collar Scranton sees Hillary as one of its own and it badly needs friends in high places. Her father was born here and she has several relatives still here giving her a special edge in the contest.
"She's gonna win big, I'm sure of it," says Tony by the counter. "No question," says his friend, Paul, "We don't want that Obama fellow."
The polls agree with the two elderly Italian-Americans. In North East Pennsylvania's smaller cities like Scranton, she leads by 59% to 28% for Obama. Large numbers of working class white voters have flocked to her message.
In Philadelphia, with its large black population and in the well to do suburbs, Obama is expected to carry the day.
Yep the comments of that waitress might be typical of the voter base in this part of the country and many other parts of the US.
You don't seem to hear black people say i'm not voting for him because his/her name sound a bit too european.
Now would clinton come out and disown comments like these made by her supporters and say that this type of supporter voting for her would make her very unhappy like mccain already has...
Posted by: sweeetback | 22 April 2008 at 10:12 PM
It just goes to show the mentality of some Americans when someone's middle name is given as a reason for not voting for them. Do you think it's in any way true that the intelligent vote for Obama and the dumb asses vote for Hillary? I'm starting to think that it is... crikey it's gonna be close!! :-o
Posted by: Dumb Blondes for Hillary | 22 April 2008 at 09:38 AM