It's time he also reaches out to urban blacks
DENVER -- Barack Obama has spent the last four days reaching out to working-class white voters.
I hope he spends at least a few paragraphs in his speech tonight reaching out to black ones.
(AP)
Obviously, informed black voters understand that Obama has to go the extra miles for the white vote.
But with the polls tightening, Obama's campaign must make sure every eligible black voter in urban America is excited about getting to the polls.
This week, Obama spent time in Eau Claire, Wis.; Kansas City, Mo.; Davenport, Iowa, and Billings, Mont., with undecided voters.
At each location, there were only a handful of black voters.
These were stops where people could reach out and touch Obama and ask questions. They brought their books to be signed and their babies to be kissed.
Cell phones flashed and women lined up to try to get a photo with a man who has a chance of becoming the first African-American president of the United States.
I heard Obama talk about the mortgage meltdown, the disappearing jobs, the falling economy and his plans to address those problems.
I witnessed Obama's ability to relate to the least of those in the room and to offer a helping hand to the struggling working class.
Indeed, in this election, the working class is the new poor. And candidates in both parties are giving working-class Americans the attention they used to heap on the poor.
A big part of Obama's appeal is his ability to make voters believe he cares and that he is one of them.
For instance, he was right at home when he dropped in on a faithful volunteer's home in Montana to watch Hillary Clinton's speak at the Democratic National Convention.
It didn't appear to bother him that the baby was crying, that the host had the frazzled look of a woman who had run out of napkins, or that an energetic 4-year-old boy was running through the house.
He looked as comfortable in that home making small talk as he is on the stage giving speeches before an audience of tens of thousands.
At every event held in small towns, Obama spoke with a great deal of compassion about the struggles of ordinary people.
He didn't spend his time chastising racist whites or condemning white folks who run the corporations that have helped put America's economy in the toilet.
He spent his time telling these voters what an Obama presidency would do for them.
I hope Obama will show the same compassion for urban America in his speech tonight. I hope he skips criticizing underachieving blacks and irresponsible black parents.
And I hope he finally unveils an agenda that reflects the same compassion for those living in gritty urban areas, where young people are dying daily, as I have seen him show those who live in the shadows of mountains and streams.