For McCain, There Goes the Roofers’ Vote
May 6th, 2008
By JAZZ SHAW, Assistant Editor
For all the talk regarding the necessity of winning the “blue collar” vote, our presidential candidates continue to show a puzzling lack of understanding when it comes to working class America. During a stop yesterday in Charlotte, North Carolina, John McCain took a question from the audience which was purportedly on immigration.
Several audience members questioned McCain about his stance on immigration, though their perspectives ranged from complaining about immigrants returning to the U.S. after being expelled for criminal activity to arguing Americans do not want the jobs immigrants perform.
“People don’t say to their children, ‘I want you to get an education so you can grow up and be a roofer,’” said one woman. “We don’t have people who want to do those jobs.”
The Arizona senator was seen nodding in agreement as he answered.
McCain said he understood the need for qualified foreign workers, adding he believed the U.S. could only solve this intractable political problem by “securing the borders first” and then moving forward with more comprehensive reform. “I don’t think you can take it piecemeal,” he told the questioner.
So now roofers, to take only one example, are mixed in with the great unwashed masses doing menial labor which would be better handled by unskilled immigrants? Before running for the White House, I believe the candidates would be well served by spending some time out in small town America, not for photo ops and pressers, but getting to know some real Americans.
As of 2004 (the last year we seem to have solid data for) only 27% of Americans over the age of 25 had a college degree. A depressing 15% of citizens did not have a high school diploma. Let’s think about that first statistic for a moment here. Nearly three quarters of the adults in this country didn’t graduate from college. Many of them are hard working people who labor with their hands doing all of the jobs that need to get done in communities across the nation.
A good friend of ours here in New York began working at the age of fifteen mowing lawns around the neighborhood after school and on the weekends. Upon graduating high school in the late 1970s he continued on the same path, slowly expanding his efforts into the formation of his own lawn care business. He now has three crews of workers traveling around town, mowing grass, trimming hedges and hauling away brush and leaves. His wife keeps the books for this mostly cash operation and he still drives a truck and operates a mower every day himself. They have a lovely home are raising three kids. He accomplished all of this having never set foot in a university. Is he somehow a failure for not having obtained a college degree? Is he doing work that is “beneath him” and better suited to an illegal immigrant? You may not want to put the question to him yourself, as a punch in the nose often offends.
And what about those roofers? We had to have our roof repaired a few years ago and the crew of burly men who showed up to do the work did a great job. It’s not an easy profession. It requires time to learn the skills involved along with physical strength and agility. The service is not cheap and the men earn a solid wage for hard labor. How about the carpenters who put in that new deck for you? Or the plumber who rushed over when your pipes broke? Were they all illegals who snuck in over our borders during the night?
Everyone wants the best for their children, and seeing them off to college is a common and admirable goal. But many, many Americans don’t have the luxury of getting up every day, putting on a business suit and heading out to an air conditioned office. Not everyone makes their living in front of a computer screen or trading stocks on Wall Street. There are plenty of hard working Americans out here living the common dream, getting their hands dirty and still putting in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage. It would behoove our presidential candidates to keep that in mind when formulating their message and policies. These real Americans don’t want to be pitied, but they also don’t want to be sneered at for their lack of a sheepskin or the dirt under their fingernails at the end of the day. What I believe they do want is leadership in Washington who understands them and looks to their needs, not just a representative of the white collar class. Are you listening Senator McCain?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 3:12 am and is filed under Newsweek Blogitics, John McCain, 2008 Elections, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
