BBC NEWS | The Reporters

One state, two countries

Gavin Hewitt
10 Oct 08, 03:21 AM GMT

Dayton and Wilmington, Ohio: Ohio - the state is so important to both campaigns that candidates almost collide with each other.

And yet they can appear to inhabit different countries.

We began the day at Fifth Third Field - home of the Dayton Dragons - with Barack Obama.

The crowd is diverse, boisterous. Almost certain of victory. The mood is celebratory in the October sun.

The emphasis of the event is jobs; 35,000 lost in past five years. The enthusiasm for the candidate Is real.

Obama emerges from the bleachers to U2's City of Blinding Lights. He bounds up the steps, graceful In his loose-fitting suit.

Obama starts straight with the economy. "This is a moment of great uncertainty," he says. Then there is a sound problem. The crowd is with him as he changes microphone. Some shout "We love you". His message is populist. "I'll be a president not just looking out for CEOs but for you." He slams the idea of a bail-out for high-rolling real-estate speculators.

The morning mist burns off and Obama removes his jacket. He moves effortlessly from railing against the Bush administration and the greed on Wall Street to offering optimism.

He knows that no politician can win in America without offering hope for tomorrow. So crumbling roads and bridges will be re-built. Every American will get a world-wide education. The offers come tumbling out.

"I'm asking you to believe not in me," he says, "but in yourself." And he heads for the end. There are a few screams in the crowd. For some, he is a rock-star politician.Then it's two swigs of bottled water and he works the rope line. The crowd holds up books to be signed; they want to be photographed with him; they want him to hold their baby.
"He's a history man," says one young woman.

And then we're heading to Wilmington, Clinton County, past the corn stalks and into rural Ohio and another country. Sarah Palin is due for a 7pm appearance. Five hours before that, they start queueing. Some have driven for six hours. The crowd is not diverse. It is white. They love Sarah Palin. They love her certainty. She is one of them. She confirms their identity and who they are in this changing country. She shares their beliefs. Abortion. Guns. The military.

Many of them don't just prefer McCain-Palin - they detest Obama. Almost everyone I spoke to doubted Obama's patriotism. One woman said to me: "He's not American."

Before Sarah Palin arrives they play a video of her life in Alaska. Then the organisers drop some dry ice and her bus drives inside the conference centre. The crowds chant "Sarah, Sarah". It could be a scene out of Political Idol - if there was such a show.

At one point they break into chants of "USA, USA". She questions Obama's patriotism. I would like It, she says, if just once he backed "victory" in Iraq.

It is all red meat to this crowd and they leave fired up. She works the Republican base well. And another election day is over. One state, two countries - or so it sometimes seems.

Comments

1. At 03:53am on 10 Oct 2008, twokidsandadog wrote:
Welcome to my world!

As a Brit now living in Ohio, I am struck by those who know the world and desperately want a change in contrast to those who pride themselves on their ignorance and detest those who are not like them.

Buy what does Palin have to do to be seen as stepping across the line from right-wing to near-Fascist? A guy has black skin can't be an American.

And wait for tomorrow. Alaska proves that she abused her power and the Republicans go all-out to discredit the report. And her extremist minions believe everything she says.

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2. At 11:30am on 10 Oct 2008, Runner5k wrote:
I have developed a love-hate relationship with these BBC blogs about the American elections. I love reading them as it is interesting to see the election from an outside perspective, but at the same time, they typically leave me raging between some of the insinuations by both the blogger and in most cases, the people who post comments.

With regards to this post, contrast the way Mr. Hewitt describes Senator Obama's rally vs. Governor Palin's. Senator Obama's description is all evocative of positive connotations, while Governor Palin's description is dripping in negativity. Through reading these blogs, I completely get the fact that most people outside of the US is seriously questioning the reasoning behind Senator McCain's choice of running mate, and she has become a laughing stock on these blogs and comments. But the comment about "It could be a scene out of Poli[ti]cal Idol - if there was such a show" could easily be applied to either Obama or Palin. For as incredulous people are about the sudden celebrity status of Palin, the other side of America--who haven't been sweeped in Obamania (you can argue if that is good or bad or if these people are incredibly stupid, brainless Bushites)--view Obama with the same incredulity as Palin is. Please do try to even attempt to understand where the other side is coming from, and seriously, its not just "abortion. guns. the military."

I wonder as an American, have we really become this petty in our politics and Mr. Hewitt, Mr. Webb, and others are merely reporting the plain and true facts or is it more like an European sensibility that is incredulous towards the political culture in the United States and is unable to report without a bias?

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3. At 12:54pm on 10 Oct 2008, Y_K_Hui wrote:
It is unfortunate that electoral campaigns have to use strategies and tactics that have proven to work. Thus, at this point the Democrats keep offering "hope" and keep sticking Republicans to the economic crisis. And the Republicans start questioning Obama's worldview, character, and current and former associations.

At the end of the day (election), the serious question is: Who can comparatively lead the country, and perhaps the world, a little better?

Chamberlain or Churchhill? Let us have some historical perspective! Other than technology, there is nothing (of importance) new under the sun.

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4. At 7:25pm on 10 Oct 2008, frayedcat wrote:
And there you have it - the candidate speaking to the people, and the candidate speaking to prejudice. On the bright side, I know an extreme racist, and she is going to vote for Obama despite her prejudice because the incumbents are worse.....so there is hope. What is round at both ends and high in the middle?

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5. At 7:49pm on 10 Oct 2008, PlutoniumMonk wrote:
"Buy what does Palin have to do to be seen as stepping across the line from right-wing to near-Fascist? A guy has black skin can't be an American."

thats not exactly what they meant by the fact that he's not an american. Aside from race and religion we have a class structure here in the US that has bias against those who didnt step off the mayflower or get dragged over on a ship as the case may be. As a fourth generation american I could run for election and no one would say Im not an American but if my father was from cuba or my mother was raised in Munich people would talk and say that I dont share the values of the American public.
I know this is bull and you do too but we have alot of ignorant short sighted people here.
I remember talking to my German friend about how he thought most americans were rude and some other choice words and I had to remind him that we're a big country. We have more lawyers and doctors than germany has people. Kind of a forest before the trees thing.
Even some of the afro-american voters I have talked to have the view that Obama isnt really an "American black" which made me recoil a bit to be honest.
What is more american than someone who comes to this country seeking a home and a place to be free? That's what we're supposed to stand for.
So its not even about the color of his skin its about the history of his family in America. People say he doesnt have one but then in Cali they voted for a steroid using Austrian actor who once made approving comments about Hitler and groped a few unwilling women so who knows what will happen.

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6. At 00:13am on 11 Oct 2008, thatsa30yardscreamerofaknittedsweater wrote:
I've already said during the campaign that America is really two different countries. Maybe the union wasn't the best idea all those years ago.
As I see it, the outside world wants obama ahead of McCain. Nobody I have spoken to here would vote mccain if they were involved. The most worrying thing is the consensus that Palin (by default) as president would a terrible thing for the world and for the USA - thats basically what the choice is between, McCain's health record and age are dragging the credibility of his campaign.
I think the pro-McCain's have to study Palin more than him. If the alarm bells aren't sounding then, then thank the lord that Obama will probably win. The other option would be a disaster to US credibility, and when that gets damaged you wonder how she would restore it. No doubt more 'victories'.

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7. At 11:20am on 11 Oct 2008, T from New Zealand wrote:
This blog entry comes with video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=662QyFhqr70

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8. At 11:14pm on 11 Oct 2008, jamie pickersgill wrote:
the americans I am lead to believe pride themselves on being a shining example to the rest of the world. If they really believe this then surely they must for Barack Obama. The world wants Obama to win because he is seen as change, McCain is a continuation of Bush. Also electing a black candidate is quite a significant shift in the perception of America from outsiders. This guy is a rockstar and the guy talks sense when it comes to policies. The war rhetoric is of a past age, Palin is living in a different era. I cannot begin to tell you how much I want this guy to win & I'm not even american

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9. At 01:24am on 12 Oct 2008, iongauge wrote:
Gavin, I think you nailed it. Though I am not an american, I live in the midwest, and you can perfectly feel the divide.

The biggest problem is that both Obama and Palin's staunch supporters are usually unable to understand why the others think they way they do, which eventually leads to an utter lack of respect for the other candidate. Obama is a terrorist, Palin is stupid. Obama is aloof and with a hidden agenda, McCain should be locked up in a museum... Really sad.

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10. At 06:48am on 12 Oct 2008, OldSouth wrote:
Very insightful, Gavin.

My hesitation about Obama comes down to this:

Depending upon the crowd in front of him, he speaks a different dialect of English, and seems to project a different message. It's almost as if he allows people to see their own hopes reflected in his image.

The iconic imagery, the quasi-religious tone of his speech and the rallies themselves, the vague and highflown language, signifying specifically what?

Truman, Reagan, Kennedy, Eisehhower, all men of disparate world views, but all of them spoke in their own voice to all audiences, all the time.

Sen. McCain does this, as well as Gov. Palin. In spite of my serious disagreements with him, this factor weighs heavily in my decision to vote Republican.

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11. At 10:27am on 12 Oct 2008, Eutectics wrote:
Looking at it from the outside what is striking near total absence of any serious discussion of the issues.

Affordable health care is the No 1 issue for Americans - yet no journalist or politician dare ask the obvious question.

'Why do Americans pay twice as much as folks in the rest of the developed world for the worse performing health care system'

In just about any other country in the world the candidates would be hit with all sorts of hard questions - and forced to answer, not in the US though.

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12. At 5:21pm on 12 Oct 2008, Richie82 wrote:
America must indeed be a shining city on the hill and inspiration to us dimwitted europeans if 2 out of every 7 americans are either doctors or lawyers as plutoniummonk suggests. Maybe it's to do with all the morbidly obese litigious morons. There's idiots everywhere with narrow world views, it's just unfortunate that all yours vote! And by the way, it's al-u-min-i-um!

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13. At 9:24pm on 12 Oct 2008, jonathanosim wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.