"Economic Choices 2008" - The Plight of the Single Working Woman
Monday, March 03, 2008SUSIE GHARIB: Voters head to the polls tomorrow in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island for presidential primaries. Ohio's primary could decide the Democratic presidential nomination. If it does, political analysts say it will be because working women threw their support behind Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Tonight as we continue our "Economic Choices '08" coverage, Darren Gersh introduces us to two working women in Youngstown, Ohio and the issues driving their decision.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: We caught up with Jannetta White on a very rare day off, if you can call this a day off. In between two jobs and studying for a master's degree in English, White fits in everything a single mother has to do. Ask her about the election and she'll tell you she's looking for someone who will make life for the working poor a little more comfortable.
JANNETTA WHITE, GRADUATE STUDENT: And comfortable simply means that I can go to the grocery store and not have to worry about being $10 over because I'll be needing that for gas to get to class or to work.
GERSH: The economy and the environment are important issues for White, but as an African-American woman, her family is pushing her towards Obama, while her friends at school pull her to Clinton. White says her decision is not so simple.
WHITE: It's more personal than political with this one. And I think a lot of personal beliefs that people have about who should run and why. If they're feminist or not, if they're racist or not, because that still exists, I think that's really what's going to be what makes the difference on how people choose. Me, I don't care. I just want whoever is going to make my life easier to be the person in the chair.
GERSH: At the Center for Working Class Studies, Sherry Lee Linkon argues working women will be crucial in the Ohio primary, but she says the candidates should understand gender is often less important than where a woman works or where she lives.
SHERRY LEE LINKON, CO-DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR WORKING CLASS STUDIES: So while people might vote their identities, it's very hard to say which part of their identity is going to be the one that's going to come to the fore when they step into the voting booth.
GERSH: Linda Balogh is an auto worker, a college student and a mother. While she disagrees with Hillary Clinton on some issues, she sees real substance in the senator from New York, calling her the kind of woman who has the contacts and experience to help struggling communities like Youngstown turn around.
LINDA BALOGH, AUTO WORKER: I really support Hillary. I love for what she stands for. I think that she's a strong woman and in today's society, there are people that are afraid of a strong woman.
GERSH: For 30 years, presidential candidates from both parties have used Youngstown as little more than a backdrop. They've stood in front of abandoned factories like this one laying out their vision for a better economic future. Given all the history, it's understandable that working people here are skeptical, if not resentful, of all the political promises. Democrats lost here in 2004, largely because many working women sat out the last election, not seeing much real economic difference between Democrats and Republicans. But in 2008, Jannetta White believes Obama has a real plan to help the working poor.
WHITE: At this point in my life, I'm ready for a change, but I want it to be a change for the better.
GERSH: Linda Balogh also wants change. She thinks Clinton has learned from her mistaken support of trade deals like NAFTA and is now ready to lead the nation in a new direction.
BALOGH: There's poverty, there's lost jobs, there's no health care and we're supposed to live in one of the wealthiest, you know, nation's in the world and I think that we're losing focus on that.
GERSH: Tomorrow, we'll visit a machine shop near Cleveland to hear from the other crucial group in this election, working men. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Youngstown, Ohio.
