Washington Prism

Paducah, Kentucky –

Bill Rayburn came to this small town at the juncture between the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers when he was 19 year-old and had $19 in his pockets. $5 went to renting a room for the night: “I was one of 11 children and my dad was the town drunk,” he recalls. Fifty-three years later, Mr. Rayburn owns a pawnshop on Broadway Street, at the heart of Paducah’s historic downtown, and he says he is worth millions: “I made my money with the stock market,” Mr. Rayburn explains, adding that his investments are still safe despite the crash of Wall Street.

He put his money over a long period of time into the stocks of a regional bank with conservative lending policies, and this strategy has kept him shielded by the recent fall in the market.

Beside stocks, Mr. Rayburn enjoys collecting Democratic memorabilia from local and national political campaigns and he has a large collection of buttons, stickers and posters scattered around his store. “I was a Hillary fan,” Mr. Rayburn maintains, “but I will vote for Obama although I’ll have to close my eyes.” He believes that Senator Obama does not have enough experience in the foreign policy arena to be President. Mr. Rayburn also adds that he would like the Democratic ticket more if it was reversed, with Joe Biden, whom he deeply appreciates, at the top.

Mr. Rayburn is getting ready to watch the Vice-Presidential debate Thursday night, although he has very low expectations, especially of Republican candidate Sarah Palin. In Mr. Rayburn’s opinion, the choice of Gov. Palin will end up hurting Senator McCain in the long run: “Before everything is over, McCain will regret not having picked somebody else,” Mr. Rayburn argues. He also claims that Gov. Palin knows very little about foreign policy and that she looked “like an eight grader” during her interview with Katie Couric on CBS.

In Paducah, a conservative-leaning town, not many share the views of Bill Rayburn. Wayne Roberts is a waiter at a local restaurant, right by the riverfront. He will vote for John McCain although he is a registered Democrat (though the last Democratic Presidential candidate Mr. Roberts voted for was Jimmy Carter back in 1976).

This year, Mr. Roberts was swayed by Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin’s pro-life stance: “I don’t believe in abortion at all,” he states. Mr. Roberts especially likes Sarah Palin, particularly her straightforward attitude: “If she can do for the country what she did for Alaska, that would be wonderful,” he says explaining that he is not worried by Gov. Palin’s relatively short political career.

“She is my kind of a woman,” echoes Marcia C., a retired banker who requested that she be identified by her first name. “Sarah Palin is conservative, has a nice family with many children and she likes outdoorsy activities, she is just like me,” continues Marcia C. On Wednesday afternoon, she was part of a group of local retirees celebrating the ninetieth birthday of a fellow citizen of Paducah in a park near the rivers.

Marcia is also a registered Democrat, but identifies herself as a social conservative and is very often attracted to Republican candidates. Marcia does not worry about Gov. Palin’s inexperience because she believes that, at the end of the day, Congress has more power than the White House. Marcia’s opinion of the legislative branch is very negative: “If I take you, a good person, and I put you in Congress, within six months you’ll be rotten,” she claims forcefully.

A few days earlier, in Nashville, Tennessee, another swing voter named Marcia had expressed a similarly positive opinion of Gov. Palin. “I like Sarah’s raw energy, it represents the real strength of America,” Marcia Garner had said. A retired teacher, Ms. Garner has registered with both parties in the past and has often changed her voting patterns.

This year she will cast her ballot for John McCain, although she confessed to be worried about Sen. McCain’s age. However, Ms. Garner added: “I’m relieved that someone young can be there to take his place were anything to happen to him.” A fiscal conservative, Ms. Garner is not socially conservative and does not share Gov. Palin’s strictly pro-life views: “I don’t think abortion is a good thing, but I can’t really say that I’m completely opposed to it,” Ms. Garner explained.

Interestingly, Gov. Palin’s scant experience in national politics seems easily brushed aside. Conservative pundits might have started questioning her credibility, but conservative voters in general do not seem to care about it. And occasionally one also sees Democrats insisting that Gov. Palin’s lack of experience doesn’t seem to matter. 

Cleopatra Lewis is an Obama supporter and says she doesn’t “know if Gov. Palin has enough experience to become vice-president, but I don’t think anybody knows if she is capable until she is put in that position.” “I’m hoping that my vote will count and that Barack wins,” says the 30 year-old African American hotel worker from Nashville. Divorced and the mother of two young children, Ms. Lewis believes that the media blew Gov. Palin’s family and personal life out of proportion: “Those are personal issues and should not matter.”