Small Town PA Throws Its Financial Weight Behind Obama

Hillary Clinton, John McCain and the media is trying to make as much as they can about the nonsense surrounding Barack Obama. For some reason, bowling and speaking about the truth when it comes to working-class apathy and bitterness about a political system that has failed them is a way to charge him with elitism. It is another way his opposition has tried to bring him down. Now even though the election is still a week away, we can see who these rural Pennsylvanians are supporting with their wallets. Many do not have the $2,300 or $4,600 to max out on which is the type of donor McCain and especially Clinton have relied on. So when you look at the contributions from the area between Philly and Pittsburgh, you can see that these people want change.

From The Huffington Post:

Indeed, through the end of February 2008, Obama received nearly $250,000 in contributions from Pennsylvanians residing in zip codes with populations under 30,000 people. That total, which does not include Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and both city's suburbs, was roughly $30,000 more than the amount raised by Clinton: $220,000.

When the population size is made even smaller, Obama continues to best his Democratic rival. Among those non-urban Pennsylvania zip codes with populations under 20,000, the Illinois Democrat has brought in just over $200,000. Clinton has raised slightly more than $170,000.

(Obama's advantage may in fact be even stronger than these numbers show, since campaigns do not provide information on donors who gave under $200, a subset where Obama has excelled. See the complete data here.)

Of course when it comes to fundraising nationwide, no one comes close to the financial prowess of the Obama campaign. Whether it is in Pennsylvania, Kansas or Wyoming, Obama is on top for people giving small contributions to his campaign. It is a truly people-powered event when you get $5 or $50 from someone living paycheck to paycheck than the $2,300 a corporate executive can afford. There are only so many executives, there are many more of us.