From Middle Class to Poverty

Throughout the Convention we have heard from everyday people about why they are supporting Barack Obama. My ears perked up when I heard a heavy southern drawl coming from the podium. It was the voice of Gloria Craven from North Carolina who, along with eight thousand others, lost her mill job of 30 years with no notice from the company. She remembers being advised by George Bush that those who lost their jobs should just go to college. Well that was pretty tough for a workforce who had foregone high school diplomas to go to work to take care of their families. The crowd celebrated with Gloria as she shared that she had gone back to school to get that high school diploma in 2006 and that she was proud of her husband who was now doing the same. Despite this fact, a women who had always identified herself as middle class is now barely scraping by at the poverty level.

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