Senator McCain’s Poverty Tour

CNN.com today reported that presidential candidate Senator John McCain kicked off the “poverty” leg of his campaign. We’re mentioned, right along with the ninth ward of New Orleans. fabulous.

Here are the Youngstown-relevant sections of the article:

Sen. John McCain launched his week-long journey to poverty-stricken areas of the nation Monday with language that would have been at home in any Democratic stump speech.

These stops have not all been selected with a purely national audience in mind. McCain’s visit Tuesday to the heavily Democratic, struggling steel town of Youngstown, Ohio, say campaign aides, is meant to send a clear message to the region’s blue-collar Reagan Democrats who share his stand on social issues, but might not be inclined to make the return journey on the ballot this year because of mounting economic anxiety.

He’ll be stressing the need for better unemployment insurance and job training programs, and pledging to help homeowners facing foreclosure.

Tuesday’s Youngstown appearance also presents an opportunity for McCain to have local headlines to himself in a state that proved decisive in the 2004 election, as Democrats turn their focus to upcoming southern and Midwestern showdowns.

It seems that with every election cycle, we’re aggressively courted by the hopefuls, and it’s worthwhile to listen to what they have to say. It’s also easy to get caught up in all of the excitement and momentum of a presidential election.

What to me is particularly interesting about McCain’s visit is that he is here because he (or his people) sees Youngstown as a disenfranchised pocket of poverty. Youngstown has been, without question, struggling economically for some time now; however, if the hopefuls didn’t see a stop in Youngstown as worthwhile, they would’ve moved on by. Yet, we’ve been visited multiple times this election cycle. In other words…we’ve got potential.

While it’s fun to be visited by the famous folks, it’s important to remember that there are local activists who live and work daily with their beliefs in Youngstown’s potential . This month’s issue of The Sun magazine features an interview with political/spiritual writer Andrew Harvey, who speaks of radical humility and sacred activism. He speaks against “top-down” organization: “it is often authoritative and patriarchal and driven by an agenda.”

Harvey talks about the necessity of grass roots work, like the kind we can see happening right now in Youngstown:

“The kind of organization I’m talking describing is compassionate, egalitarian, and driven by the heart. When people devoted to a cause come together and pour out their creativity, ‘mother power’ is born. Grace comes down, creativity flourishes, and amazing things happen.”

click here to read the full CNN article