FT Notes Scranton Union Worker Voting Reluctantly for Obama

Imagine the media maelstrom if a reporter found a swing-state Republican voter who had strong reservations about voting for John McCain, was flirting with the idea of voting for Barack Obama, but ultimately resigned him/herself to voting for McCain out of pressure from his/her evangelical church.

But make that a labor union Democrat from Pennsylvania and it's but a passing reference in a news story.

Reporting on how the presidential candidates were "jostl[ing] for the Scranton vote," Financial Times reporter Andrew Ward found a union worker who backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries and was reluctantly voting for Sen. Obama, in part because of union pressure. From the October 15 paper (emphasis mine):

Mrs Clinton, who beat Mr Obama by 9 points in the Pennsylvania primary, has rallied to her former rival's cause by campaigning across the state on his behalf this week - including a joint "homecoming" event with Mr Biden in Scranton. "This election is too important to sit on the sidelines of history," the former first lady told 6,000 supporters in a local sports hall.

Stephen Ruddy, a 51-year-old demolition worker and former Clinton supporter from Scranton, plans to vote Democrat despite misgivings about the nominee. "It will stick in the throat to support Obama but I'm a working man and we can't afford another four years of Republicans running the show," he said, adding that his union was putting members under pressure to fall into line.