From the Piggly Wiggly supermarket parking lot here to the bleachers of the high school's softball field, two topics dominate conversations: gas prices and politics. "It's what he's been saying and what he's going to do," she says.
She doesn't trust Clinton, she says, and plans to vote for Obama because, for one thing, he has promised to lower the cost of health insurance. Sitting one booth over, Linda Straw, one of the town's few African-American residents, sees things just the opposite way. "The last three or four games, we've had $200 nights." Selling concessions to the small crowd at the Princeton High Lady Tigers' softball game, "we used to have $400 nights," says Linda Yeryar, a school secretary whose daughter Melissa is a junior-varsity catcher. "We still have to pay $3.60 for gas," he says. "I look at the $10-a-pound price tag, and I pick up the ground chuck." She cast her vote early, for Clinton.Īll around, people feel less flush - even Toyota workers, says Larry Wallace, who works on the automotive assembly line. "We haven't had a steak in forever," says Mary Goodman, a seamstress, as she heads into Wal-Mart. Voters also notice price increases in the supermarket. The rest come from the surrounding counties and Illinois and Kentucky. In fact, only 20% of Toyota's workforce lives in Gibson County, of which Princeton is the county seat. "Probably most of the residents here are seeing some economic crunch," says owner Karen Ellerman, who is undecided.
The store hiked its delivery fee from $2 to $5 to cover higher gas costs. "It costs as much to gas up my lawnmower as it used to cost to fill up my car," says Loretta Wells, a florist at Karen's Flowers and Gifts on the town square. "Up until last year, on my paper route, you couldn't believe how many houses they were building," he says. He's noticed a slowdown in housing construction. Lou Andriakos, proprietor of Greek's Candy Store, has noticed less home construction when he's out delivering the local paper. "It's making me nervous, and I don't even work there," says Mark Myers, a mailman. Toyota has slowed production and last year laid off 400 temporary workers. The massive plant south of town makes Tundra trucks and Sequoia SUVs. Not only do they hurt residents at the pump, but sales of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs are slumping - and that's just what Toyota makes here. High gas prices are a double whammy for Princeton. "He had the audience in the palm of his hand," says Robert Dion, a University of Evansville political scientist. Obama came to nearby Evansville, the region's largest city, on April 22, drew a crowd of 8,000 people, and won the endorsement of the city's mayor. Barack Obama to see which they trust to bring back good times.īoth candidates are working the region: Clinton visited here Tuesday, drawing more than 1,500 people to a rally on the courthouse steps, where Democratic Mayor Robert Hurst endorsed her. High gas prices, high food prices and worries about disappearing manufacturing jobs mean that Princeton voters are sizing up Sen. "It's a shame when you can't take $20 and go to the store and get enough to feed a family," says Linda Straw, 48, who has two jobs and is about to start a third at a convenience store. The county's biggest employer, Toyota, is building a facility to build car seat frames that will provide about 200 new jobs. Wheat and corn from the farms that surround town fetch high prices, and demand is strong for coal from the mines that dot the area. Unemployment is at 4.6%, lower than the state's 5.2% rate. By many measures, the economy is fine in this corner of Indiana. Voters cite jobs and the high costs of food and gas the most important problems. — - As Indiana and North Carolina hold Democratic presidential primaries Tuesday, residents in two small, working-class towns say economic concerns will determine whether they back Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama.
0 kommentar(er)
