2008.10.16
Economic policy, immigration dominate NPR show in Blacksburg
NPR's Neal Conan hosting a live post-debate discussion in Blacksburg on Oct. 15
Economic policy dominated the live broadcast of NPR's National Listening Party from Blacksburg tonight. But right behind it came a surprise hot topic: immigration.
While the Blacksburg audience was little interested, callers criticized both candidates for avoiding it. Two callers -- one from Houston and another from New York -- advocated stricter enforcement of immigration laws and complained about problems caused by an influx of undocumented workers.
There were light moments tonight, including some jokes about "Joe the plumber" -- a business owner and no doubt a YouTube star by now -- to whom Sen. John McCain referred several times.
One Blacksburg woman wanted to know if Joe the plumber was single. She wanted to introduce him to some of her friends.
The Blacksburg audience definitely skewed in favor of Sen. Barack Obama, as polls show the rest of the state may on election day. That was no surprise, as Montgomery County and Blacksburg in particular are Democratic strongholds in traditionally conservative Southwest Virginia.
Coming to Virginia was refreshing, NPR's "Talk of the Nation" host Neal Conan said after the show.
Conan reminded the audience tonight that Virginia hasn't gone to the Democrats in a presidential election since 1964. He also predicted that if the election were held today, Obama would win the state.
He referred to Virginia more than once during the broadcast as "the surprise swing state."
Summing up his experience doing these post-debate broadcasts in three cities across the country, Conan said he thought they helped voters by giving regular people a voice. He pointed out that most post-debate shows feature pundits and anaylists.
"It was good to hear what other people had to say," Conan said.
NPR has done these live broadcasts from four cities. Conan hosted the shows in St. Louis, Miss., Columbus, Ohio and Blacksburg. Each was different, he said.
St. Louis seemed "deeply divided" between the parties, Conan said, with each side passionately defending their candidate.
In Columbus, Conan said he picked up on a lot of support for Obama, but also found "incredible bitterness" over widespread election problems in the state in 2000 and 2004.
Many Blacksburg notables attended the local broadcast: Vice Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith, real estate agent and Montgomery County Republican Party member Ray Roberts and environmentalist and retired Tech professor Dave Roper.
Organizers of the event had hoped to attract Virginia Tech students, as the youth vote is expected to be significant in the election.
Some students did attend and even spoke during the show. But the majority of the about 200 audience members were middle-aged or older.
-- Tonia Moxley
