During the recently concluded presidential campaign, Barack Obama tried to make Heartland-hay with his maternal grandparents' Kansas roots. McCain easily won Kansas, 57-41 percent, but in Butler County, where Stanley and the recently-deceased Madelyn Dunham grew up, John McCain prevailed by even a bigger margin, 65 to 33 percent. The man Obama called Gramps grew up in El Dorado, where Obama made a campaign appearance in January, and the former Ms. Payne, Obama knew her as Toots, was reared in nearby Augusta.
Chicago is gearing up for Obama tourism--will the Grayline buses motor past Tony Rezko's slum building?--and even El Dorado is thinking of doing something to attract Obama tourists.
El Dorado is a pleasant town, I was there last year, and I was enraptured by the stately Butler County Courthouse. But I'm not sure liberals will like El Dorado. The first related-post discusses Thomas Frank's dislike of it. Frank is the author of What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America.
Interestingly, Frank is a former Hyde Park resident.Related posts:
In search of the real El Dorado, Kansas
Obama coming to El Dorado, Kansas
Kansas' Cassoday Cafe owner dies
Marathon Pundit Exclusive: "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Debunked on Page One: UPDATED AGAIN
My Kansas Kronikles: A 39 Post Series
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