Of course "Hard work and dedication and sacrifice will pull you ahead", but in any population, rich or poor, most people are not going to do that, and no words from a politician are going to change that.

The problem is, that a slacker born in a housing project to poor parents will have trouble even getting a job at Walmart. A slacker born to rich parents in the suburbs can easily become a mediocre lawyer with a decent income.

This is a huge problem, both socially and financially, and frankly, appropriately designed "Big Government wealth transfer solutions" are an important tool to fix it.

I see how well Republicans are doing politically by scolding people about their family life, and more importantly, cutting social programs in order to punish people they don't approve of. Clearly, this is the smart play. Maybe Obama could sponsor a Senate resolution honoring Terri Schiavo. That would make him real popular.

Your hypothesis is that southern low-income voters don't like Barack Obama because his message to them does not involve more "grow up! get a job! deal with your own problems with individual responsibility!"

Bill Cosby is not running for president. Voters of all stripes don't mind listening to Dennis Miller telling some other poor, random schmuck to get a job. We're happy to listen to it from a comedian, but, That's completely different from looking for info on how the head of your country is going to help you solve your problems.

Even Republicans understand this. That's why they campaign on tax cuts - in which you vote for someone and then get to recieve get extra dollar bills - rather than on slogans like "John McCain: telling America to suck it up". and "John McCain: I don't want the government helping you. I want you to solve your own problems. I'll be playing golf".

I don't have any problem, though, with expanded tax breaks for the working poor. Basic economics tells you to encourage things you want with lower taxes and tax breaks and discourage things you don't want with higher taxes, like the tax on tobacco. That's not necessarily a liberal solution, and even if it is it's still a good idea.

I find it hard to understand why conservatives argue in favor of preferential treatment for capital gains, and I'm not saying that is a bad idea, but argue against tax preferences for poor working stiffs. Aren't capital investments and poor people working both good things?