Clinton sees big vote in small towns

She finds common ground with white voters in the state's military towns and the mountains

JACKSONVILLE -- Sonnet Dibb, with her three young children in tow, was interested in hearing what Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had to say about the war in Iraq.

The 29-year old Swansboro resident has more at stake than most because her husband is a Marine captain serving in Iraq.

"I want them to come home," said Dibb, a Clinton supporter who was among the more than 1,500 people who showed up for a rally outside a Jacksonville firehouse Friday morning. "But I'm afraid the violence will escalate [if they leave]. My husband wants to finish the job they started. But I want them home safe."

Dibb is the kind of moderate Democrat that Clinton is courting in her effort to win the May 6 Democratic primary.

Touring the military towns of Eastern North Carolina and the mountains this week, Clinton is going after the same sort of voters who helped her to win Pennsylvania -- rural and small-town white voters, many of them blue collar and traditional.

She tried to thread a needle between Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, who says the United States needs to stay in Iraq, and her Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, who has opposed the war from the start. Clinton said she would end the war "responsibly."

Clinton made bows to traditional Democrats: She was escorted by a platoon of retired generals, met with law enforcement groups, referenced her Methodist faith and talked about her grandfather who started working at age 11 in a Pennsylvania mill.

It is a narrow stratum. Many rural and small-town whites in the South are now registered Republicans. But North Carolina still has more white Democrats than most Southern states, and they have been a prime target for Clinton and her husband, the former president.

Among the Republicans who showed up to watch Clinton speak in Jacksonville was Ken Roe, 24, a Marine corporal who is supporting McCain for president. Roe said he attended the Clinton rally because he believes in the adage of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

"I support all the troops over there," Roe said. "I do think we need a presence in the area. If not, things like 9/11 will happen again. That is why we are still in Okinawa and in Japan."

Though polls suggest that Obama has a strong lead in North Carolina, a majority of white Democratic voters are backing Clinton.

Some white voters are uncertain about Obama.

Among them is Pam Brigman, 48, a title insurance specialist from Fayetteville, who is backing Clinton.

"Maybe I shouldn't mention this," Brigman said, "but I like the fact that during the Lewinsky thing, she was very strong. She kept her dignity. I think she has a lot of backbone and is someone who I want to lead the country."

As for Obama? "I'm kind of leery about him. It's like he doesn't give straight answers. I'm not sure about his religious beliefs."

Another Clinton backer, Renee Hammonds, 44, an educator from Lumberton, likes the idea of the first woman president.

"I'm for her primarily because of her experience," Hammonds said. "She would be better equipped to face the issues."

As for Obama: "What frightens me is the lack of experience."

Hammonds says she's also unhappy that Obama doesn't want to debate in North Carolina, and she thinks he was "condescending" toward working people in Pennsylvania when he said that many are bitter about the economy and cling to religion and guns.

"If he felt that way about Pennsylvania, what does that say about North Carolina?" Hammonds said. "We are in the same category with a lot of rural and blue-collar workers."

This was Clinton's first trip to the state since winning the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday. Obama has announced that he will campaign in the state Monday and Tuesday.