West Virginia, Mountain drama

So as someone who has been in front of the Huntington Convention center with a bullhorn and Obama signs, pleading with the pedestrians and city folk to please vote for Obama, my intuition tells me Hillary is going to take this state in a landslide.
In fact "The Clinton Family" is coming:

Clinton Family Visits Announced:
Today, Wednesday May 7, 12:00 pm
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Attend "Solutions for the American Economy" Event
Shepherd University
McMurran Hall
101 East German St.
Shepherdstown, WV

Thursday, May 8
Doors Open: 8:00 a.m.
Event Begins: 10:15 a.m.
Hillary Clinton Attends a "Solutions for America" Rally
West Virginia State Capitol Complex Lawn
Rain site: Inside the Capitol Rotunda
1900 Kanawha Blvd
Charleston, WV 25305

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Fmr. President Bill Clinton Campaigns across the state
Philippi to Sutton, then Fayetteville, then Lewisburg, then Mercer County

Call the Clinton WV HQ for more information [phone] or visit http://www.hillaryclinton.com/...

For West Virginia, I think all Obama can do is stop the bleeding. I was out there vociferously campaigning and since I am somewhat arab looking (My parents are from India) a gentleman bluntly told me he doesn't want a Muslim being president. As a West Virginian who works in my own hometown of Point Pleasant, I'm sick of all the ignorance that gets passed on throughout the state.

The Obama sign in front of my house has been stolen TWICE, its so annoying!!!

Hillary can take the state, but I hope she realizes, its probably going to Mccain anyways, unfortunately for all the West Virginians themselves.

•  of course West Virginia will go to Clinton

  by slinkerwink on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:21:18 AM PDT

  •  Yeah! But who cares. It's over. let her win it.

    by Excelscior1 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:19:22 AM PDT

•  Good luck you'll need it!

  by jazzence on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:21:44 AM PDT

•  The comments of West Virginians

  here are an excellent reason why Obama should campaign here... to change some hearts and minds.

  Personally I hope they both campaign in WV and add to the Democratic party registrations.

  by dannyinla on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:22:35 AM PDT

  •  id love to add more people but

    75% of the people are registered democrats

    by desiunion on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:25:16 AM PDT

    •  They're pseudo-Dems

      I was born and raised in Weirton, and went to college in Bethany. WV will vote for Democratic governors, A "democratic" Senator who wants Telecom immunity in Rockefeller and Sen. Byrd who was once a member of the KKK and dropped the "n bomb" on the senate floor. Clinton and Dukakis won WV in 1988 and 1992 respectively, but since then it has been firmly in the Bush camp. People like my parents who voted for Dems their whole lives (including Bill Clinton and Dukakis) turned around, changed parties, and voted for Bush twice.
       
      WV is probably not in play in November.  

      by LeftBob1326 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:08:46 AM PDT

  •  he has to

    he has to show up there this week even though he may be in for a drubbing in next week's vote.

    he has to speak to West Virginia now or forget November.

    by flocal on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:14:53 AM PDT

•  No big deal that W. Virg. goes to HRC.

  She needs to win W. Virg. to get out gracefully.  The game is over, Obama has won!

  by ajleiker on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:22:59 AM PDT

  •  it is a big deal

    West Virginians are overly sensitive to cues that 'they don't matter'.   Having Clinton in the state and Obama absent will have negative consequences in November.

    If he can win WV in November he cannot lose the presidency.

    by flocal on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:10:00 AM PDT

    •  Didn't mean to indicate that Obama not go

      there.  Of course he will go there as he has campaigned in every state.

      by ajleiker on Wed May 07, 2008 at 11:58:21 AM PDT

•  desi union.. thats funny..

  I thought I was the only desi here. For the uninitiated, desi generally refers to South Indians (Indians, Pakistanis..)

  It is actually surprising that desi are supporting Obama because the Clinton brand is very strong with Indians at least..

  by theChakra on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:24:25 AM PDT

  •  honestly

    its because they are racist. I've heard too many times racist comments from my uncles and aunts who support hillary...indian immigrants from the 70s and 80s fail to realize they wouldnt be even allowed in this country without the struggles of african americans until the 1960s. They are the wealthiest demographic, and donate the least amount of money to charity and other causes.

    by desiunion on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:28:18 AM PDT

    •  yes but

      don't generalize. we are here after all..

      also remember, they will have a very high opinion of Nelson Mandela... so there is something at work there that I don't understand..

      by theChakra on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:54:50 AM PDT

•  Go to WV, Barack!

  Go to the low-down dirtiest, skankiest, polluted little hollow you can find.  Knock on some trailer doors and have a rally outside the coal mine.  Do it up and don't be afraid to go into the hornet's nest.  Show people that even though the white working class may prefer Clinton, you're going to fight your ass for their votes and, more importantly, that you'll fight for them in office.

  by billysumday on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:24:51 AM PDT

  •  I agree, please go to WV

    I'm not an expert on campaigns, and obviously Obama has done amazing things without me at the helm, but I say GO, OBAMA! (to West Virginia).

    Nobody likes to feel ignored, for one.  It would be nice (though tough) to get 30%, for two.  You do have a lot of people there who have worked their asses off for you, for three.  And we don't need the meme that you don't care about (whatever they say you don't care about today) to gain too much traction.

    Otherwise, congrats, BHO, on your great night last night, and I look forward to a fun general election campaign.

    by jakester on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:32:46 AM PDT

  •  Mason west virgina

    Although i wouldnt call it skanky, downtrodden is a better word.

    by desiunion on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:45:39 AM PDT

  •  It worked for JFK

    by Hillbilly Dem on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:05:31 AM PDT

•  good job to you!

  If you can make it to a college campus, spend some time there.  It will lift your spirits a bit. :-)

  by onanyes on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:27:17 AM PDT

•  I never get these people...

  EVEN IF HE WAS a Muslim...I mean, do these people that are so fearful of Islam have any clue what Islam preaches? It is my understanding that Islam teaches that Jesus was/is a PROPHET and was born the result of a VIRGIN BIRTH!!! Moses is/was also a prophet sent by G-d?
  So, would they rather have a so-called "Christian" (Bush) who is anything but a Christian? I am not going to speak for Jesus, but if Jesus was the POTUS, he would be running things a bit differently than Dubbya.

  Correct me if I wrong biblical/Quaranic scholars.

  by The Mort Man on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:28:37 AM PDT

  •  Jesus as POTUS? What states do you think

    vote for some eccentric unemployed Jewish vagabond?

    Sure, he gives a good speech, draws big crowds but experience? An ex carpenter? Oh please.

    Do a little research. He was a runaway as a kid, who knows what he was up to. Then he gets all mad and goes into a temple and overturn tables.
    Who could support a guy who said things like "I came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and the enemies of a man are those of his household." Great family values

    We don't need those dark, unkempt types around here

    by joynow on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:30:34 AM PDT

•  WVA may also be

  reconsidering who they'll vote for.  

  I'd like it if Obama went there and the people there could measure the difference between them.

  Isn't it kind of strange that just two days ago Clinton stated that she doesn't give her lot to economists?  Don't they know what she said or are they part of the "in" crowd who knows she was just shooting off her mouth?

  by nupstateny on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:30:01 AM PDT

  •  to a certain extent

    but really, its not easy for barack here.
    The most famous african american from here is Randy Moss, and we all know how much people think of him.

    by desiunion on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:51:42 AM PDT

•  I expect that Obama will lose KY and WV

  by around 25 points, but it does not matter anymore. I said before that this thing would be over when the media decided it was over and I think they now finally have. By the end of the week all of the national polls will show Clinton in the mid 30's and no one will care about her picking up a handful of delegates in two small states (especialy when Obama wins in OR).

  by pfan151 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:32:49 AM PDT

•  If you saw Lanny Davis last night

  he is in a state of denial along with the Clinton camp. They feel entitled to the nomination. They will bend any rule , set new rules and do anything they can to pull this off.

  by TNforkerry on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:45:01 AM PDT

  •  that guy

    is one annoying lawyer type individual.

    by desiunion on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:46:39 AM PDT

•  obama should make an effort

  If I was him I would make one appearance at some college and basically talk about how the Bush adminstration has endngered miners and how McCain  would do the same. I would at this point ignore Hillary and start the GE.
  If he can get 40% in W.V. and Kentucky it will be a moral victory. Both are 95% white, mostly uneducated redneck states that will go for McCain in the fall.

  by JOEL1954 on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:56:59 AM PDT

•  Clinton- keeping George Wallace alive

  She will keep up the same racist tactics, as reported by her campaign this morning. That will ensure a bad legacy in this party.

  by cmpnwtr on Wed May 07, 2008 at 08:57:17 AM PDT

•  ah...Point Pleasant

  at one time the prefered site for the State Capital of Vandalia.  (before it all went so horribly wrong)

  by flocal on Wed May 07, 2008 at 10:23:24 AM PDT