Obama Visits Missouri During West Virginia Primary

Washington Times:

Sen. Barack Obama won't be in West Virginia tomorrow on Election Day. With his sights set on the general election, he'll be in Missouri.

Obama's public schedule isn't offering many details yet, but reveals he will be in Cape Girardeau, MO, on Tuesday.

Read the whole story: Washington Times

Comments

[1PALady]

What Obama needs to talk about is mine safety. WVirginians have to be tired of seeing their loved ones die in unsafe mines. Some checks need to be put on those mine owners. Obama needs to show some interest in the things that hurt these people. I hurt for them and with them when they lose loved ones. I spent many a sleepness night when those good people were missing in that Utah mine. Maybe if he lets them know that he has their issues at heart and that he cares about them, he could win some of them over. At the same time, HIllary needs to give it up and admit that she cannot win and throw her support behind him wholeheartedly, before she does more damage! Sure, she can win WV, but she's lost so many others in the process.

[Researchguy66]

Except that he doesn't show any interest in these people and he doesn't have their best interests at heart.

[1PALady]

How would you know that? Do you know something that we do not know?

[paganmist]

You know. Sometimes my daughter doesn't understand why I can't play with her right away, and why I have to work instead. Sometimes she doesn't understand why I have to work instead of spend time with her, the way I'd like to, and the way she'd like me to.

It doesn't mean I don't love her. It means I have a bigger picture in mind. Sometimes I have to work later than usual because I can't afford to pay some bill or other and I need some extra money.

The bigger picture is that John McCain is currently running uncontested. There is no one out there attacking him, and his support is getting stronger and stronger.

As long as Obama is the closest thing we have to a nominee, it is his JOB to start looking at the bigger picture - winning against the Republicans come November.

Maybe you should grow up a little or have a kid, and you'd understand.

[Midnightrain]

Their own bigotry won't let them listen to him. Be accurate in how you frame the blame.

[Sabreen60]

How do you know what Obama thinks or what he has shown. Look, obviously you don't have a clue about what it means to deal with people who hate you. I do. He's been running for about 16 months. Some people remain willfully ignorant. You cannot beat these people over the head and MAKE them change. You are arrogant to even suggest what Obama thinks, feels and cares about. I saw the video where he approached a man in a diner in IN and the man wave him away and later when asked he said the same BS about he's a Muslim and doesn't love America. If I was Obama I wouldn't go to WV at all. I agree with the person who wrote that the Secret Service probably would prefer if he didn't go.

[neve]

ANd GWB did? What has he done for them. NOTHING.

[indieminded]

Well, I looked at Obama's Energy plan, and it does say '...including standards that ban new traditional coal facilities,....' under his Clean Coal Technology section.

I know this does not directly address your concern for current mine safety, but perhaps if the country focuses on new low-carbon coal technology, the traditional method for mining coal will have to change.

And, I do agree that Hillary needs to bow out gracefully now.

[Zogtastic]

I've always thought of that as such a funny phrase... low-carbon coal.

[paganmist]

I was actually thinking about this the other day. I can easily imagine those people seeing Obama as an elitist who is out of touch with their concerns. And I was thinking that beyond skin color, beyond education or lack thereof, beyond where they were born, the one thing that they have in common - and the thing he should try to make them understand - is that they have being poor in common.

Obama understands being poor like no other candidate can.

Speaking as a kid who was on foodstamps... life is all shades of unhappy. Other poor kids who *aren't* on foodstamps antagonize you. Foodstamps mean hand-me-downs and thrift-store clothes (long before thrift-store clothing became "cool".) Foodstamps mean that sometimes you pretend like you're not home, so the electricity people can't come into your house to turn off your lights. Foodstamps mean smelling like kerosene heaters, because you can't afford to pay the heating bill.

If these people really live in some measure of poverty, then Obama needs to let them know that he has lived it. He needs to let them know that he didn't have a summer home as a child. He needs to let them know that it is his understanding that makes him so empathetic, and so all-fired determined to work his hardest to make life better for them.

[uheardme]

A generous account of the reasons why many in KY and WV will not vote for Sen. Obama is because culturally he has very little in common with them. Yes, compared to Hillary Clinton and John McCain, he's had a hard-scrabble life. However, as a man of color having to present himself in a non-threatening, ultra-professional and refined fashion throughout his private and public career and given his education, intelligence, and demeanor, many simply can't believe these experiences are apart of who he is. Hence the tag "elitist". Sad.

[Aleka4]

Well this just goes back to the extreme damage CLINTON has inflicted in her effort to steal a nomination she lost months ago.

SHE is the one who leaped all over the bitter comment and truned it into "elitist" - and the problem was that even before PA it was virtually impossible for her to win. So she poisoned that well and labelled him FOR the GOP for nothing. She's done nothing but harm, and continues to do harm even though every but her knows that it is over.

[stepintothelight]

Mines owned and run by the same WHITE faces they aspire approval from!!!

[Researchguy66]

I'm certain that the McCain campaign is happy to have all the voters in WV and KY that the Obama campaign doesn't want.

Please continue berating the people of these states. Thank you for your support.

[Sabreen60]

Oh Pleezzz. People are telling the truth and not sweeping the dirt under the rug. Unless some of these people in WV and KY have an epiphany between now and November they will not vote for Obama because his is Black.

[paganmist]

I don't think the people of these states are online to read this, for the most part. I've seen a couple of WV people who were upset about stereotypes, but by and large, all I've got are news clips of WV folks who for some reason still think Obama's a muslim, and would rather vote for a party that's turned the American dollar into the laughingstock of the world.

When FRANCE won't accept American currency, something is W R O N G.

If those people - who are apparently living in poverty - are willing to throw away their best chance of not being mired further by the republican policies that have kept them in poverty, then I don't really think there's anything anyone can say to change their minds.

It sounds like they have a DEATH wish.

[Researchguy66]

Exactly, but with more intensity...try adding the racial claim that anyone who doesn't support Obama is a racist..take the cue from Sabreen60 below.

Thanks again.

[EspritDeVoltaire]

The Taj Mahal, one of Asia's biggest tourist attractions stopped accepting Dollars earlier this year. This is INDIA, one of our biggest outsourcing problems.

[paganmist]

Best case scenario:

Hillary wins WV. Come November, WV is still so behind-the-times that they think they're voting for her.

Democratic victory for all!

[1PALady]

I have to be honest, I do not think that Clinton is helping at all in these 2 states. She's wants to show that she can carry those states so badly with as much of the vote as possible, all the while promoting dumb stuff that can only be divisive. In the long run, I think she is hurting more than she is helping. She cannot win and she needs to be bringing these people along instead of dividing them along racial lines.

[Mogamboguru]

For that matter, she will have to go as white and racist, as she can possibley be - with the nasty side-effect, that it will be for all the world to be seen. I am eager to see, how she will try to spin that, afterwards.

[ObamaOhio08]

And she's already shown she doesn't give a damn about how her divisiveness plays with the supers which I think has played a bigger role than we know in their choice for Obama.

[kellygrrrl]

the inflammatory vile spewing from Bill Clinton's mouth in WV is unconscionable

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/05/bill-clintons-m.html

[Researchguy66]

vile bile?

[NoahVail]

They are promoting tolerance. Tolerance of racism, that is. I think one "white people's party" is enough.

[Researchguy66]

"His message to these voters: Obama and the media are laughing at you and think you're stupid!!!"


Kelly - you can't honestly be reading the posts on this board and take exception to what Bill Clinton is saying, can you?

[ObamaOhio08]

I think the primaries for both parties have proved an essential point: "conventional wisdom" has been wrong every time.

--Mitt Romney, with all his $$ couldn't buy the nomination
--McCain came back from the dead to win the nomination
--HRC's campaign with name recognition, inevitability, and the whole Democratic machine and money galore in 2007 is dying a slow death
--Barack Obama's success in itself breaks with convention

Barack Obama is going to change the map. Does he NEED WV?? I mean, seriously, how many electoral votes does it have? I think the argument that a democrat NEEDS to win WV is based on the old map and silly "conventional wisdom"

However, I am concerned about how Barack can address the silly & stupid beliefs that low-info voters still seem to harbor about his being Muslim. Obama *does* need some of those voters to carry certain states. He also needs to address the patriotism thing, again, to low-info voters.

Because of the above, his best VP pick, imo, is Gov. Ken Strickland (OH)

Also, it really amazes me that anyone can think Barack is NOT patriotic. He understands patriotism and its core values in ways most people don't.

...oh, just answered my own question...

Obama / Strickland '08

[AMJordan]

There is always the chance that because of his basic decency and patriotism that Barack Obama will win WV come November.

[bish66]

dream on, he is way behind in that state. the assumption that Obama can color the map blue is a dream. The map will turn red in November, but the Democrats will keep both house and senate as a compensation.

[nclayla]

That would take a lot of work and a bit of luck - but I believe it is possible.

[gapanther]

"Leonard Simpson is a lifelong Democrat. But given a choice between Barack Obama and John McCain in November, the 67-year-old retired coalminer would vote Republican.

"I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife's an atheist," said Mr Simpson, drawing on a cigarette outside the fire station in Williamson, a coalmining town of 3,400 people surrounded by lush wooded hillsides."

The deapth & breadth of the ingorance still ablinding in this country never ceases to amaze me. To say that he doesnt understand "ordinary" American is astoundingly stupid, espcially coming from a supposed educator.

And to say you only want a "full blooded american" to be President?!!! WTF does that even mean?!!!

You want to enlighten but theres a danger, it'll cause a panic & theyll choke on their chewin terbaky

[neve]

Indeed, having been born in Panama, McCain is LESS a "full-blooded" american than Obama.

[Researchguy66]

McCain had two American parents. How would being born in the canal zone be less American than a man born to one American parent?

[nclayla]

Just a thought - I'm sure you won't agree, but here goes any way........

Suppose I am a resident of either West Virginia or Kentucky and my background and life experiences have taught me to be suspicious of others who are different from me. Wouldn't comments such as these just prove that I was right, and that you perceive yourself as being superior to me?

Now ask yourself, what possible good does this promote?It surely won't create any understanding or win any votes.

[gapanther]

Suppose you are a resident,. I would tell you to change your ignorant experiences. You cant change your background but you can open your mind to possibilities of what you know isnt all there is to the world. If you perceive yourself as inferior it's because you lack basic comprehension of what it is to be American or human for that matter.

[nclayla]

Sorry - I accidentally posted the comment above earlier and did not mean to post it here also. My apologies.

[paganmist]

Growing up as a black person whose background and life experiences should've left me being suspicious of whites, I just have to point out that your reasoning - although understandable - is complete hooey.

No offense, but how back-water do you think WV and KY are? They have televisions and internet, I'm sure. They have access to books.

It was reading that changed my life. Reading that introduced to me ideas that were so different from my "poor black" reality that I only had two choices:

1) discard those ideas because they are uncomfortable
2) realize that something exists outside of the life I know

There are people who choose option #1 every day because it makes them happier and makes their lives better. Because it's *easier*.

Let me tell you. That second option - the option where one has to consider that maybe what they'd learned as children was wrong, that maybe there are other ways to be and that those ways are okay or even better - is a tough pill to swallow. It takes all kinds of courage to accept it. I would say it takes a stronger courage even than picking up a gun and going to war.

We don't have to be entirely a product of our environment. Anyone with a brain can choose the type of person they're going to be. So I really can't buy into the "I was taught that way" excuse.

[stepintothelight]

It is not a perception. When Shillary goes away you will see the tone adjust. Until then she is an ignorant POS and those who follow her carry the aroma!!!

[Missmn]

This is the third article I've read where a West Virginian has started a sentence with, "I heard" followed by ridiculous information that has already been disproved. Too lazy to check things out or too stupid or too racist or all of the above?

As far as enlightening this group, good luck! These are the people who are happy to vote against their own interests because they are fool-hardy enough to think that someone is going to come in and take their guns or tell them they can't worship.

[k6007]

Wow, that must really make muslim-americans proud.

[MarkieBee]

full-blooded is racist code for pure. That guy is racist. My great aunt, whom I love, has lived in southern Illinois her entire life. Just the other day she said to me, "Mark, we're not racists here. We allow ni%%ers to worship at our church." That's an exact quote. I don' think she even realized that she used the N word and it's obvious she's proud that her church now "allows" black people. My great aunt is racist. There are blacks in her town, I'm sure, who are just as racist. It's just a sad fact. I feel bad that my great aunt deep down feels that way but she's been nothing but great to me and my family. I know what Obama is going through with Rev. Wright. I cannot disown my own flesh and blood.

[paganmist]

MarkieBee, thank you for sharing (and being able to understand the Rev. Wright issue.)

My mother has never used racist terms, but she used to wonder aloud why white people did such crazy things like bungee jumping or monster truck rallies - stuff that can get you killed. (And by and large, very few blacks can be found in certain extreme sports, because many if not most of them think the same thing - why do something that might kill you and then call it "fun"?)

Most of the blacks I know also believe that whites (in government) allowed drugs to be funneled into the black communities because blacks were getting "too much power." And many of them - including my mom - believe in the AIDs thing to this day.

When Rev. Wright was being trounced for his beliefs, let me tell you, I felt like everyone I know and have known in my life was being personally attacked. And these are good people, men and women who've paid their way and earned their dues in this country.

Obama represents to me some kind of chance for this country to wipe the slate clean, somehow. To really change the way things work.

[rzan]

My mother talks that way too. She is 88 years old, but she is voting for Obama. She thinks he is the best candidate and does not like how Hillary has behaved.

[tsloan]

it's really sad to see that some people in WV are so out of touch with reality...and continue to believe rumors of his being "muslim" and "anti-american"....are they as ignorant as a box of rocks?

[nclayla]

Just a thought - I'm sure you won't agree, but here goes any way........

Suppose I am a resident of either West Virginia or Kentucky and my background and life experiences have taught me to be suspicious of others who are different from me. Wouldn't comments such as these just prove that I was right, and that you perceive yourself as being superior to me?

Now ask yourself, what possible good does this promote?

[Wheatstraw]

I for one would say...maybe...just maybe someone may know more about a subject than I do. I say that to myself all the time...its called learning.

[Sabreen60]

IMO your premise is faulty. Evidently the majority of people in WV and KY THINK they are superior to African Americans. They believe this regardless of living in the depths of finanical and educational poverty. They think they are better than Obama even if they have a 6th grade education and he has a Harvard one. Doesn't matter - he's black. Nothing he has done or accomplished with trump them being white and his blackness. That's racist and that's stupid. The comments out here merely point that out. Notice I said financial poverty. You can be financially poor, but not be poor in spirit or poor in love. These people seem to be poor in both.

[robXdion]

If you were from WV or KY and was honest with yourself, you could look around and see people that fit the description and thank God you don't. But that would require maturity and travel experience beyond your state.

[tsloan]

I'm guessing that some might perceive me as a liberal elitist....but I'm not....I'm not superior to anyone....having grown up poor in the rural south (Texas)....I was surrounded by people who were racist and uneducated...thankfully I had enough common sense to get a good education....it's amazing what a little common sense and education can do to dispel notions of superstition and suspicion

So... I can understand your point very clearly...it just doesn't mean that I have to agree with it.

[MarkieBee]

I'm from California and if a Californian told me that he or she thinks that Obama is a muslim and his wife is an atheist I'd think he or she was just as dumb as any West Virginian or someone from Kentucky. Stupidity and racism knows no geographic bounds. But anecdotal evidence does suggest that there is a higher concentration of those types of people in those states.

[Mogamboguru]

These are the people who think Germany is still ruled by Adolf Hitler. You just can't help them out of their self-dug holes.

[NoahVail]

These are the coal miners and seamstresses that have been used and abused by both political parties and industry for 100 years. Maybe its a form of Stockholm syndrome.

[pilgrim7]

I heard Obama expostulate on his being a Christian, openly declaring his faith in Jesus Christ. He does that rarely and I don't blame him. So many Christian hypocrites that the term is almost meaningless. But I do think there is sooooo much ignorance in places like W. Va. and Kentucky to justify flooding the market in those states with his declaration of his faith and outright denials that he is a Muslim. A Muslim, no matter what his political motives, would NEVER claim Jesus Christ is God and Lord or deny he is a Muslim. Most people in those states probably sit on porches and at fairs passing around misinformation and lies generated by people like the Clintons. They more than likely don't read much or keep up with political news (not counting Fox). Can you blame them if they remain the way they are? They need to be educated by way of swamping them with simple ads, not lofty high-minded messages which most of them wouldn't "get" as it would pass over their heads. Yep, mo' money. :-)

[EspritDeVoltaire]

It sounds like higher education here is still the 3 Rs, readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmatic at the schoolhouse on top of the ridge.

[Wheatstraw]

Ignorance is not a bad thing. Ignorance is just not knowing. Being stupid and dumb are different. A dumb person does not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions. Being stupid is not knowing, that person knows they dont know, yet you do nothing about not knowing. But then you have smart people who do stupid things...

[brainstrain]

I've always been fond of the axiom "Individuals are smart, people are stupid".

By the way....being dumb means being unable to speak. haha Semantical arguments make the world go round, and round, and round.

Pax

[Mogamboguru]

Those "28 percent" won't vote democratic in the GE, anyway - no matter, what. So, every dime spend on campaigning them you could rather toss out of the window, without receiving any negative effects on Obama's chances in the GE.

[NoahVail]

It doesn't help when HRC contributes to this ignorance with her "as far as I know" comments.

[Wheatstraw]

I honestly believe that stupid as well as dumb people should not be allowed to vote. When anyone cast their vote...that vote affects other people. Just like a driving test, people should have to pass a basic test before they are issued a voter registration card.

[nclayla]

I believe they had just such tests here in the South for awhile - it didn't really work out very well.

[Wheatstraw]

Why not?...do they know why it did not work?

[Midnightrain]

Those were laws and practices to keep African Americans, specifically, from voting - which is not the same thing as keeping 'stupid' and 'dumb' people from voting.

[Wheatstraw]

Well being an African-American whos parents were from the south...I fully understand that a system like that was used to prevent African-Americans from voting.
But there were more pressing issues that kept us from voting...Violence and or the threat of violence. In this day and age...if you are not informed then you dont want to be. It is up to the people who are informed to pass on unbiased information to thoes who are not. It does not matter what color you are. Each one, teach one...and that goes beyond political.

[talamone]

Are you sure about that? 99% of the Obama supporters who comment on this site wouldn't be allowed to vote.

[soylentgreenleftovers]

Awwww, you jes' made a funny! Not exactly Don Rickles, though.

[jrterrier]

this is great. what's the necessary score to be allowed to vote?

what if you are a returning veteran and don't pass your test for voting, do they not get to vote? what if the lousy public schools in your community kept you from getting an education and so you do not do very well on standardized tests, do you get your vote taken from you? or what about the "right-brain" learners that rev wright told us about, are you going to have tests for 'right-brained' as well as 'left-brained' learners?

is this the change we've been waiting for?

[Wheatstraw]

First of all...dont get it twisted...Although I am not a Vet...I grew up in the poorest parts of Brooklyn NYC. Dont tell me about crapy schools. Yeah...I could use it as a crutch but where does that get me? As far as right-brain learners...I learn with both parts of the brain. Just because I grew up in the projects does not mean it was meant for me to stay there! Just because I grew up about drugs and violence does not mean that I have to use or sell drugs or result to violence.

Growing up in the hood and being poor was GREAT...because now...I can handle anything, anywhere in the world..period.

[LittleSanityLeft]

The funny thing is Hillary supporters would gladly stand side by side with these bigots. I don't know what women are like in America but my mother would be the first to voice her disgust at the tactics Hillary is using. Yet women in America still support her vigorously?

Forget "What's the Matter with Kansas" try "What's Wrong with the USA".
The stupid people will drag down your entire country. Maybe Obama can't win. Maybe the founding fathers with their 'elitist' ideals about democracy didn't take into the account the stupidity of the electorate.

Whether Obama wins or loses in November, I think it'll be a wonderful test for America. Most of my family feel Americans will fail that test as they did 4 years ago, but the difference now is that Americans, especially blacks will finally realize where their 'place' is in America and truly how far away Martin Luther Kings dream might be. It'll also crush the hopes of young voters who believed they could make a difference. All that's really bad news for several generations of Americans hopes and dreams but up here in Canada it's just good tv.

This year more then any other is a vote for which America, Americans believe in and if the "home of the brave" will succom to fear tactics and lies...again.

[Midnightrain]

Have faith. The world is slowly being forced to purge itself from self-destructive habits.

[soylentgreenleftovers]

Have you heard of the movie "Idiocracy?" When I watched it, I laughed the whole way through, thinking that it was such a silly, nonsensical farce of a movie. Now it seems it might be prophesy.

[kinnycut]

What happens in the primary is never reflective of what happens in the general election because everybody gets to vote in November. I wouldn't worry about the "closet racists" and uninformed morons looking for excuses not to vote for Obama now. The economy will be so bad by the general election that only devout Republicans and card carrying racists will be able to rationalize a vote for McCain. On the other hand, two terms of Bush and the fact that voters in West Virgina and Kentucky are poised to cast ballots for a democratic candidate that has no path to the nomination is reason enough not to under estimate the more than occasional ignorance of the voting public.

[jrterrier]

let's be clear. hillary supporters are not bigots and they are not ignorant. her supporters, like obama's, span the spectrum from rich to poor, from well-educated to less-educated, from brilliant to stupid, from bigotted to open-minded. this is america. we don't give tests (or shouldn't) before we allow people to vote or participate fully in our society.

this idea -- that you must be a bigot or ignorant if you think hillary would make a better president or if you think that obama doesn't have sufficient experience to be president -- is what is going to make it very difficult for obama to win in november, if he is nominated.

please look at the numbers, obama has a razor thin lead.

[tressie22]

Yes, no Dem has won the election w/out WV since Wilson. But, so, too, has no african-american candidate achieved national stature without the blessing of the civil rights elite - i'm looking at you CBC. Just like no black student had ever been president of the Harvard Law Review. There are lot of things that have never happened, happening now. Just because it's never been, doesn't mean it never will be. And it would seem to me what better time than now for the Democratic base to shed itself of the most ignorant and racists and sexists among us AND STILL WIN. It's a wonderful opportunity, and we have a wonderful candidate with a history of defying just those type of "nevers" to do it.

[nclayla]

The times they are achangin....................

[indianadem]

Yea! President Obama! I can't wait. We don't need no stinkin West Virginia! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!

[bilmardre]

No Democrat has won the White House without winning W. Virginia since 1916.

Well, the Obama campaign does represent radical change from the politics as usual, so what better time to change that stat.

[Softnsweet]

Well Obama does not need West Virginia to win. There is always a first time for everything so goodbye West Virginia.

[AMJordan]

Doesn't mean he won't win in the fall. There are people there who would vote for the Dem if he or she was...I was going to say something disgusting but let your imagination work.

The Repulsive's in WV represent the mine-owners, the monied powers that keep ordinary men and women in check.

It'll be interesting to see if this basic rule of their lives will overcome their antipathy to a minority.

[neve]

WV voted twice for GWB against the incumbent VP in a time of peace and prosperity and a war hero (john kerry) in a time of war and economic stagnation. HRC herself winning WV is no sure thing. If we waited for the good ol' folks of WV to effect change, we'll be waiting a very long time.

[Zogtastic]

Yeah, that's an interestingly meaningless statistic. It fails to mention the times the Dems have won W. Virginia and NOT won the White House.

How do you weigh the value of that stat? It's completely useless.

[atila]

for sure they are trying to avoid any incident that could alienate more the racial division that hillary has been promoting,i feel sorry for the people of WV that can't live with the rest of the Country this marvelous movement....

[obamanation31]

Hillary and her people have exploited this to the fullest. They are the ones who distributed the emails and flyers about him being a muslim.

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

So, you suppose that when he's up against the repubes, they won't distribute flyers, run nasty commercials, robocall, etc? Better thicken that skin...you're in for a bumpy ride.

[AMJordan]

Yes, but we EXPECT it from the Repulsives. Someone claiming to be a fellow Dem should be above such things.

[Midnightrain]

We've been through one with Hillary. There's only so much nastiness that folks can tolerate. This has worked in Obama's favor. We're prepared for the bumps, they help us in the long run.

[nclayla]

But there is something a bit more repugnant to many of us about bloodying your own.

[jrterrier]

this is a lie.

[Lauren1959]

I'm starting to think we should get to vote every several years on Statehood. Could it be that 90% of the 13% of people who think Obama is a Muslim live in West Virginia and Kentucky.

[DMHendrix]

I bet you're right Lauren! I can't understand that 13% statistic AT ALL..especially after all of the Rev. Wright B/S..but here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Gullible, anything is possible.

[AMJordan]

"I'm sorry, but the citizens of your state are not sufficiently intelligent to be members of the Republic. Please try again in 4 years. Thank you. The Rest of the United States."

It would never fly.