West Virginia Polls Tighten -- Race Takes Backseat

Politico:

West Virginia's Democratic leaders on Saturday embarked on a winding, eight-county bus tour through the south of the state, and in one small mining town after another, they sold Barack Obama to small crowds of Democrats with remarkable directness.

"He is black" was the first thing Kenny Perdue, the state's AFL-CIO president, said. "The gentleman that's in the White House and John McCain -- they're white men. And I'm absolutely ashamed of what George W. Bush has done to this country." ...

West Virginia represents a cross-section of the voters who have been hardest for Obama to reach. It's among the oldest, whitest and least-educated states in America. It was the place where reporters found white Democrats who freely use the N-word and swore they'd never vote for Obama.

But maybe the campaigns and the press misread the depth of prejudice in West Virginia. Or maybe, since the May primary, something has changed here.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[toochie50]

Why do these poor, least informed voters continue to vote against their own best interests? I just cannot for the life of me understand and realize finally it comes down to one thing - r a c i s m pure and simple ....Mr. Obama is b l a c k - such stupidity and ignorance.

[GuyFawkes]

O is -8 in latest NBC poll of WV. Don't know if that's good or bad, considering it wasn't in play just 2 weeks ago. I still doubt he'll win it, but maybe one stop might go a long way.

[Myshkin57]

I don't think anyone's counting on WV but if it stays close, McCain will have to pour more resources in there that might have gone to someplace like Ohio or Florida.

[BarackstarObama]

Yes, Obama's going to bury McCain under his avalanche of campaign finances. LOL

Obama/Biden 08

[fanoftruthiness]

Right, it's like running a double team and you have to kick out!

[MsYellowDog]

I remembered that Mine owner last year---a better example of a Rethuglican Hog showing his true colors could scarcely be found---notice how quickly the MSM "let" him vanish from the scene,the more information about his shoddy practices came out.I have even written my friends recently,that I would bet anything that the miners who perished were Rethuglican voters---because middle class/working folks voters have for 30 years voted against their own interests when they voted for Rethuglicans. I hope that many of them have seen the light, although where I live in East Texas I see many around me lining up to drink the Rethuglican KoolAid AGAIN, sorry to say.

[GrainOSand]

Stars and Stripes Trek
Race... the GOP’s Final Desperate Smear to stimulate Costly, Stagnating, and Divisive Fear. This is the voyage of the American Enterprise trying to rise from its humble and less than auspicious beginnings. Its two-hundred thirty two year mission: to develop an advanced and thriving, diverse yet unified society, in a new world of promise and hope; to stand for justice and fairness; to promote a peaceful and prosperous civilization as a shining example of the soundness of the democratic principle; to establish and secure the general wellbeing of all American lives for the overall good of the American voyage -- the continued growth-oriented journey of the American Enterprise; lastly, it is our mission, to boldly go where hatred and heartlessness has stopped us from going before.

[papapj]

That was beautiful, sandy..............

[GrainOSand]

As are you papapj -- as is all in America if we would only realize our potential. There can be no inspiration of hope without beauty. I look out upon America and I can see the beauty beyond the ugly gnarled, and half dead tall trees of our divide. I am stuck in a childlike fixation on what is possible -- though my years of living and frustration with the staggering consequences of hate, find me accepting that mine is a view that may go unseen by the masses in all of their grown-up approach to failure. My nation may overlook the beauty of the forest of our unity. The trees of our fears and our feeble-minded shortcomings may prove too large at the base, and the tortured angle of their sprawling, claw like limbs, allow no light on the floor of our societal rain forest. Therefore, we remain hopelessly, hatefully, and harmfully divided -- in the darkness of our collective decline, standing on the moss-covered floor of our jungle of despair and defeat.

Yet I heard a man say -- not this time!
Yet I saw a people in Iowa say -- we are not the failures of the past -- we are far better than that!
Yet I saw Obama and Clinton embody an urgent question and a powerful message in a historic run!

Q: Can we be bigger than our fears and bolder than our sexist and racist past?
A: Yes, we can!

[JayeSF]

Joe Biden is making a campaign stop there on Friday....that's good. I would say, if Barack HIMSELF can make just one visit to W. Va., North Dakota, Nevada, and the like....he'll take ALL of those states.

He's heavy in Missouri now...which is very good.

He's in NC and 2 in Fla. today and tom'w......

Biden's somewhere significant, too....

[norkas]

Good post Joe please send this to Obama people. I belive a real heart warming understanding speech will do it

[norkas]

sorry i meant to say JaySF

[Bubba Wayne]

It's good to see people in my home region of my home state finally seeing the truth in what they've been supporting for all these years. Welcome to the modern world of post-emancipation. It's because of the ignorance and racist fundamentalism there that I left for good. Maybe times are finally changing.

[tedbear]

My grandfather helped start the United Mine Workers in the early days in Pennsylvania. My father taught me that there were good and bad people, period. He taught me to choose the good people no matter where they came from or what they looked like. That has served me well in my life.

Those roots , union roots, fighting for the little guy, run deep. I know that for a fact.
I believe W. Va. will help Obama win. Pennsylvania, as much as we love it, may not. It is a shame.

[rowzeer]

Unions and the military were among the first groups that included minorities and eventually in the power structure.

[kmdippenger]

My dad's roots were in WV as well..coal miners from Wales. They became union steelworkers in Buffalo and the union took good care of my mom while she was sick with cancer (7 yrs of paid medical bills, never a worry). I wish my dad was alive to vote for Obama.

[BillCarson]

Obama is well ahead in Pennsylvania, 53 to 39. http://www.electoral-vote.com/

[roshni]

Still too many McCain/Palin lawn signs in my neighborhood for my comfort. I'm hitting the canvassing again next week.

[qoftu]

I urge all of you to vote early if permitted in your state. In West Virginia, registered voters may cast early ballots from October 15th until November 1st at your local county clerk's office or a designated area in your county courthouse. Check your ballot, REcheck your ballot, vote and then spend election day volunteering at your local campaign headquarters. We need all the help we can get. Montani semper liberi!

[valleygent]

I URGE ALL TO DENOUNCE THE PALIN-MCAIN TICKKKET.

[cyclewerker]

http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/News/200810180251

speaking of west virginia...

[peterhowitt]

EVERYONE GET ON THIS.

THE CHEATING HAS BEGUN IN WEST VIRGINIA

SEND THIS TO EVERYONE - ALL NEWS CHANNELS

http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/News/200810180251

[JayeSF]

oh, yup.....we are gonna see articles like this from now until at 11/5. Then, they'll all be moot....but it's all mccain/palin has left....

vote theft, voter disenfranchisement, vote supression.....

but this time, with less diebold-type machines being used, they have no alternative but to be more obvious about what they are trying to do....

[jolebo]

And do you think that it is just coincidence that all of those votes were changed from Democrat to Republican, and none went the other way?????

[ebanks84]

REQUEST PAPER BALLOTS PLEASE. DO NOT USE THE VOTING MACHINES, THEY ARE RIGGED FOR MCCAIN.

REQUEST PAPER BALLOTS.

[Ohg]

Over and over we are seeing the hate speech of the McCain camp falter - costing him votes - but he continues with his hypocrisy. .. What a sad day for an old warrior. ..................................

http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/19/the-ayers-of-christian-redemption/

[BluePride]

You may see the reason in: The Ballad of Johnny McCain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDceTz3UAgI

[peacegurl48]

I am a fair-skinned African American woman so I've gotten some interesting insights into race relations; I also have a brown-skinned daughter and granddaughters. For the first time I really feel that Americans understand that seeking our commonalities is the way to unite and heal the country.
I am a worker, a middle class person, a mother, grandmother, a cancer survivor, a Catholic; so many thngs define me beyond my race and allow me to connect with other Americans going through the same life challenges.
This election has shown that America is also able to transcend race and that makes it particularly tragic that McCain, and especially Palin, are so viciously playing the race card. As Colin Powell said Obama transcends petty racial issues and could transforrn our country; we can return to being we the people in an amazing new way. I am inspired by the Americans who embrace Obama and pray that he wins so that we can begin the healing.

[towny]

Great post & thanks for sharing.
I have raised my children to be color blind. Race is never the issue, stupidity is!

[LMFSavageMN]

I can't wait to cast my vote for Barack Obama. For most of my life I was a Republican. George W. Bush drove me away, and I likely won't be back. I'm excited to see what Barack will do for this nation. This year is pivotal. I've never donated to a political campaign before, but I've donated now to Obama, as well El Tinklenberg, who is trying to oust anti-American hatemonger Michele Bachmann. I live in MN, but not in her district - but there is no way I could just let her unbelievably stupid comments pass me by.

I agree that Barack is inclusive and able to transcend race. He will unite us all in a positive way.

[Myshkin57]

Imagine what will happen if the people who are opposed to a black man being president actually have a better life for eight years under Obama. We could see a real change in race relations from all sides. I have not been happy to be living in America for the past eight years, but it will be worth the past eight years if we can change so profoundly.

[LettuceB1]

Unfortunately Mc Cain hasn't learned the lessons of racial harmony within his own family.

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2041&Itemid=42

It explains a lot about his attitude toward O' bama. It's very unfortunate.

[JerseyGirl4Obama]

WOW, quite an interesting read.

[roshni]

Obama's presidency is a great opportunity for us Americans to realize our own potential and show the world the strength in our diversity.
I was proud of Colin Powell today. He made a very compelling endorsement.

[IowaKid]

Thank you West Virginia keep up the hard wok.

[arthur2008]

The McCain-Palin campaign shows nothing but contempt for voters in West Virginia and elsewhere when they assume that appeals to fear and hate will fool them into setting aside their own best interests one more time.