Point of historic trivia to note.
West Virginia, surprisingly to the pundits, went for George W. Bush in 2000. And though West Virginia has so few electoral votes, they were enough to put Bush over the top after the circus recount in Florida was over.
If West Virginia had gone Democrat in 2000 as so many expected, what happened in Florida would not have mattered, and Al Gore would have been elected president.
Just a note that at least since 2000, this Republican trend in West Virginia has been building up.
My thinking is that the people of West Virginia, though many of them are poor by national standards, and thus “should be” Democrats, have felt increasingly alienated from the liberal in your face politics of the national Democrats. And don’t want to be associated with that any longer.
And, realize that a vote for a Democrat House member is a vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, and a vote for a Democrat Senate candidate is a vote for Harry Reid.
If al-Gore had carried his “home” state of Tennessee, Florida wouldn’t have mattered.
More like, they understand that if you are white and poor, the Dems don't think of you as a constituency to be looked after.
West Virginians are Democrats primarily because that’s who controls state and county jobs in many cases. That’s a legacy of FDR times.
In fact West Virginia Democrats have nothing in common with Democrats on the national stage. They are DINOs. Gore went for the gun control third rail and got zapped in WV. He emasculated himself in the state.
Joe Manchin is, and rightly so, on the endangered list. I don’t think he even has a shot at governor given his canoodling with gun control advocates. Joe kissed the skunk’s ass. That stench hasn’t gone away.