Rasmussen West Virginia: Bush 50%, Kerry 44%

rasmussenreports.com ^ | 9/21/04 | Rasmussen Reports

[Dont Mention the War]

Ha ha ha ha ha! This was about the last "battleground state" that the Democrats were claiming to be leaning Kerry!

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Good news from WV bump.

[cmsgop]

Very Good!

[NewMediaFan]

Good news!

At this rate Kerry will be lucky to carry Vermont.

[AuH2ORepublican]

PING

[rod1]

Paging Bobby Byrd, KKK Byrd--you are slowly but surely losing your state.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

You must mean "Bush battleground" state. I.e. a battleground state that went Bush in '02.

[zbigreddogz]

This is good news. But we must not get complacent.

I wonder though: WV went R in 72 and 84, but D practically every other time in modern history. Let's say Bush wins it again in a non-landslide (lets say Kerry wins 15 states or so), does this mean we have a real chance to change the face of WV into an R state? It seems like we should. It's a weird state, not really a southern state, not a northern state, not really a midwest state and not a atlantic coast state, but it seems to me, a lot of states (Such as Mississippi, Georgia etc.) start going R for Pres., and then eventually, they start going R for everything else as well. Any chance this could happen here?

[DollyCali]

Waa hoo... almost heaven, west virginia..

Hey WVN & mountaineer.. how are you doing? damage/problems with flooding?

[Jhensy]

The key thing is that Kerry is not hitting 50% in many Democrat states. States like Md, Ct.... he should be at 55-60%. Not 48-49%.

44% in WV??? Terrible.

[pissant]

As I said as soon as Kerry wrapped up the nomination months ago: Bush 44, Ferry 6 + DC (states that is).

[PilloryHillary]

Good News! Praise God! But let's not get complacent!!!

[AuH2ORepublican]

" it seems to me, a lot of states (Such as Mississippi, Georgia etc.) start going R for Pres., and then eventually, they start going R for everything else as well. Any chance this could happen here?"

---

I don't think WV will ever be Alabama, but I think it could be a solid GOP vote in presidential elections so long as cultural issues remain in the forefront. WV is socially conservative and economically liberal, like Western PA, Eastern OH, the Michigan UP, the Minnesota Iron Range and Western Wisconsin, and as long as Democrat presidential candidates are pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-special rights for gays, environmental extremists and soft on national defense, their only chance of carrying WV is to convince Mountaineers that those issues aren't as important as economic issues. In 1988, Dukakis carried the economically liberal/socially conservative areas I mentioned because the economy wasn't doing too well in those areas, but they moved quite a bit to the GOP in 2000 and should move even further to the GOP in 2004.

[capitan_refugio]

How do you think a big Bush win in S.D. will affect the Thune-Daschle Senate race?

[Cicero]

I get the feeling that Kerry is not doing well in the rural states. City dwellers are slower to pick up on what he's really like. But the farmers and good country folk--many of whom are liberal--are turning away from him.

That my guess at the moment.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

My opinion is that it is not so much a big Bush win in SD as the current huge bush momentum across the US that greatly affects Thune's race. Bush being popular here and racking up what looks to be a convincing win across the country has kept mealymouthed little Tommy D pretty subdued. You may have noticed that in the FTN debate!
I'm telling all of you out there, the larger a margin of victory you can rack up for Bush all over is definitely going to help, at least in some small way to depress democrat turnout here. YOU CAN HAVE A DIRECT PART IN RETIRING TOMMY DASCHLE BY GIVING IT ALL YOU'VE GOT FOR PRESIDENT BUSH IN YOUR STATE.

(End of exhortation, I'm exhausted!)

[mountaineer]

Our little town received much less damage than others in our county, although our town hall was flooded and the community park essentially destroyed. Fences are gone and a local creekside biker tavern was picked up and transported a few miles downstream, ending up smashed to pieces. My home was untouched - just lost power for several hours Friday and had no telephone service for a day and a half. There have been numerous mudslides and roads are still blocked or seriously damaged. School is cancelled for the rest of the week because so many roads are impassable.

Many people just a few miles from here have no power or water - those who still have houses, that is. A woman whose house was washed away and lost everything is trying to see if the Army will send her husband home from Iraq to help her. The Army National Guard is helping local authorities with traffic control and hauling debris.

I'm thankful we escaped harm, and hope to be able to fill a few bags with essentials to donate at the local firehouse tomorrow.

Oh yes, I'll comment on the topic at hand. Figures I saw in 2000 indicated Bush won by 5 percent. Thankfully, Nader picked up two or three percentage points worth of Dems back then.

That aspect of history will not repeat itself (our corrupt Atty Gen is doing all he can to keep Nader off the ballot). The Swifties have been our greatest friends - W.Va. may be full of Democrats, but most of them are patriotic veterans, so even though their unions are telling them to vote for Kerry, I am seeing many of them disillusioned with him. As in 2000, many steelworkers will defy their unions and instead vote to reelect the guy many credit for saving the industry in these parts.

I wouldn't feel complacent about W.Va. yet - the state is rife with election fraud and union thuggery, and anything is possible. I think Bush can win the state, but maybe by only one or two percent.

[latina4dubya]

How do you think a big Bush win in S.D. will affect the Thune-Daschle Senate race?

it's hard to tell... Bush won Missouri in 2000, yet Ashcroft lost (narrowly--perhaps fraud was involved)... but i don't think Bush won Missouri by a narrow margin... anyway--now that i think about it, i believe God had other plans for Ashcroft... remember all the terrible crud he had to endure to become Attorney General... actually being accused of being racist...

[capitan_refugio]

That Ashcroft "loss" was the crazy election where the ex-Governor was killed in the plane crash and his wife was promised the position of the dead man "won" the race. It was a sympathy vote.

With a little money and a solid Republican vote, I think Thune should unseat Daschle.