No Democrat since Wilson has won the Presidency without WV ?

[kentuck]

But, that does not necessarily apply to primaries. They have won the state in general elections. Hillary is ready to trounce Obama today in WV. But how would Obama do in a match-up with John McCain in WV? That is the question that should be asked?

How many Hillary supporters would vote for Obama and how many would vote for McCain? If Obama gets a third of the Democrats in today's primary and half of Hillary supporters in the general, then he would be competitive with McCain in the general election. His performance today does not foretell that he would lose by the same margin in the general election. Just something to keep in perspective.

West Virginia is no different than NY, PA, CA, FL, or the other states that Hillary has won. Her votes do not disappear in the general election. They go somewhere else. They either go to Obama, or to McCain, or Third Party, or they do not participate? No one should despair over today's results.

[peace13]

1. In fact many of the early Hill voters may have buyers remorse

after...Bosnia and the like. We reflect on the early vote states as though voters live in a vacuum. Well Ok, some do. This historically long primary may rewrite the books.

[Zynx]

2. There is a much different dynamic in WV than in NY, PA, CA, and FL.

It is a very different type of Democrat.

In most of the other states Obama enjoyed a 70-75% favorability rating among all Democrats. In WV it is only around 45%. That is a different state.

[kentuck]

3. I think there are some polls that show...

that half of Hillary's supporters will support Obama in the general and the other half do not say they would vote for McCain? Just because Hillary may beat Obama by 30 points does not mean that John McCain would do the same. Agree?

[Zynx]

13. Not in this case, no. In the cases of, say, CA and PA, yes.

WV is a different state. Voter dynamics are not uniform across the country.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. The Union consisted of less than 50 states and various terroritories.

I question whether West Virginia's going for a democrat in the past has had the same strength until Alaska was admitted and the delegate count standardized.

[Indydem]

5. I think WV is just a piece of the puzzle....

I think there are a lot of independents and "old-south" democrats who will not vote for Obama because of his race. They are racists, and dispicable, but thats still the way the cards are dealt.

I'll be supporting Obama if he get the nomination, but I still believe Senator Clinton has a beter chance of winning against McSame.

[kentuck]

6. I think both would defeat McSame....

but I think Hillary's victory would be smaller and would not grow the Party as much as Obama's victory. I think Obama puts several states in the South and in the West into play and the Democrats will win by a much larger percentage with Obama than Hillary. The Clinton history cannot be ignored. They are not popular with a large part of the country. I think one of the surprises that will come out of the next election will be the large proportion of Republicans that vote for Obama. They will not vote for Hillary. But they must vote for someone and they cannot live with their consciences if they vote for another term for George W Bush. Yes, there are still a few Republicans that think.

[chitty]

7. And the Red Sox

never win the World Series.

Shit changes.

[kentuck]

10. True.

:-)

[book_worm]

8. the map this electoral year will be very interesting

I think Obama will win some western states which dems have not won for a long time and may pick up a couple of southern states like VA and NC.

[kentuck]

9. I think you are correct.

We will see a major electoral shift with this election. We cannot say that the South will automatically go Republican or that the entire West will go Republican. The map is shifting. This election is different.

[Upton]

11. So what? The Redskin's streak of predicting the presidential winner was broken

in 2004. Since 1936, a Redskins win in their last home game had been followed by a win for the presidential incumbent, and a loss meant a loss for the incumbent. The streak was finally broken in 2004, when the Redskins lost at home to Green Bay and the Republicans retained the White House.

[windbreeze]

12. IF they would vote for McCain over Obama...then what can anyone say??

haven't they, like the rest of us, had enough of Republican rule for awhile?...hasn't that state suffered like the rest of us??...they may be in their own little world, but some things touch everyone...loss of native sons/daughters in a useless war....like lack of jobs...rising prices...I am sure if you go to W.VA., it still costs the same for a gallon of gas, as it does everywhere else..one would think they have the intelligence to make the proper connections, between cause and effect..wb