Mr. President: Beware West Virginia
The president and his re-election team should be worried. If recent election results are any evidence, the president’s insistence on pandering to his hard-left base has alienated many of his more moderate or independent blue collar supporters.
In North Carolina where the president ran unopposed, he received only 79.23% of the vote. There were 200,810 votes cast as “No Preference” of the nearly one million votes cast. Ironically this is the state that has been chosen by the Democratic National Committee to roll out the “red” carpet and welcome the president as they celebrate his nomination for a second term. The Democratic Convention will meet in Charlotte, NC, this summer.
In Kentucky the president also ran unopposed, but received only 58% of the vote as “Uncommitted” pulled of the surprise by getting 42%. The president also was only able to win 58% of the vote in Arkansas running against a Tennessee attorney named John Wolfe.
Other states where the President ran unopposed also showed signs of dissatisfaction.
In West Virginia where the president was opposed by Keith Judd, of Texarkana, AR, he only managed to garner 59.35% of the vote. I ten separate counties the president actually lost to Mr. Judd.
In Mingo County, for example, Mr. Judd won over 60% of the vote. Hardy, Wyoming and Logan counties also went for Mr. Judd with over 55% of the vote. Of the top four coal-producing counties Boone, Marshall, Logan and Mingo, Mr. Obama only won Marshall County. He won Marshall County with 59.48% of the vote.
The fact that Barack Obama lost – and badly in some cases – in coal country shouldn’t come as a surprise to his campaign. What should scare Mr. Obama’s team is the fact that he was opposed by a convicted felon who is currently spending his days in federal prison in Texarkana, AK.
Mr. Obama – who could safely be called an ideologue – has made a calculated decision to abandon a large portion of his base. His green agenda, which looks to shut down coal production in the United States, has put states like West Virginia on an economic death row. There are 30,000 West Virginians whose livelihood depends on the coal industry and many thousands more in the burgeoning industry that is recovering oil from the shale deposits in the state.
According to two 2009 studies from the World Bank and IMF, they rank the economy of West Virginia as the 62nd and 64th largest in the world respectively. Shutting down the fossil fuel industry in West Virginia would do major harm to the United States economy, the people of West Virginia and consumers throughout the country.
It is too late for Mr. Obama to triangulate his position like President William Jefferson Clinton did; but even if he had the time, it is unlikely that he would do anything different.
The president’s weakness is his arrogance. He is naïve to the realities of all Americans. His goal is to secure the power of the state through protecting the political class as well as his perceived mark on history by pushing onto the American people either unwanted or unconstitutional policies and programs.
Mr. Obama and his campaign will attempt to portray him as the true champion for all Americans. This concept is easily contradicted by looking at how he treats the people of the state of West Virginia.
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