Wow, there's a punch in the mouth right out of the gate. How ya like me now, West Virginia?
Not a lot? Well, my apologies.
But I've come to some conclusions over the past five years of working in the Mountain State.
And, no, not every West Virginian is a racist who bases their decisions on racism.
However, there are a list of things to consider, here.
1. 40 percent of Democratic voters voted for a convicted felon incarcerated in Texas instead of President Barack Obama in the May primary. Yeah, that made the national news. Didn't make the state look too good.
2. Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who made his fortune off of his mother's racing greyhound breeding business (classy), said he will not attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
3. U.S. Rep Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have made similar declarations. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is the only federal Democrat from the Mountain State not to have made such a pledge.
4. West Virginians continue to rage against the Health Care Act, despite the fact that tens of thousands of West Virginians don't have health care, and the state is crippled by indigent patients who go to an emergency room instead of a family doctor when they have a cold, because the hospital can't turn them away.
5. Mining. Coal mining is employing less workers than ever, is providing less power to our nation than ever, miners are dying in horrible disasters, companies ignore safety regulations and prefer just to blow up a mountain and then "surface mine" it, rather than pay miners to go into it. Somehow, this is Obama's fault.
6. The racist comments I have to pull off of my employer's website forums every day pretty much speak for themselves.
7. Let's not forget the 2008 Democratic primary, which also garnered national media attention, after several voters gave interviews saying they didn't like Obama because he was a Muslim, and they didn't like that his middle name is "Hussein." One of those is a fact, another isn't. Neither should have played a role in an informed voter's decision.
8. The frequent argument that Obama did not kill Osama bin Laden, Navy Seals did. (This in not just from W.Va., but more on this later.)
9. The birther issue? Still alive and well here.
10. 20 percent of eligible West Virginia voters polled in May admitted that race was a factor in their decision not to support Obama. That's one in five. And those are just the people who are admitting it.
Now, I know a lot of West Virginians who are pleasant, rational people. And I'm not saying that you have to vote Democrat to be pleasant and rational. I know several Republicans, independents and libertarians in West Virginia who I think are intelligent, shrewd voters. I respect their decisions and opinions. I, myself, have voted Republican when I thought it was the best choice. Turns out I was wrong, but still.
I'm just saying West Virginia, as a whole, has not made a good showing of itself publicly lately.
Look, I live in Kentucky, and we have the same image problems. In our state 40 percent of voters chose "no preference" over Obama.
But in West Virginia it's a different vibe. It's never good when both candidates for governor, including the aforementioned Earl Ray and his Republican challenger, aren't attacking each other, but are instead talking about how they will fight the Obama administration. Hmmm, governor in a poor state that ranks near dead last in everything (again, Kentuckian here, I understand) and they're going to try and defy the highest office in the U.S. tooth and nail? Sounds like a recovery plan to me.
Now, West Virginia, like Kentucky in days past (I think all of our federal office holders are Republicans now), likes to elect Democrats but expects them to behave in discord with their party.
They are Democrats in name only.
The first few items on my list, mainly the skipping of the convention (which is a flat out disgrace) and the whole coal issue, are intertwined.
Obama is viewed as anti-coal by the voters of West Virginia. It's not that he's environmentally friendly, wants to find new ways of producing energy that would also create jobs, and make coal cleaner for the environment and safer for workers. No, he is a "Marxist commie" (I've actually seen that phrase used frequently) who wants to stamp out freedom with his EPA stormtroopers to establish federal power and control.
As coal has been declining for years, this argument makes little sense, and frequently falls back on "He took our jerbs" after peeling the first line of defense away. Break that next one down and the voters just plain hate Obama. They won't tell you why. But I think those exit poll interviews gave a pretty clear picture.
Other facade arguments include the deficit (which no one cared about until now), and the aforementioned Health Care Act, which, as stated, would actually HELP thousands of West Virginians.
A local news station recently interviewed a health care worker and a woman who was getting a free screening about the health care issue.
The worker said she hopes it is upheld because she sees and treats so many people that don't have insurance and access to regular health care.
The woman, who was receiving a free screening, mind you, said she wants to see it struck down. When asked why, she didn't give a very clear answer, but finally mumbled "people don't understand it and they need time to understand it."
Well, the health care crisis is happening sort of nowish.
Anyway, the people in office know that their constituents flat out hate the president. And I don't mean they disagree on a few things. They HATE him. So, the politicians have to make a show of defying the president, which comes at the cost of losing the respect of their party bretheren, and, well, the president. So, in the end, nothing gets accomplished that helps the state, other than these people getting re-elected.
When Republican John Raese lost his Senate bid to Joe Manchin, he didn't say "We will get this Senate seat back." No, the guy who compared having to put no-smoking signs in one of his businesses to Jews having to wear yellow stars during the Holocaust said "We will get Obama."
What does that even mean?
As far as some other things on the list, if any other president was on watch and was the Commander in Chief when the world's number one terror threat was eliminated, they would be lauded as a hero. And, even if they didn't literally pull the trigger, you know they would be including that as part of their resume for re-election. So why is it a problem when Obama does it? I think I know.
I know Obama has had his policy ups and downs, like many other presidents, but you'd think he'd get some slack for being in charge when bin Laden was killed.
The birther thing? Well, I was born in Hawaii and it's never been a problem. You all know the actual details of the the argument and I won't even get into it as it doesn't bear repeating.
Let's face it, if Mitt Romney were running against a typical WASP, everyone in a red state would be trying to come to terms with the fact that Romney's a Mormon. In fact, it is a problem with the GOP voter base. Should it be? Again, no. But this is how a large majority of the voting public thinks, and you know it. You can say "I don't think that way" and, likely, it's true. But look at the aggregate voting population, and the picture is clear.
Romney only trumps Obama to uninformed voters because he is white.
Obama knows West Virginia hates him. That is why he rarely, if ever, campaigns in the Mountain State.
And, in the end, the state's few electoral votes will likely mean little in the grand scheme of things.
Haters can say he's trying to take their guns (which he's not), their jobs (which he's not) and make them have health insurance (God forbid).
However, when you're in that booth, and nobody but Fox News is spying on you, you know why you fill out which ballot, in your heart of hearts. Whatever decision you make, I urge you to deny hate as a motivation.
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