On May 12, 4:25 pm, "cal" <d...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2a50425a-1f86-11dd-9216-000077b07658,s01=3D1....=
>
> Democratic country keeps its distance from Obama
>
> By Andrew Ward
>
> Published: May 11 2008 20:13 | Last updated: May 11 2008 20:13
>
> Like most people in Mingo County, West Virginia, Leonard Simpson is a
> lifelong Democrat. But given a choice between Barack Obama and John
McCain=
> in November, the 67-year-old retired coalminer would vote Republican.
>
> "I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife's an atheist," said Mr
Simpso=
n,
> drawing on a cigarette outside the fire station in Williamson, a
coalminin=
g
> town of 3,400 people surrounded by lush wooded hillsides.
>
> Mr Simpson's remarks help explain why Mr Obama is trailing Hillary
Clinton=
,
> his Democratic rival, by 40 percentage points ahead of Tuesday's primary
> election in the heavily white and rural state, according to recent
opinion=
> polls.
>
> A landslide victory for Mrs Clinton in West Virginia will do little to
> improve her fading hopes of winning the Democratic nomination, because
Mr
> Obama has an almost insurmountable lead in the overall race. But
Tuesday's=
> contest is likely to reinforce Mrs Clinton's argument that she would be
th=
e
> stronger opponent for Mr McCain in November, and raise fresh doubts
about
> whether the US is ready to elect its first black president.
>
> Occupying a swathe of the Appalachian Mountains on the threshold between
t=
he
> Bible Belt and the Rust Belt, West Virginia is a swing state that voted
> twice for George W. Bush but backed Democrats in six of the eight prior
> presidential elections.
>
> No Democrat has been elected to the White House without carrying West
> Virginia since 1916, yet Mr Obama appears to have little chance of
winning=
> there in November. Recent opinion polls indicate that Mrs Clinton would
> narrowly beat Mr McCain in the state but Mr Obama would lose by nearly
20
> percentage points.
>
> West Virginia is hostile territory for Mr Obama because it has few of
the
> African-Americans and affluent, college-educated whites who provide his
> strongest sup****t. The state has the lowest college graduation rate in
the=
> US, the second lowest median household income, and one of the highest
> pro****tions of white residents, at 96 per cent.
>
> A visit to Mingo County, a Democratic stronghold in the heart of the
> Appalachian coalfields, reveals the scale of Mr Obama's challenge - not
on=
ly
> in West Virginia but in white, working-class communities across the US.
Wi=
th
> a gun shop on its main street and churches dotted throughout the town,
> Williamson is the kind of community evoked by Mr Obama's controversial
> comments last month about "bitter" small-town voters who "cling to guns
or=
> religion".
>
> "If he is the nominee, the Democrats have no chance of winning West
> Virginia," said Missy Endicott, a 40- year-old school administrator. "He
> doesn't understand ordinary Americans."
>
> Ms Endicott was among roughly 500 people who crammed into the Williamson
> Fire Department building on Friday to attend a rally by Bill Clinton,
the
> former president. He told them his wife represented "people like you, in
> places like this", and urged voters to turn out in record numbers on
Tuesd=
ay
> to send a message to the "higher-type people" who were trying to force
her=
> out of the race.
>
> Local leaders said Mr Clinton was the most im****tant visitor to
Williamson=
> since John F. Kennedy passed through during the 1960 election campaign.
Mr=
> Kennedy's victory in the West Virginia primary that year was a crucial
ste=
p
> towards proving his electability as the first Catholic president. Nearly
> five decades later, the state appears less willing to help Mr Obama
break
> down barriers to the White House.
>
> None of the 22 Democrats interviewed by the Financial Times at the
Clinton=
> rally would commit themselves to voting for Mr Obama if he became the
> nominee, and half said they definitely would not. The depth of
opposition =
is
> particularly striking considering that Mingo County is one of the most
> Democratic places in West Virginia, having cast about 85 per cent of its
> votes for the party in the 2006 midterm elections. If Mr Obama cannot
win
> there in November, he has little chance of carrying the state.
>
> Most people questioned said they mistrusted Mr Obama because of doubts
abo=
ut
> his patriotism and "values", stemming from his cosmopolitan background,
hi=
s
> exotic name and the controversy surrounding "anti-American" sermons by
> Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor. Several people said they believed he
w=
as
> a Muslim - an unfounded rumour that has circulated on the internet for
> months - despite the contradiction with his 20-year member****p of Mr
> Wright's
> church in Chicago. Others mentioned his refusal to wear a Stars and
Stripe=
s
> badge and controversial remarks by his wife, Mich=ADelle, who
des=ADcribed=
> America as "mean" and implied that she had never been proud of the US
unti=
l
> her husband ran for president.
>
> Conservative commentators have questioned Mr Obama's patriotism for
months=
> and the issue is expected to be one of the Republicans' main lines of
atta=
ck
> if he wins the nomination. "The American people want a president who
loves=
> their country as much as they do," said Whit Ayres, a Rep=ADub=ADlican
> strategist. Obama sup****ters believe patriotism is being used as code to
> harness racist sentiment.
>
> Josh Fry, a 24-year-old ambulance driver from Williamson, insisted he
was
> not racist but said he would feel more comfortable with Mr McCain, the
> 71-year-old Vietnam war hero, in the White House. "I want someone who is
a=
> full-blooded American as president," he said.
>
> Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
I'll tell you who we are not ready for. A lying bich lawyer.
http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/swirsky/03132006.htm
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