While I do not agree 100% with Hillary's comment, we need to look at the facts. Obama spent 11.1 million dollars in Pennslyvania. Obama spent weeks doing a bus tour in Pennslyvania meeting with blue collar voters and talking with them face to face. They STILL rejected him and voted for Hillary. Why? Was it race? I do not know. McCain is currently campaigning for these blue collar white voters in PA and OH. His goal is to get 20% of Clinton supporters. If he succeeds then PA and OH will be competitive and has a good chance of turning red in November. If he manages to get even 25% then PA and OH will be a McCain double digit victory in both states. Obama can not win the presidency without one of those states. Now lets look at W. Virginia. Obama is the current front runner and likely nominee. Then why is Clinton ahead by over 35 points? Shouldn't Obama as the likely nominee be ahead by over 35 points? Again, I am not sure why? But we need to start looking at the problem and start looking for solutions. If you believe we do not need the white blue collar vote then you can write off PA and OH in November. Lets just give McCain victory in both of those states and find more states to make up for those Electoral votes.
Because it's West Virginia. It's Appalachia, and for whatever reason Appalachian voters have rejected Barack Obama. I live in Appalachia myself and can ascribe this hostility to a few things:
1) Appalachian voters hate reform candidates. They've been hoodwinked by outsiders promising to "improve" things for over a hundred years. They are deeply skeptical of reform politicians.
2) Education levels for white voters are the lowest in the country. Obama's soaring rhetoric has not resonated with uneducated whites up to now.
3) Racism. In many ways, Appalachian whites approach race the way white Southerners do: there is a HUGE burden for blacks to cross here. The ASSUMPTION is that all blacks are like Jesse Jackson (or worse).
4) Clinton's Bubba factor: Bill Clinton has been putting on his rural Bubba face for months now and it's worked. Lots of West Virginians respond well to Bill Clinton.
5) Coal. Obama told people in Beckley the truth about coal and its environmental effect. Just like when he told Detroit to raise MPG standards, people in Beckley were not amused. While mountain top removal angers many in WV, the powerful in the state have convinced many voters that without it, the state would lose what little jobs it has. Hillary, of course, has done nothing to criticize the coal companies.
6) Age. Young people in Appalachia leave. It's been that way for decades now, as opportunities for young adults have dwindled.
All of these together make WV impossible for Obama. The best he can hope for is that Clinton supporters just give up and stay home and Obama comes close by default.
