BlogHer - West Virginia (and Nebraska too) Primary-Open Thread Discussion - Comments

Democratic win in Mississippi Shakes GOP

Kim Pearson — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:48:06 -0500

Democrat Travis Childers has won a special election in a very conservative district in northern Mississippi, despite ads from his opponent tying him to Barack Obama. On MSNBC, Tim Russert calls the win "seismic" and fomer Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says it's bad news for the Republicans. Politico

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Interesting thing about the coal issue

Kim Pearson — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:46:41 -0500

Obama is from a coal state. Both he and Clinton have taken hits from environmentalists for saying that they will promote "clean" coal. If significant numbers of WV voters were swayed by this issue, I'd be curious to know where the disconnect was.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Voting issues

shelnew19 — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:35:39 -0500

My mom voted in West Virginia today. She is an Independent who has never been able to vote in a primary before. She knew when she got to the polling place that she had to declare a party. The people running the place did not ask if she wanted to declare a party, they apparentely just assumed she would vote Independent. She didn't think too much of it until she got in the booth, saw the choices, and realized she wanted to vote Democrat, not Independent. Anyhow, she told the officials, they changed out the "block" to Democrat and she voted.

I truly believe that WV did not inform Independent affiliated voters what they were supposed to do. They did not make it clear that they needed to declare a party. Imagine how many Independent voters may have just voted Independent and not said anything! The state did a poor job. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would believe there was some sort of agenda at work.

As Polls Close media outlets call WV for Clinton

Erin Kotecki Vest — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:31:28 -0500

as predicted. Now we wait on numbers.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Getting reports about voting issues-

Erin Kotecki Vest — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:55:43 -0500

I have NOT seen this report confirmed anywhere yet-but thought it was interesting to note, as there have been similar issues in states with similar primary rules

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/83823

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Dems Doing Their Thing

MMarquit — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:44:56 -0500

One thing that never ceases to amaze me: Dems will blow a lead with the infighting. One thing that Republicans do well is consolidation. They're getting behind "their" candidate and he's out there drumming up support.

Meanwhile, the Dems are still stuck in primary season, with one candidate calling the other Dem candidate "elitist."

West Virginia (and Nebraska too) Primary-Open Thread Discussion

Erin Kotecki Vest — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:38:00 -0500

With a reported 40-point lead for Senator Hillary Clinton, West Virginia voters head to the polls.

Once again the word being buzzed by blogs and pundits: "margin"- as Senator Clinton looks to woo Superdelegates and Senator Barack Obama again faces questions about his "ability to draw the support of white, blue-collar voters."

A Clinton memo released today says, "Given the attempts by our opponent and some in the media to declare this race over, any significant increase in voter turnout, coupled with a decisive Clinton victory, would send a strong message that Democrats remain excited and energized by Hillary's candidacy..."

Senator Obama, meanwhile, is slated to be in Washington voting on a bill to help protect collective bargaining rights of firefighters and police officers. He then is expected in Missouri and Michigan for campaign events.

Senator Clinton is expected in Charleston, West Virginia for a presumed victory speech.

Marisa's Dandelion Patch writes from the mountain state, "I can’t speak for everyone in this state but as a lifelong resident, I do have an opinion about why this state is backing Hillary. It isn’t about race. It’s about politics. While West Virginia is a 'blue state' we’re also more moderate than many other Blue states. The hard working men and women of this state have depended on the coal and steel industries, both of which have been hurt tremendously by environmental issues, which traditionally has been associated with the far left. This isn’t to say that Hillary is not far left, only that she is presenting herself as more moderate than Obama."

Faithful writes at WVBlue, "Appalachia is not just some racist backwater, it is the key to electoral success in Presidential elections. So, Democrats, after the WV primary today, and the KY primary next Tuesday - y'all keep coming back. Appalachia has a lot to offer you, and in many ways we need your help. Appalachia has some of the highest poverty rates in the entire country, and a lot of those communities are being ripped apart by mountaintop removal coal-mining. But the Appalachian people are a good people, with an often progressive social history alongside with a relatively 'conservative' culture to those outside the region."

The Political Fancier says, "The good thing is that this race has been over for days if not weeks, so I don’t really care what happens in the Appalachian mountains. Also, I’m an elitist and will be too busy eating babies to watch silly West Virginia vote."

While Kicking Over My Traces offers music for today's primary.

They are voting today in Nebraska too-33 delegates are at stake for presumptive GOP nominee Senator John McCain. In February Democrats caucused with Senator Obama as the majority winner.