Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oh, and John Raese seems like a major tool. Am I right in assuming that he's basically the Mitt Romney/Mr. Burns of West Virginia? Rich, powerful, sense of entitlement, phony. Thank god he lost twice.
He's actually lost 4 times trying to be a senator and lost once trying to be a gov.
I think its hilarious how he keeps blowing money and keeps losing bahahahaha
Morgantown owes it's existence as more than a dilapidated coal camp to the presence of WVU, the state's flagship university with over 30,000 students, and all the dollars that flow in there from the State, Fed and private money, grants, research $, etc. Further, the university with it's students, med ctr., sports, lures some businesses in. The city of Morgantown is a totally different beast, made up of Boss Hogg and Roscoe types
You would have a point if the state funded WVU. However, WVU provides only a small fraction of WVU funding. WVU gets his money from donors, tuition, and research. Morgantown is a totally different beast. Unlike the rest of the state it is not owned by coal companies and reliant on the state government. It is actually a bastion of economic activity that is not tied to corruption, but rather to hard work and independence.
For example. Republican and center right Ogden Newspapers based in Wheeling owns the following newspapers. The require the papers to post articles from far right columnists and garbage found of the Fox syndicate or basically anything with a Republican slant. Some people aren't intelligent enough to read between the lines and think for themselves and will read the papers and believe them to be honest and truthful.
The Inter-Mountain of Elkins, West Virginia
The Journal of Martinsburg, West Virginia
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel of Parkersburg, West Virginia
Weirton Daily Times of Weirton, West Virginia
Wheeling Intelligencer of Wheeling, West Virginia
The Shepherdstown Chronicle of Shepherdstown, West Virginia
I wasn't aware they owned all these papers. That explains why the Parkersburg News & Sentinel is as biased as it is. It's terrible.
I would say Fox News, and talk radio, plays a bigger role in this than any local newspaper. Newspaper are a relic of the past.
However, this us vs them type mentality didnt happen overnight. I would say it started in the late 70s. That is when certain people started to portray a view where one compromise was unacceptable, and demonizing the other began. This was done at a national level. Local newspaper played a role, sure, but it is MUCH bigger.
I think a big difference between WV and the rest of the south is demographics. Southern whites were largely pushed into the GOP because of racial issues. WV is very homogenous so maybe the southern strategy didn't work as well there. Why worry about newly emboldened black people attending your children's schools and taking your jobs when there aren't any black people around to do that?? West Virginia is also a poor state and never really bought into the trickle down theory (thank god) so Dems still get a lot of support because of that.
That's a reasonable theory. I think another key factor is that WV is the only southern state (or semi-southern if you prefer) that ever had a substantial labor union presence and there is still that tenuous connection to the Democrat party coalition on some level that doesn't exist in the rest of the south.
Yes, in the past most of the south used to split the ticket on a regular basis, at least from the 60s to the 90s. Republicans regularly swept the south, with the exception of Carter in 1976, but the region's congressional delegation was very solidly Democrat. Most guvs and state officials were dems as well. For example, Georgia didn't elect a Republican governor until 2002. But since then, Republicans have taken over all levels of government in most of the region. It seems WV is a holdout.
I think a big difference between WV and the rest of the south is demographics. Southern whites were largely pushed into the GOP because of racial issues. WV is very homogenous so maybe the southern strategy didn't work as well there. Why worry about newly emboldened black people attending your children's schools and taking your jobs when there aren't any black people around to do that?? West Virginia is also a poor state and never really bought into the trickle down theory (thank god) so Dems still get a lot of support because of that.
So what about this: Democrats like Joe Manchin, Nick Rahall, etc are popular because they focus on economic equality, workers' rights, protecting SS and Medicare and bringing federal funds to WV - but they're not perceived as being pro choice, pro gay marriage, ultra environmentalist, or anti Christian- which is how many West Virginians perceive Obama.
WV is not really south. It has elements of southern culture, sure, but it is very different from the south. WV never really had slaves, even when it was part of VA, or a big black population. There wasnt Jim Crow and all the racial tension in WV that happened in the rest of the south. There was never resentment in WV over the civil war, or towards the civil right movement and the US federal government for ending segregation. The whole resentment based politics never rook root.
Also keep in mind while WV is slightly socially conservative and religious it is nothing like the South. On a scale of one to ten with 1-San Francisco and 10- Provo Utah most of WV would be around 6. Maybe a very few southern WV areas being at 7, while more open minded places like Morgantown would be 4.
WV is not really south. It has elements of southern culture, sure, but it is very different from the south. WV never really had slaves, even when it was part of VA, or a big black population. There wasnt Jim Crow and all the racial tension in WV that happened in the rest of the south. There was never resentment in WV over the civil war, or towards the civil right movement and the US federal government for ending segregation. The whole resentment based politics never rook root.
Also keep in mind while WV is slightly socially conservative and religious it is nothing like the South. On a scale of one to ten with 1-San Francisco and 10- Provo Utah most of WV would be around 6. Maybe a very few southern WV areas being at 7, while more open minded places like Morgantown would be 4.
I can agree with that. I was about to disagree with you, seeing as how Obama did better in most southern states this year than he did in WV. He got 45% of the vote in Georgia for instance. But then I thought about the racial breakdown. In Georgia, Obama probably got most of his votes from blacks and other minorities. They vote Dem but can also be very conservative and religious. That leaves the white vote, which Obama only got 20% of in Georgia. However, in WV around 35% of white voters were willing to vote for the more liberal candidate. So maybe you're right.
I can agree with that. I was about to disagree with you, seeing as how Obama did better in most southern states this year than he did in WV. He got 45% of the vote in Georgia for instance. But then I thought about the racial breakdown. In Georgia, Obama probably got most of his votes from blacks and other minorities. They vote Dem but can also be very conservative and religious. That leaves the white vote, which Obama only got 20% of in Georgia. However, in WV around 35% of white voters were willing to vote for the more liberal candidate. So maybe you're right.
Keep in mind that Georgia also has some big cities, like Atlanta, and lots of transplants from other areas, some being very liberal. And yes there is a bigger black, Asian, Latino, and Jewish population in Georgia than there is in WV.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
