itsmeeeeeee

Appalachia's Last Chance to Show It Doesn't Have an Obama Problem

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

by DHinMI
Tue May 20, 2008 at 04:01:32 PM CDT

I've written quite a bit about over the last few months about voting patterns in Appalachia. Beginning with Super Tuesday and then the Potomac primary, the pattern became clear: many counties of Appalachia have voted by margins of over 2 to 1, and sometimes even 9 to 1 for Hillary Clinton. It's inescapable that race is playing a factor in some voting everywhere, but that it's a much greater factor in Appalachia than anywhere else in America. Only in Appalachia has Hillary Clinton won huge margins. As I've written before, Obama does not appear to have a problem with white voters. However, Appalachia has a problem with Obama.

Last week, before the West Virginia primary, I enlisted the help of Kossack Meng Bomin to make maps that showed the counties where Obama and Clinton have posted big wins. Obama has posted big wins in overwhelmingly white counties in places across the country. Clinton has done well in many places. But her biggest margins, outside of Arkansas and a few counties in Western New York, have almost all been in the counties of Appalachia.

As was obvious to anyone who was looking at the results of the previous primaries, Clinton coasted to a huge win in West Virginia. She will again win huge tonight in Kentucky, because, as Markos showed, voters in Kentucky long ago made up their minds. Some will portray it as evidence that Obama has a problem with white voters. It won't be. Rather, it will be further evidence that Appalachia has a problem with Obama.

My fellow contributing editor Devilstower made some new maps, including the recent results from West Virginia, that demonstrate the regional concentration of Clinton's strongest appeal and Obama's weakest performances:

[Click on maps to see full size version]

Counties where Clinton won at least 50% of the vote:

larger map link: http://images.dailykos.com/images/us...inton_50_1.JPG

Counties where Clinton won at least 60% of the vote:

larger map link: http://images.dailykos.com/images/us...inton_60_1.jpg

Counties where Clinton won at least 70% of the vote:

larger map link: http://images.dailykos.com/images/us...inton_70_1.JPG

Clinton will win Kentucky. But as we've known since February Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President.

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Mithrall

Perhaps if Obama changed his last name to Hatfield.

Chantytown

CNN is already saying that exit polls in Kentucky have 2/3 of Clinton's base saying they would either vote republican or not at all if Obama is the nominee.

I can only hope their interviews are as unabashedly racist as West Virginia's were.

itsmeeeeeee

well, i really liked this article because it shows, quite clearly, that the only place hillary kicks any REAL ass is appalachia...

which we all know is, historically, the most educationally, and economically, and racially stunted pocket of the country.

so, with obama doing very well with white voters EVERYWHERE ELSE in the country,
isn't it then actually more accurate to say that the REAL PROBLEM isn't that obama can't get white working class voters...

but RATHER that he can't get RACIST white working class voters?

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BillCosby

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

itsmeeeeeee

i really really hate to say it, but i'm sure you can count on that.
...and being completely misinformed, too.

we need to lift these people out of poverty.
and out of the past.

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guest1234567

This is true, which is why I only had a problem with the title of the article.

"Appalachia's Last Chance to Show It Doesn't Have an Obama Problem"

I'm sure they would be saying, "WTF do you mean last chance? We don't care at all if we show we have an Obama problem."

Mithrall

They've come so far.

Attached Images

HatfieldClan.jpg (99.5 KB, 6 views)

Chantytown

11% reporting...

guest1234567

That's only an estimate because they ran out of fingers to count on.