West Virginia Poll: Manchin up double digits against possible 2018 challengers

[jamestroll]

Manchin may be helped simply by the fact that he is not running for re-election under a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Pryor and Lincoln both had to run under an Obama presidency.

West Virginia seems to have nearly unlimited ticket splitting, unlike Missouri where it is more limited. Perhaps West Virginia is a Democratic state at heart that fears Obama and Hillary would destroy all their coal jobs and switch to renewable energy.

News flash: we will have to transition out of fossil fuels at some point.

Polls for 2018 elections mean nothing 23 months before the fact.

[jamestroll]

I don't know what point you are trying to make. Coal is still an important energy source for us, but we will have to move on at some point. Economies shift, jobs shift, etc

Also, there is no such thing as clean coal. I call it slightly less dirty coal.

[jamestroll]

Yes Maxwell and TNVolunteer, early polling is not very predictive. Certainly if polls come out in August 2017 showing McCaskill and Manchin down by 10+ points, they will likely lose as they are incumbents and that would be a horrible place for an incumbent.

I think this year polls often got Clinton's support right but way underestimated Drumpf for two reasons.

1) Some conservatives toying with Gary Johnson

2) After two terms of a Democratic President, many voters likely wanted a Republican President but were unsure if they wanted Trump.

Obviously, they broke GOP at the end. Likely fueled by ObamaCare premiums and Comey. Not saying that was right or wrong, just stating my observation.

[jamestroll]

I don't know what point you are trying to make. Coal is still an important energy source for us, but we will have to move on at some point. Economies shift, jobs shift, etc

Also, there is no such thing as clean coal. I call it slightly less dirty coal.

My point is that Hillary did not ever make the clear intention to provide a new resource to the working class. She completely took the side of the environmental lobby and threw West Virginians overboard.

You are right, economies do shift but you can't just tell people that they will be unemployed and expect them to be happy about it. Hillary Clinton literally said this.

I see no reason to move away from coal but I am always an advocate for diversifying energy resources.

Actually Clinton had an extensive program to invest in job training and to assist displaced coal workers and those in other professions affected by these changes in the economy. Unfortunately the media finds policy details boring so this was not well reported on.

Thank you! That is exactly right. I am not one who is wanting to end coal any time soon. It is just not realistic, but it needs to be phased out for the sake of the planet.

Anyway, I think this race leans to Manchin, but it is hilariously early to say!