West Virginia Democrats Scared of their Own Shadows: Will Skip Convention

[Mechaman]

With the polarization we have experienced over the last few cycles, I expect a significant dealignment in 2016, especially if someone like Brian Schweitzer is the D Nominee.

The red state/blue state divide will probably remain intact, but I think the Republican will improve a lot in the blue states while the Democratic will improve in the red states -like actually winning a county in Oklahoma!

If a guy like Brian Schweitzer got the Democratic nominee, you can bet your ass a lot more than one county in Oklahoma would swing Democratic.  Sure, he wouldn't win the state, but I could easily see a Schweitzer like Democrat getting about 42% of the popular vote and winning a majority of counties in "Little Dixie".

I mean, Schweitzer is probably more pro-gun than any likely GOP nominee in 2016......

[The Mikado]

Yes, that's exactly what's behind it. Not the fact that they're playing to the animalistic instincts of their dirt poor, racist constituents

Who else raised an eyebrow at that?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I saw it, which is why I posted what I did about cope earlier.  It is really disgustingly elitist of a party to go on and on about how it's the party of the commoner and the little guy and then completely ignore the actual opinions of said people and condescend to them and declare that the party knows what's good for them better than they themselves do.  (I try to avoid this by never claiming a populist streak to begin with, unlike someone like cope who rambles about fighting for the little guy and then makes fun of the impoverished and rural)

[old timey villain]

Yes, that's exactly what's behind it. Not the fact that they're playing to the animalistic instincts of their dirt poor, racist constituents

Who else raised an eyebrow at that?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I saw it, which is why I posted what I did about cope earlier.  It is really disgustingly elitist of a party to go on and on about how it's the party of the commoner and the little guy and then completely ignore the actual opinions of said people and condescend to them and declare that the party knows what's good for them better than they themselves do.  (I try to avoid this by never claiming a populist streak to begin with, unlike someone like cope who rambles about fighting for the little guy and then makes fun of the impoverished and rural)

Oh, so now you're admitting that you're an elitist democrat who doesn't care about the impoverished, but somehow you're absolved of any criticism because you admit to it? Classy.

And I wasn't making fun, I was making observations. Just because you don't agree with them (or are simply feigning moral outrage) doesn't mean you can label my comments as derogatory.

All right. 'animalistic' might be too strong of a word to use. But I've been to some very rural areas of WV in the past few years, and I've seen the attitudes I'm speaking of displayed in some pretty disgraceful ways. So I don't think it's a stretch to make the claim that racism is part of the problem, as it is in Georgia too.

[TJ in Oregon]

All right. 'animalistic' might be too strong of a word to use. But I've been to some very rural areas of WV in the past few years, and I've seen the attitudes I'm speaking of displayed in some pretty disgraceful ways. So I don't think it's a stretch to make the claim that racism is part of the problem, as it is in Georgia too.

"Animalistic" in particular is going to spark outrage because after all, the "black people are animals" theme drove the debate of race for much of the 18th and 19th century. Blacks were often considered as a lower evolutionary form of human in science, partly because humans evolved in Africa. There have been books upon books and papers upon papers comparing jaw angles, breast shapes, and half a dozen other body parts of blacks to those of whites and apes to show blacks as an intermediate form between the apes and "more fully evolved" whites.

Calling rednecks, whether or not they are racist, "animalistic" is sort of an interesting thought for its historical significance. In general one must be very careful when painting another group as lower along the progression of human development in such a way because when specifically asking for an egalitarian society it becomes quite ironic.

Of course I doubt you thought about it this way when you posted it. But it does read interestingly.

[old timey villain]

Yeah, that's an interesting perspective and I didn't really think about it in those terms.

But to clarify, I never referred to said people as animals. I mentioned animalistic insincts, which we all have, seeing as humans are animals and are motivated by very primal desires.

Historically, racism has been used by humans as a survival instinct. Some even believe that humans are programmed to use the prism of race to determine friends and foes. It harkens back to prehistoric times when different groups or tribes of humans were competing for scarce resources, and skin color/external features often distinguished one tribe from another.

For the record, I believe that ALL of us are racist in one way or another, whether we want to admit it or not, and we all manifest this animalistic instinct. Sometimes it's reflected in our politics. Might it be possible, that some people will innately distrust a politician of a different color, even if an unbiased look at the issues proves that he is on your side? This is really the only way I can think to explain it.

I know that I'm getting flamed for all that I've said, but maybe I'm just not so hopeful about the prospect of race relations in this country. Remember when everyone said that Obama's election was going to usher in a post racial America? Yeah right.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Just because you don't agree with them (or are simply feigning moral outrage) doesn't mean you can label my comments as derogatory.

Your comments were bigoted, and therefore also derogatory. I'm not aware of a pleasant use of the word 'animalistic', especially not in a context like this one.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Might.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Well, that settles matters. All you need to do in order to understand (and to judge!) an area is to visit it a couple of times. Case closed, I suppose.

[Mr. Morden]

McCaskill is skipping the DNC as well:

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/234835-claire-mccaskill-will-skip-democratic-national-convention

[tmthforu94]

This should be alarming for the Obama campaign.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

McCaskill's doesn't seem to be fully ideological; she's significantly to the left of the WV Democrats who are skipping (though still conservative-leaning). She needs to be campaigning as much as possible to win a tight race.

[Penelope]

Hardly afraid of their own shadows. They'd hate to be associated with failure.

Yes, that's exactly what's behind it. Not the fact that they're playing to the animalistic instincts of their dirt poor, racist constituents, weak in their own fear of appearing anything less than hate filled toward their own party's nominee and the leader of the free world.
How could I have been so wrong??

Ah, I love seeing Progressives talk about the people they so love to take care off.

As a Democrat, I believe our party should help all impoverished or struggling people, but that doesn't mean I have to like all of them.

And please, I'd love for you to find me a legitimate reason why 40% of WV Democrats voted for a skeevy convicted felon over the President that doesn't have anything to do with blatant racism or xenophobia. I would absolutely love it. But I don't know if I have the time to wait around while you come up with a bull**** excuse.

I honestly have too much faith in humanity to believe that over 40% of West Virginia democrats are racist.

[Donerail]

If Romney-R wins, Manchin(D-WV) might be the Zell Miller of the 2010s.
During the Bush v Gore race. Bush carried GA by a double digit margin and Miller remained neutral.
During the Bush v Kerry race. Bush increased his margin of victory in GA and and Miller went of the deep end.
Manchin could endorse Romney-R in his 2016 re-election campaign, give keynote address at RNC convention and go on Hardball and challenge Chris Matthews to a duel.

So basically, if Romney wins MSNBC features live duels to the death? That's not a bad idea; it'd certainly boost ratings, especially among the WWE crowd...

...I think you probably get this, but just in case you don't...you do realize that Zell Miller challenged Chris Matthews to a duel back in 2004, right?  And that this is a reference?

And if Matthews hadn't been all "let's be friends" and had instead accepted the challenge MSNBC wouldn't be lagging behind Fox in the ratings, yep.

[Mr. Morden]

On the flip side, Scott Brown *will* attend the RNC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/claire-mccaskill-skipping-democratic-convention/2012/06/26/gJQAWVD34V_blog.html?wprss=rss_the-fix

[Lincoln Republican]

We have heard about the West Virginia Democrats who are skipping the DNC. 

But there are others, stating the reason is they are running for re-election and must spend their time campaigning.

But is this the real reason, or are they getting cold feet about the Presidential election, and are now distancing themselves from Obama?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/26/mccaskill-to-skip-democratic-convention/

(CNN) - One of President Barack Obama's biggest supporters will not be attending this summer's Democratic National Convention.

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri told reporters Tuesday that she has never gone to conventions when she's had contested elections, and that the Washington press reaction to the news is "silly." Earlier Tuesday an aide to McCaskill confirmed to CNN that the senator will not go to the convention, which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina during the first week of September.

McCaskill joins a growing list of Democratic senators and representatives who face tough re-elections who have said they will not attend the convention in Charlotte. West Virginia's Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, along with the state's Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Rep. Nick Rahall, said earlier this month they will not attend the convention. Two Democratic New York representatives - Rep. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Bill Owens - also said they would not attend. Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Critz also said he would skip September's event.

On Tuesday, Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Utah Rep. Jim Matheson both confirmed they would not attend the Democratic convention. Tester's campaign spokesman said the senator would be working in Montana during the convention and has proposed a debate during that week. He refused further comment on why the Tester won't be going to Charlotte.

[Frodo]

Are Arkansas and Kentucky Democrats also planning on skipping the convention? 

[argentarius]

I would LOVE to see this snowball. Imagine it: Democrats from only 30 states go to the convention while Ron Paul supporters cause mayhem at the rep convention.