West Virginia

[nightkey]

In 1980, aside from the Carter's home state of Georgia and Mondale's home state of Minnesota, the Carter/Mondale ticket carried only West Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland, Rhode Island and DC.

Again in 1988, Dukakis carried only 10 states (including West Virginia) plus DC. WV went Democratic in 1988, when every one of its neighboring states went Republican.

Starting in 2000, and again in 2004 and 2008 West Virginia went Republican in Presidential contests. In 2012, WV is again solidly Republican.

What change took place in West Virginia that such a Democratic supporting Presidential state up until 2000 flipped to a solidly Republican one?

[morgieb]

Coal and cultural issues (Kerry a wealthy Massachusetts liberal, Obama a skinny black kid with a funny name) I think.

[Mr. Morden]

So if, in 2016, if the Dems nominate a white and the GOP nominates a racial minority like, say, Jindal (or Rubio if you count him as a racial minority), then what kind of chance would the Dems have in WV?  Heck, what kind of chance would they have in Arkansas?  If it was Hillary Clinton vs. Bobby Jindal in 2016, would she have a shot at Arkansas?

[morgieb]

So if, in 2016, if the Dems nominate a white and the GOP nominates a racial minority like, say, Jindal (or Rubio if you count him as a racial minority), then what kind of chance would the Dems have in WV?  Heck, what kind of chance would they have in Arkansas?  If it was Hillary Clinton vs. Bobby Jindal in 2016, would she have a shot at Arkansas?

West Virginia - I'd imagine that would be a toss-up.
Arkansas - it's become more like the South rather than Appalachia, will probably stay Republican. I'd reckon a white Democrat would have a better shot at Kentucky or Missouri.

[Comrade Funk]

I think Schweitzer do well in WV.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I think Hillary would've won WV in 2008 against McCain, personally.  She had a huge victory there in the primaries against Obama, who had already basically clinched the nomination, and the Democrats have some stupidly high voter registration advantage.  Got to think a lot of those people would've stuck with her rather than staying home like they did. 

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

So if, in 2016, if the Dems nominate a white and the GOP nominates a racial minority like, say, Jindal (or Rubio if you count him as a racial minority), then what kind of chance would the Dems have in WV?  Heck, what kind of chance would they have in Arkansas?  If it was Hillary Clinton vs. Bobby Jindal in 2016, would she have a shot at Arkansas?

Clinton would've taken WV and Arkansas back in 2008. She'd probably take them again in 2016 unless the GOP nominates some Bush-like-southerner, I.e. Rick Perry. Brian Scweitzer of Montana could take Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, West Virginia, and if in a landslide Arkansas.

[Indy Prez]

Just social attitudes catching up with politics. The Tea Party capitalized on this with a lot of "even FDR didn't support collective bargaining" talk, Bush's 'compassionate conservatism' (medicare part D free prescriptions) and War on Terror; on the Dem Pres  side, Gore's environmental policy, Kerry's wealth, windsurfing and Francophilia and Hillary's loss to a black kid from Chicago. After the cold war, cultural issues like abortion and gay rights took precedence over taxes and spending since the economy was booming. Also, WV's coal reserves have diminished somewhat and i don't think the Unions are as powerful as they once were.

[TJ in Oregon]

I would guess McCain would still carry West Virginia against Clinton but Romney would not.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

In 2000 N.H. and W.V. switched places as who their prefer as Prez Democratic or GOP.  Eventhough Al Gore lost the state Jean Shaheen was very popular during that span.

[Maxwell]

West Virginia seems like a populist state in ideology, and Obama, obviously, is not that. It's a state that, because of a value on social issues, has become a republican stronghold.

[old timey villain]

I use the term "populist" a lot but I still don't really know what it means. I'm guessing it basically means 'power to the people' in every sense of the word- protecting the rights, finances, and values of the common man.  Democrats used to do well on all these fronts, but I think that in WV, they perceive the party now as increasingly a mouthpiece for rich, patronizing liberals and poor inner city minorities, and you won't find many of these people in WV.

 So even though it would appear that Democrats still help West Virginians out more economically, they don't see it that way. It's a similar story of what happened in the south several decades ago. The difference in WV is that it's almost all white, so racial politics weren't as strong a pull on them as it was in the south. I think the final push was the direction of the party in the past 10 years. Gore was an environmental nut, Kerry was a rich Massachusetts liberal, and Obama is...well Obama. They kept hoping for another Clinton to lead the party, but so far he's MIA.