George W. Bush vs Robert Byrd

[Moooooo]

Just out of curiosity.  Could President Bush give Byrd a run for his money in a statewide race in West Virginia?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Of course not. Nothing can beat Byrd in WV.

[Moooooo]

Of course not. Nothing can beat Byrd in WV.

Could Bush break 40%?  or 45%?

[Sam Spade]

Of course not. Nothing can beat Byrd in WV.

Could Bush break 40%?  or 45%?

40%, good chance.  45% would be tough to near impossible.

[ATFFL]

Of course not. Nothing can beat Byrd in WV.

Not quite true.  Only Byrd can defeat Byrd in West Virginia.  If he started insulting his home state's voters in an attempt to raise money nationwide it could bite him in the ass

[Ebowed]

As for the question, no.  But this would be an interesting nationwide election.  I think Byrd could win a bunch of Southern states.  Of course he'd never get the nomination because he's old and (more importantly) he opposes abortion.

[A18]

In a presidential election? He might not win West Virginia, but he'd win everything else (yes, including DC).

If Bush moved to West Virginia to run for senator, then he's obviously lose just by virtue of being a carpetbagger.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

40%... maybe. Byrd isn't popular in the suburbs west of Charleston and combined with some traditionally Republican agricultural areas, Bush could take 40% against Byrd in WV if he worked at it and visited the state a lot (he'd be unlikely to bother though).

45%... no chance. Byrd remains extremely popular in the old industrial areas (especially Southern WV, which was his Congressional District back in the '50's and which he's been extremely good to...) and turnout in those areas would go through the roof.

[Joe Republic]

In a presidential election? He might not win West Virginia, but he'd win everything else (yes, including DC).

DC would still vote for an anti-civil rights ex-KKK Democrat over George W Bush.