Are WV and KY now unwinnable for the dems?

[Derek]

Now they are yes. The democrats have burned their bridges with the evangelical Christians. I have no idea what happened to WV though. It was sudden in 2000. Clinton should not have won Kentucky.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What people have to understand is that voting patterns (and practical partisan identification) in the U.S are extremely volatile - Indiana looked unwinnable for any Democrat back in 2004, for example. I can't see Obama winning either, but that's only a little under three years into the future. Who knows what 2016 will bring? No one.

Btw, I don't think there's any reason to doubt that Clinton would have won WV. In retrospect it is pretty clear that most of her primary support was every bit as 'genuine' as Obama's, and for the same sort of reasons (ie; if voting patterns are mostly about identification, voting patterns in America are mostly about identification with candidates rather than parties). But that's an entirely hypothetical point now, with no bearing on anything.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

WV is one of those states that began to trend towards the other side and finally flipped, and has been a stronghold ever since (See: Vermont). now, granted, a Democrat is more likely to win WV than a Republican is VT, but it'd take some serious triangulating and southern identity (See: Clinton) to do so.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

For the foreseeable future, certainly.

WV would be more likely to flip than KY if either of them did.

[Bo]

No, a Democrat with the right image (possibly a Southerner or a Midwesterner) might win these states, especially if he talks more about economic policy while campaigning in those states. Those states favor the Democrats on economic policy than social policy. Bill Clinton won both of them twice and Hillary might have won them in 2008 had she been the nominee. However, it has become much harder for Democrats to win those states since the 1990s because these two states have begun voting more on social issues than economic issues. Also didn't help that the Democrats nomianted two Northern liberals in 2004 and 2008.

[rebeltarian]

It's not just abortion and guns, it's also the list of socio-economic priorities on the national Democratic agenda.  The national DNC puts health care and environmentalism at the top of their list.  I would imagine most appalachians despise the liberal/hippie/veggie/global warming agenda.  Most of them are meat-eating, chevy-driving, blue-collar workers who voted Democrat when it was the party of the working man.  They love figures like FDR and Clinton, because they emphasised jobs, unions, wages, etc.  If President Obama shifts towards such issues and the economy improves, his popularity make rise in KY and WV enough for him to put them in play in 2012.     

[Zarn]

I think I would have to be the Republican candidate (or someone like me) for there even to be a chance.

[Bo]

It's not just abortion and guns, it's also the list of socio-economic priorities on the national Democratic agenda.  The national DNC puts health care and environmentalism at the top of their list.  I would imagine most appalachians despise the liberal/hippie/veggie/global warming agenda.  Most of them are meat-eating, chevy-driving, blue-collar workers who voted Democrat when it was the party of the working man.  They love figures like FDR and Clinton, because they emphasised jobs, unions, wages, etc.  If President Obama shifts towards such issues and the economy improves, his popularity make rise in KY and WV enough for him to put them in play in 2012.     

I think a lot of people in those two states still don't like black people, so I'm not sure if Obama could make these two states to be in play in 2012 (even if the economy improves).

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

It's not just abortion and guns, it's also the list of socio-economic priorities on the national Democratic agenda.  The national DNC puts health care and environmentalism at the top of their list.  I would imagine most appalachians despise the liberal/hippie/veggie/global warming agenda.  Most of them are meat-eating, chevy-driving, blue-collar workers who voted Democrat when it was the party of the working man.  They love figures like FDR and Clinton, because they emphasised jobs, unions, wages, etc.  If President Obama shifts towards such issues and the economy improves, his popularity make rise in KY and WV enough for him to put them in play in 2012.     

I think a lot of people in those two states still don't like black people, so I'm not sure if Obama could make these two states to be in play in 2012 (even if the economy improves).

Yes, it's all about not liking black people. Rah rah rah, Obama didn't sweep all 50 states because those racists don't like black people. I'm sure that's it.

[Derek]

The democrats have no chance at either state in the near future and haven't since Clinton.