1 in 3 West Virginia Democratic primary voters choose felon over Obama

[Geee]

TheHill:

A felon incarcerated in Texas took one in three votes away from President Obama in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.

Keith Judd, who is serving time in a federal prison in Texarkana, Texas, for extortion, took 37 percent of the vote, with 50 percent of precincts reporting. Obama captured the remaining 63 percent.

 

By locking up more than 15 percent, Judd may be entitled to at least one delegate at the Democratic National Convention in September.

 

Obama's prospects for winning the Democratic nod are not in jeopardy in West Virginia or elsewhere, and Judd posed no serious threat to a second Obama term.

 

 

But Obama's low performance in the primary underscored the extend to which voters in conservative-leaning states such as West Virginia have soured on Obama.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who won the nomination Tuesday for his first full term in the Senate, has said he may not vote for Obama in November, and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D-W.Va.) has made similar comments.

[righteousmomma]

Funny!

[SrWoodchuck]

1 in 3 West Virginia Democratic primary voters choose felon over Obama

 

 

May I tweak your Header, @Geee?

 

1 in 3 West Virginia Democratic primary voters choose incarcerated felon over unindicted felon, Obama

[Rheo]

How the felon won

Whatever other forces may be at work in the Appalachian opposition to Obama -- the role of race has been debated since his 2008 run -- it's clear the administration's energy policies played a big role in the president's lackluster performance.

 

Locally, it's referred to as "the war on coal."

 

Looking at the map, Judd's strongest support came from southern West Virginia’s coal country, close by the Kentucky border.

 

The five coal counties that voted against Obama Tuesday also voted for Hillary Clinton by landslide margins in the 2008 primary.

 

That cluster includes the place that might be described as the epicenter of the Obama resistance: Mingo County.

Known as “Bloody Mingo” for its storied history of labor unrest and bloodshed surrounding the coal mining industry – the acclaimed John Sayles movie “Matewan” was based on events there in 1920 – the county disliked Obama even before he was elected president.

 

Clinton defeated him in there 88 percent to 8 percent, one of Obama’s worst primary drubbings in the nation in 2008. This time around, Mingo delivered what is certainly the president’s worst county-level defeat in 2012 – the inmate defeated the incumbent 60 percent to 40 percent.

 

It's worth noting that another place with a coal mining heritage lashed out at Obama earlier this year -- Oklahoma's aptly-named Coal County, where the president actually finished in 3rd place, behind perennial candidate Jim Rogers and anti-abortion activist Randall Terry.

 

CLARIFICATION: Magoffin County, Kentucky -- also in Appalachia -- delivered an even worse result for Obama in 2008 than Mingo. Clinton defeated Obama there 93 percent to 5 percent.

This item was updated at 2:31 PM.