A long time friend of ours lives in West Virginia.

[jillan]

He has a master's degree.
Makes over 100k a year.
He lives in a beautiful house in the middle of beautiful greenery.

He's a die-hard Dem.

He even has all his teeth, actually, he's quite good looking....tall and handsome.


PLEASE STOP STEREOTYPING THE PEOPLE OF WEST VIRGINIA!
Thank you!

[grantcart]

1. yeah all of those demographics are fiction WV is a secret location

for rich educated metaphysically progressive people who are dedicated to advancing the study of evolution.

[jillan]

6. You wouldn't be trying to call me a liar, would you?

Do you really think that WV is nothing but a bunch of hicks?

[grantcart]

65. I have a republican friend that is a really great guy who donates a lot of time

to the poor. It is a fact but it is not true in the sense that it is truly representative of Republicans.

I don't think that West Virgians are the characatures that they have been painted. Singling out a single individual is no more

a true representation than to represent them as progressive tolerant intellectually inquisitive population.

They are the oldest native population in th US with the lowest educated populace. Citing an individual doesn't change the demographics. They fit perfectly the demogaphics Hillary has done well in- nothing more.

[rodeodance]

21. you are one sad vile creature.

[cliffordu]

62. Yeah, but look who's talking...

[Mass]

2. So is Jay Rockefeller. What is the point?

[sandnsea]

3. Tell Hillary

She's the one who implied all these hard-working white Dems wouldn't vote for a black man.

[Ronnie]

60. Well, hi there!

"implied" - another word.

[Straight Shooter]

4. I came very close to moving to West Virginia a couple years ago.

I guess I would have had to dispose of my panache as a "progressive" Oregonian and traded it in for a reputation as a "hick racist" West Virginian.

Greenbrier County, that's where I wanted to settle down. :)

[jillan]

7. I'm not sure what county he is in, but it is beautiful there.

[ileus]

64. really nice county that's for sure.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. Watch this video it is not a spoof, interviewing other WVirginians

Home of the Hillarybillies
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=131196&mesg_id=131196

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

8. In 2004, W Va had the 2nd lowest personal income per capita among the 50 states

West Virginia - Income and Poverty
In 2004, West Virginia had the 2nd lowest personal income per capita among the 50 states ($25,792 per resident).
West Virginia’s personal income relative to the U.S. rose from 73 percent in 1960 to 81 percent in 1975 and fell to 78 percent in 2004 – and still remains well below the U.S. average (see below).
http://www.myonlinemaps.com/west-virginia.php

[roguevalley]

66. its always been poor and no one has stood up for that part of appalachia

since FDR.

[theboss]

9. Hmmmm.....he lives in........Preston County

Just a guess.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

10. Of 50 states, W Va has the 4th highest % of its total population living in poverty

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Among the 50 states, West Virginia has the 4th highest percentage of its total population living in poverty (18.0%) and the 4th highest percentage of children under 18 living in poverty (25.6%) – 2005 American Community Survey.
http://www.myonlinemaps.com/west-virginia.php

[jillan]

17. And when did Democrats start bashing people that are living in poverty?

[Zynx]

20. Quite right. I wish people wouldn't be making fun of various states.

[MagickMuffin]

24. WillYourVoteBCounted, was NOT bashing people living in poverty

Sheesh, he/she was only stating stats.

[durrrty libby]

29. "nd when did Democrats start bashing people that are living in poverty?"

Must be all that Hopium. :eyes:

[harun]

34. We're not bashing "them" we are just bashing the moronic way they vote (n/t)

[aquart]

49. Jaw. On. Floor.

Good lord. There really are people that stupid.

[DemBones DemBones]

55. Yes, and they're not in West Virginia.

People in West Va know when they're being condescended to and they don't care for it, won't vote for it.

[aquart]

70. Can't these self-important asses hear themselves?

They are so frighteningly ignorant, so easily led, and have the brass balls to talk down to US?

[beachmom]

69. Both Hillary and Obama have poor people in their coalitions.

Nevertheless, I am depressed about how 1 in 4 Clinton supporters in WV would not vote for Obama because he is black. That's depressing, no matter which candidate you support. Wouldn't you agree?

And Clinton supporters have been quoted in WV saying ignorant and hateful things, including a mayor.

[aquart]

71. But no Obama supporter has ever said anything hateful about Hillary.

God, what lying hypocrites you are.

[Jamastiene]

11. Good luck with that.

WVA resident and those of us in other states that routinely get ridiculed by bigot snobs here are learning a very valuable lesson this primary season. We are not welcomed in the party and we are not welcomed on this board. That is the lesson I am learning right now. I will make sure that I study it well too. When the end of primary season comes, I will make sure to leave the places I am not welcomed...It has been written in stone. Skinner, himself, might as well come on out with an OP and say he doesn't want anyone outside of the Northeast or California on his site. That's the message we are getting with all of these insults toward Democrats in red states staying up.

[jillan]

14. It is baffling how supposed Democrats could be so nasty against other Dems just because of the state

they live in.

[Jamastiene]

36. I can't figure it out either.

It is as if people want to have a state by state put down contest based on stereotypes, which would be a pointless, IMO. That would not even be entertaining, must less productive.

[OzarkDem]

40. They're not real Dems

Just a bunch of kool aid drinking newbies.

[DemBones DemBones]

57. Amen. nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

15. uh the OP isn't from WVa, but there are plenty of folks from WVA posting, so can you

but to complain about DU and to complain about what other people post
is fine, but you have an obligation to participate too if you are going
to complain.

Others from WVa who actually live there have posted OPs.

The person posting this OP wants us to gloss over the economic and cultural
status of WVa based on the fact that a friend of his/hers is well off.

Post an op yourself.

but then again everyone here is anonymous, so maybe you are from New York or
even a foriegn country.

[LisaM]

18. I welcome you!

This issue first surfaced when Obama made his remarks about people in small towns in Pennsylvania. My boyfriend and I went around and around on this issue. I ultimately concluded that small town America, which I find complex (I'm from one), is something from which Obama is just disconnected. I don't think it's even active hostility. I think he viscerally can't relate to the people in small towns, and the GOOD values that exist there, along with the stereotypical ones.

[satireV]

19. Great analysis!

I think you hit the nail on the head. This is given more credence by Obama's choice to really not campaign in West Virginia. Yes he has made some stops.

I value your opinion, so what do you think? Does Obama choose to remain disconnected about small town America?

[LisaM]

25. I don't know. I think he is baffled a little by it.

I mean, heck, I'm from a small town (I live in a city now) and I have mixed feelings. But the essence of the small town - the community get togethers - can move me to tears. The Friday night football game with the marching band and three generations of families in the stands - names I still recognize when I go back to the town where I grew up. The Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in a little town on an island we go to on Thanksgiving - it sends shivers down my spine just thinking of the town gathered together, in the cold, with fires to warm our hands, free cocoa and hot cider and cookies, a small band of carolers - and everyone giving up a big cheer when the fire truck blows its siren and the honoree of the year plugs in the lights on the old water tower - it's completely indescribable how much unity there is in those little moments, that transcend other feelings. I try to sing along with the carolers each year, but can't, for the tears. I keep thinking, this is always going to be here, even if I go away, I can come back, because it will always be here.


Gods guns and gays is a way of thinking. It's not from a place. I mean, Archie Bunker was from Queens. We all fight that mentality, but small towns represent much more than that.

[eridani]

72. Thomas Frank got lots of praise here for "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Correct?

What did Obama say that wasn't in that book?

[OnionPatch]

46. I'm from one of those small towns in Appalachia.

I haven't lived there since I was 26 but my family is there and I go back every year. I don't really understand what makes you think Obama is disconnected to small town America. Specifically, what makes you think he can't relate to the GOOD values in small towns? I have heard him talk plenty about values and they seem like the same values I grew up with back home. Was it simply because of the one "bitter" remark? I thought he came pretty close to home with that one. I don't see him as "disconnected" to small town America any more than most presidential politicians. All of them are rich, worldly and very educated and usually not living the small town life. Hillary does not strike me as being any more connected to small town America than Obama. :shrug:

[brentspeak]

28. I've alerted several times posters who continually put down WVA, etc.,

and just as often, nothing happens. Few, if any, deletions - and certainly no tombstones (even though the perpetrators deserve them).

[OzarkDem]

39. You are welcome in the Democratic Party

Don't let a bunch of "fair weather" so-called Dems tell you otherwise.

[DemBones DemBones]

53. Oh, the South-bashing threads here are vile. People who claim

not to believe in stereotypes sure have a slew of them about the South and Southerners, usually based on one trip or something a friend told them. Or a movie or tv show.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

12. good looking tall and handsome!

ooooooh!

[supernova]

13. Is he single?

:D

[jillan]

16. Kinda -

Girlfriend lives in another state ;)

[Maddy McCall]

23. That's right. I'm in Mississippi. Back off, supernova.

:P

[supernova]

27. It was a joke

No need to be snotty.

[Straight Shooter]

37. Maddy isn't being snotty.

No need to be defensive.

[rodeodance]

22. Nice message to the board pirhana.

[jillan]

26. Well thank you, rodeo!

:)

[bbinacan]

30. West Virginia is a beautiful

state. Try a whitewater run down the Upper Gauley River in the fall. Not only is it a blast, the scenery is breathtaking.

[LaurenG]

31. West Virginia is a lovely state

and I know you are telling the truth. Stereotyping is a very ugly thing to do.

Congrats on your victory tonight.

[jillan]

32. Thank you!

It feels good....for a change :)

[ChairmanAgnostic]

33. so, he's voting Gravel?

[jillan]

35. Not sure - last I talked to him he was undecided.

[ecstatic]

38. Will he support Obama if he's the nominee?

Or is he one of the "die hard Dems" who will vote McCain/Republican "for the first time."

You happened to leave the most crucial point out of your description.

[OzarkDem]

41. None of your business

What's next with Obama supporters, making people sign a "loyalty oath"? :dem:

[ecstatic]

47. Right. But his attractiveness and income was our business?

OK. :eyes:

[jillan]

50. After all the lies that were being told about people in WV, it only seemed appropriate.

[Maribelle]

42. CNN has said the exit polls show Hillary trumped in every category today.

[IndyOp]

43. Please visit this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5954693

Nasty threads will rise and conciliatory threads sink unless we decide to make something different happen.

[Lilith Velkor]

61. That's a beautiful thread.

Many thanks from this grumpy b***h. :yourock:

[EFerrari]

44. Too bad the Clinton campaign can't read this. n/t

[HEyHEY]

45. Is he FROM there?

[Willo]

48. Sorry Pirhana,

I grew up on National Geographic.
But my education on these things has been greatly expanded recently thanks to the Clintons, the media and the many, many posts and comments made on DU and blog sites.

It is very obvious to me that your so-called "long time friend" is clearly from SF. Having a summer mansion to retreat to does not change one's roots. And, duh, any well-educated person would know it pays to visit your dentist regularly. So, not sure what point you were trying to make there.

But, psst, here's the giveaway, he's a tall, dark and handsome, die-hard dem. Hmm, who does THAT sound like. I know, you left out the "dark" part. But, as I said, my knowledge of these things has been expanded. I can read between the lines and sniff out covert code.

Damn, I'm good, huh? I know. I know.

But hey, the way I see it. The most important thing (aside from being handsome), is that he's a democrat. That's all that matters.

... On second thought, you should probably post a few pics of this friend. You know, just to be sure.

[jillan]

51. Haha - you are sooo funny. He is not from SF, and the color of his skin really doesn't matter, does

it?

You want pictures of him? Like I said earlier in the thread, he already has a girlfriend...

[Willo]

56. "dark" in the Tall, dark and handsome trio is not about skin color

although I kinda joked it in there.

Seriously though, yes I want pictures and no his girlfriend doesn't matter.

You opened that door. How could I resist? :)


Honestly, all jokes aside, the point of your OP is well taken.

[piesRsquare]

52. Is he single?

Is he hetero (or bi)? I'm looking for a date for this weekend... :-)

[Thrill]

54. He's probably one of the few who voted for Obama today

[DemBones DemBones]

59. Maybe. Maybe not. Pirhana will perhaps find out. nt

[TransitJohn]

58. I get it all the time

being from Wyoming, and still living here.

[iamthebandfanman]

63. stop posting threads claiming people are calling everyone in WV racist

you know thats not true.

just go on tho, keep up this fear based politics.

guess what, its already made you lose.
thanks for sacrificing november.

[beachmom]

67. The polls say one in four Clinton voters said race was a major factor in their vote.

Of course, that doesn't mean everyone in WV feels that way. Just that this very depressing part of the electorate is found in higher numbers in WV and Appalachia, in general.

[ProgressIn2008]

68. Don't hold your breath -- this is their bread and butter. Goes with the pearl clutching.

To the creative classes. Cheers.

[2rth2pwr]

73. Why are you friends with a racist?