My current raw numbers are:
Governor Tomblin: 149,075
Republican Maloney: 140,563
It was a messy campaign. I grew tired of the campaign ads - everywhere. Facebook, Youtube, Television, Phone Calls, Radio Ads, Billboards, like they spent MILLIONS for a partial term (15months). Tomblin is the winner tonight, but....just next year, November 2012, he'll have to win it - again.
Nationally, the Tea Party and the media were anxiously waiting to make this a "referendum" on Obama, and not about West Virginia (its about West Virginia). With Tomblin the winner, it's taken the referendum and turned into a non-issue. Instead it was "expected" from a state with a 2-to-1 margin for registered Democrats.
The Republicans made the campaign a "referendum" on Obama, though. It worked in New York, so it'll surely work in West Virginia, yes? No. No it won't. There's a reason we have Democrats all up in our Legislature two Democratic Senators, until recently, all Congressment were Democrats too. We like Democrats on the statelevel. Just not Obama/Kerry/Gore. 11 of the 15 attack ads against Tomblin mentioned Obama in one way or another. Sad, really. Tomblin didn't attack Bush. He pulled out the big guns: Senator Manchin, Senator Jay Rockefeller, The Unions, Friends of Coal, WV Coal Association, and ads featuring "concerned citizens" from various DNC PACs.There was no meantion of Obama or Bush, or Congress. Just talking about West Virginia.
The campaign's move resulted in a narrow, but sweet victory for the
Tomblin is the first Governor from the coalfields since the 1960s, corruption runs deep here, and the Motown Northerners know that. Even Tomblin isn't clean - channeling millions of dollars of state money into a fund for 'Greyhound Breeder's'. Guess who breeds Greyhound dogs? His moma.
This "corrupted south" reputation created regionalism within the state. Northern Republican vs. Coalfield Democrat. Here:
Yeah i'm not sure why Monroe County voted for Maloney while the rest of the southern region went to Tomblin, they've been becoming increasingly conservative at a rapid pace over the last decade. Even the young voters! It's crazy.
The two liberal counties in the state; Jefferson, and Monogalia, both voted for the Republican. They voted Obama in 2008, Kerry 2004, Gore in 2000. Just as an example of how the Northerner's hate Southern Coalfield Politicians.
Do you think the two "liberal" counties voted Republican because of the north/south issue, or because it was an off year, special election? Both of those counties have significant college populations, and to the extent that young people do vote, they tend to turn out in higher numbers for presidential elections, and not so much for off year and special elections.
ReplyDeleteI don't know which it was, and perhaps it was a mixture of both. Anyhow, it would be interesting to find out.
Oh, I forgot to comment on Pocohontas and Monroe counties. I too have noticed that both of them are drifting right as of late. To me this is the equivalent of shooting oneself in the foot. The economies of both counties are now primarily based on tourism and the second home people, and yet they've started voting for people who would like nothing more than to stick an ugly ass gas well on every square inch of available land. Gas wells that never seem to disappear I might add. If you don't believe me, go to the middle part of the state some time and drive around on the county roads. It's like a gas well junk yard. I can remember doe hunting in Braxton county with my dad when I was a kid and asking him why someone had left all that crap behind.
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