Right Change: West Virginia’s Democratic Primary

President Obama has never been the most popular politician in West Virginia, and even though he’s an incumbent president running essentially unopposed, Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the Appalachian state did little to change that perception.

Just how unpopular is the president? Very much so, that a man in prison in Texas got 4 out of 10 votes in the West Virginia presidential primary.

Come again? Yes that’s correct. Contrary to popular belief where Democrats typically get elected first, then go to prison, in West Virginia it’s the exact opposite. More than 40 percent of Democrats voting in West Virginia chose to cast their ballots for Keith Russell Judd, an inmate currently serving a 17-year sentence for extortion and threats. 

"I voted against Obama," said Ronnie Brown, a 43-year-old electrician from Cross Lanes who called himself a conservative Democrat. "I don't like him. He didn't carry the state before and I'm not going to let him carry it again."

When asked which presidential candidate he voted for, Brown said, "That guy out of Texas."

Well that guy out of Texas with distinguished business in the front; party in the back mullet scored 42.28 percent of the vote — or 49,490 votes — compared with President Obama with 57.72 percent, or 67,562, according to state results.

Where does this distain for Obama stem from? President Obama's energy policies and the Environmental Protection Agency's handling of coal mining-related permits have inflicted the wrath of West Virginia's coal industry. With West Virginia being the nation's second-largest producer of coal, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and Sen. Joe Manchin, both Democrats, have championed the industry and declined to say whether they will support Obama in November.

Point of the story: You can’t tell an entire state you want to destroy their jobs and expect to win an election. The historic rise of an inmate serving time in the Democratic primary takes the ABO “Anyone But Obama” phrase and bumper sticker to a whole new level.

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