Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Political Cluelessness

Libertarian presidential hopeful Bob Barr is hoping to gain ballot access in the Mountain State. To do so, the Barr campaign must collect and submit over 15,000 signatures on state-approved petitions by August 1. Recently, a Barr petitioner posted an article on Barr's campaign Web site lamenting the difficulty of gathering signatures in the state for a third party. The petitioner ascribed the difficulty to West Virginia's love affair with the Democratic Party, and, get this, Barack Obama. The author might as well have written that the earth is flat.

While it is true that West Virginia was once a Democratic stronghold, it voted for George Bush by substantial margins in both 2000 and 2004. Moreover, if West Virginians are in love with Barack Obama, they sure hid their infatuation well in the Democratic primary. Voters awarded Hillary Clinton a crushing 31 point victory over Obama. If that is love, it must be the tough kind.

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