CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Here in the Mountain State, where faith, firearms and patriotism are bedrock, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama is failing to connect, trailing in the run-up to today’s primary election by 40 points in some polls.
In a state where 16 percent of residents have undergraduate degrees and the median family income is about $12,000 less than the national average, it is no surprise to natives that Mr. Obama, an Ivy Leaguer, is not resonating with their blue-collar culture.
“I’m not sure he knows how to communicate well in rural environments,” said Brian Alley, a hurricane aviation consultant and independent voter who added that he has not settled on a candidate to support. “He comes across as more of a professional-type person, much more sophisticated than even Clinton or Bush.”
For Mr. Obama, who made only his second visit to the state yesterday, West Virginia appears to be one of a few road bumps remaining before he locks up the nomination.
Mr. Obama stopped by Schultzie’s Billiards in South Charleston yesterday and offered to buy drinks for supporters playing pool.
He himself drank lemon-lime soda from a straw and made three shots in quick succession, but also sank the eight ball. He joked about his miserable bowling game in Pennsylvania, where he scored a 37, and said, at least this time, “I didn’t embarrass myself.”
He also deflected questions about his difficulties winning working-class voters, telling reporters that his plan for clean-coal technology investment, job creation and college affordability is “an agenda that would be good for the people of West Virginia.”
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his primary opponent who is nearing mathematical elimination, hopes a major win here will change the conversation from when she will withdraw to why her candidacy remains viable. That’s all the more important now that Mr. Obama surpassed her in the count of superdelegates, meaning he leads in the popular vote, delegate count and superdelegate count.
The former first lady has conducted rallies and photo opportunities across the state. Her husband urged Democrats to turn out voters in her favor and deliver her 80 percent of the vote, a prospect that seems almost possible when touring the state and seeing her wide support.
The Clinton camp repeatedly mentions that no Democrat has taken the White House since 1916 without carrying West Virginia. The state supported Bill Clinton in both of his presidential bids, but then backed George W. Bush, who twice turned this blue state red.
Mr. Alley’s gentle criticism of Mr. Obama’s relatability in Appalachia is more measured than that of others in West Virginia, where 29 Democratic delegates are up for grabs — not that Mr. Obama necessarily needs them.
Mr. Obama, asked yesterday what would be a good showing in West Virginia, quipped: “I guess better than 20 percent, according to President Clinton’s math.”
But voters in West Virginia — where students are regularly excused from classes for the opening of hunting season and where more than 70 percent of registered voters own guns — also might remember his remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser classifying rural Americans as sometimes “bitter” and choosing to “cling” to guns and religion.
“I was talking to a lawyer friend who totally believes Obama will take his guns,” said Charleston lawyer Pancho Morris. “There is a huge amount of love for guns and for hunting here. And Obama’s not a hunter.”
Mr. Obama turns any criticism of his inability to win these voters into a compliment of Mrs. Clinton and her husband, who are remembered fondly in the region.
Her supporters agree.
“They love her here because of Bill Clinton,” said Mr. Morris. “It’s not her. It’s him. I love Bill Clinton, too.”
Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, has transformed her image over the past few months of the campaign. She is portraying herself as someone who best understands working-class people, even though she also attended Ivy League schools and, with her husband, has earned more than $109 million since leaving the White House.
Republican Party strategist Gary Abernathy said Mr. Obama might not be able to recover for the general election against presumed Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
“The comments he made about small-town people turning to their religion and guns — that is going to haunt him for a very long time. Throw abortion into the mix and civil unions or gay marriage into it, and there is not a lot of constituency left for him there,” Mr. Abernathy said.
He added: “I think what you are seeing in West Virginia with his support there now, it says that McCain has a real opportunity to keep West Virginia a red state in 2008.”
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